Latest / The Real News Podcast / Israel Is Killing Gaza’s Most Famous Doctor. Time Is Running Out to Save Him.

Transcript

Israel Is Killing Gaza’s Most Famous Doctor. Time Is Running Out to Save Him. · The Real News Podcast

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Real News Network. I'm Maximilian Alvarez.
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Time is running out to save the life of doctor
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: Hussam Abu Sophia, the director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital,
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  Speaker 1: who was abducted by Israel's military and has been held
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: for over eighteen months in Israeli detention without charge and
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: was last seen showing visible signs of extreme torture and
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  Speaker 1: medical neglect. His family has issued this plea to people
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  Speaker 1: of conscience around the world, take a listen.
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  Speaker 2: My father was unable to breathe. My father was unable
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  Speaker 2: to speak, his face was disfigured from the marks of
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  Speaker 2: torture and pain. Especially after the last court session held
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  Speaker 2: in Jerusalem at the Supreme Court, we still call out,
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  Speaker 2: plead and appeal and beg to all the free people
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  Speaker 2: of the world and to everyone with an atom of
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  Speaker 2: humanity in their heart, to save my father's wife before
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  Speaker 2: it's too late.
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  Speaker 1: The road State of Israel has repeatedly ignored the demands
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  Speaker 1: desperate please from around the world to free doctor Abu Sophia.
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  Speaker 1: And with us today to tell you what you need
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: to know and what you can do. I'm grateful to
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  Speaker 1: be joined today by doctor Nadal Jabour and doctor Karma Kumili,
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  Speaker 1: co founders of the group Doctors Against Genocide. Thank you
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: both so much for joining us today. I really appreciate it.
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Can you please start by telling our audience what we
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  Speaker 1: know and what we don't know about the current state
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  Speaker 1: of doctor Abusaphia and the other doctors and medical workers
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  Speaker 1: who are also being held captive by Israel right now.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for helping
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  Speaker 3: us speak about this important topic. And yes, doctor Samo
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  Speaker 3: Sophia is one of the greatest human beings that we
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  Speaker 3: knew he is. We consider him a friend. He used
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  Speaker 3: to come on our webinars every week to report on
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  Speaker 3: the situation in his hospital and on the children that
• 1:56
  Speaker 3: he was treating and trying to protect and save their
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  Speaker 3: lives in the hospital. So we consider him one of
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  Speaker 3: our own. We know this guy, We can vouch for him.
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  Speaker 3: He's not just a number, he's not an abstract. He
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  Speaker 3: is part of us, part of the medical community.
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  Speaker 4: And a close friend for us.
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  Speaker 3: And he appealed to us and to the whole world
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  Speaker 3: to come and save him, save the children, save the
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  Speaker 3: other doctors, save the patients in the Housband many times
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  Speaker 3: before he got abducted, and we tried our best to
• 2:29
  Speaker 3: you know, share his voice, his appeal. One of his
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: appeals was even to President Trump just when after he
• 2:35
  Speaker 3: got elected, before he assumed presidency. But unfortunately we all
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: failed him, We failed the children, We felt the other doctors,
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  Speaker 3: and they were raided, they were invaded. He was abducted
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  Speaker 3: along with many other doctors and nurses and healthcare workers.
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  Speaker 3: Many of them got shot, mane of them got murdered
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  Speaker 3: during that trade. Many of the patients got killed, the
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  Speaker 3: others were forced to flee. They also abducted many patients.
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  Speaker 3: And since then, for more than five hundred and sixty
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  Speaker 3: days now, he's been enduring the most horrific conditions you
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  Speaker 3: can imagine. He lost more than half of his weight,
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  Speaker 3: he's been tortured, he's been held in solitary confinements for
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  Speaker 3: a long periods of time, and we have been speaking.
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  Speaker 4: To everyone trying to help him.
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  Speaker 3: But what made this call even more urgent is almost
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  Speaker 3: a week ago and after long delays, his lawyer managed
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  Speaker 3: to see him and he could not recognize him at all.
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  Speaker 3: He didn't know that this is the person that we know.
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  Speaker 3: He witnessed. And that's the lawyer testimony. Severe signs of
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  Speaker 3: torture all over him and his head, neck, behind, his ears,
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  Speaker 3: all over his body, with fresh bruises, active bleeding. He
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  Speaker 3: was not able to sit in the chair to finish
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  Speaker 3: the interview. His consciousness was on and off. He reported
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  Speaker 3: to the lawyer that they have been beat in him
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: with batons, with hammers, with metal objects, and they are
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  Speaker 3: intent on killing him. He's being there for siritary confinements
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  Speaker 3: for more than a few weeks since the Supreme Court
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  Speaker 3: of Azrael refused to take his case, and the last
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  Speaker 3: thing he shared with the lawyer is that I don't
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  Speaker 3: think you'll see me next time. I don't think I'll
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  Speaker 3: survive this. They are killing me. And we sit here,
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  Speaker 3: as doctors, healthcare workers, human beings all over the world
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  Speaker 3: watch a human being tortured front the bar of our eyes.
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  Speaker 3: We failed him once. We don't want to faire him again.
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  Speaker 3: This is not acceptable for any doctor, for any healthcare worker,
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  Speaker 3: for any human being. There are all types of absolute
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  Speaker 3: prohibition of torture under all international laws, international humanitarian laws,
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  Speaker 3: Geneva Conventions, and even here in the United States, as
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  Speaker 3: a medical community, we have. All our major organizations, that
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  Speaker 3: Medical Organization, the American Psychiatric Organization, the American Psychological Organization,
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  Speaker 3: all of them have resolutions and codes of ethics that
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  Speaker 3: absolutely prohibit torture under any circumstances for anyone anywhere, regardless
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  Speaker 3: of their chart, regardless of their crime, regardless of they are.
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  Speaker 3: And these resolutions have been enacted and passed in the
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  Speaker 3: last decade. So in light of this, we will not
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  Speaker 3: sit down and watch him being killed. We don't think
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  Speaker 3: any human being deserves to be tortured, regardless who they are,
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  Speaker 3: especially someone that we know personally. We know he's innocent,
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  Speaker 3: we know he did not commit any crime other than
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  Speaker 3: refusing to abandon the children he was taking care of.
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  Speaker 3: And we are calling upon our major medical organization who
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  Speaker 3: are unfortunately until now, completely certain that they are betraying
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  Speaker 3: their own ethics, their own ethics and codes of conduct
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  Speaker 3: that they are imposing on us, and we are demanding
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  Speaker 3: that at least to live up, asking them to live
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  Speaker 3: up to their own course of ethics, not anyone else,
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  Speaker 3: and to speak up and to issue a statement and
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  Speaker 3: to reach out to the Israeli Medical Association. And they
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  Speaker 3: do have power, they do have leverage and we know
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  Speaker 3: that if they move, we can save at least the
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  Speaker 3: life of doctor Sam along with his other colleagues.
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  Speaker 5: Yes, this is pretty much where we stand. We have activated.
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  Speaker 5: We are as Doctors against Genocide. Our mission is to
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  Speaker 5: mobilize the medical community and to speak up against war crimes,
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  Speaker 5: crimes against humanity and genocide. We have many members, we
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  Speaker 5: have thousands of members all over the world, and we
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  Speaker 5: have heard the call from Rauzza, the physician Syndicate and
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  Speaker 5: Rassda called for a standout for acts of solidarity with
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  Speaker 5: them and with their colleagues who have been detained by
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  Speaker 5: Israel in torture camps and torture prisons. So the Medical
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  Speaker 5: Syndicate in Raza is calling on the colleagues, the medical community,
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  Speaker 5: the medical community in the rest of Palestine, in the
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  Speaker 5: West Bank, in Jordan, all over the world. We are
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  Speaker 5: calling on our members to take a stand. We have
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  Speaker 5: dedicated an hour of our day today to make all
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  Speaker 5: the people with conscious to take action. The action could
• 7:33
  Speaker 5: be calling the elected officials. We have placed thousands of
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  Speaker 5: phone calls to the Senate, to the Congress, to the
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  Speaker 5: Parliament in Canada, to different politicians all over the world.
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  Speaker 5: We have been calling our medical associations. We have been
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  Speaker 5: taking stances with protests and standouts and visuals, and all
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  Speaker 5: our actions are coming through with social media and our
• 8:03
  Speaker 5: members communications, and our goal from that is to mobilize,
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  Speaker 5: to raise awareness, not to be silent. We understand that
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  Speaker 5: silence in situations of torture and abuse is complicity. It
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  Speaker 5: is against our medical oath. It is against what we
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  Speaker 5: stand for as humans and as doctors, as healthcare workers.
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  Speaker 5: So we invite all our colleagues to not choose comfort
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  Speaker 5: and not choose security over doing the right thing. Doing
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  Speaker 5: the right thing means that we stand for each other,
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  Speaker 5: especially when one of us or many of us are
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  Speaker 5: being tortured just for taking care of patients within the
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  Speaker 5: context of a genocide.
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  Speaker 1: Well, thank you both so much for that. I really
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  Speaker 1: appreciate it, and I wanted to ask if you know
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  Speaker 1: we could also tell viewers and listeners right now like
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  Speaker 1: where things stand with the current efforts from within Israel
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  Speaker 1: and from around the world to free doctor Abu Sophia,
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  Speaker 1: because obviously time is of the essence here.
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  Speaker 5: We are optimistic. We have been seeing positive response from
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  Speaker 5: our elected officials here in the US where we live
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  Speaker 5: and all over the world. We have seen a tremendous
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  Speaker 5: amount of mobilization. Everyone knows the story now. Every phone
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  Speaker 5: call to elected officials, they have heard it before one
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  Speaker 5: of us calls. We are hopeful that this coordinated pressure
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  Speaker 5: will bear fruits and we will see our colleagues released,
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  Speaker 5: and we will see their health restored to them, their
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  Speaker 5: dignity restored to them. All they want is to be
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  Speaker 5: able to take care of their patients and to see
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  Speaker 5: their family members, and to have human dignity. What we
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  Speaker 5: have experienced is the removal of human rights and human
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  Speaker 5: dignity from people who deserve the best.
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  Speaker 3: And his lawyer sent another urgent appeal to the court
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  Speaker 3: to allow independent medical evaluation of doctor Sam because we
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  Speaker 3: think he might be suffering from an intracrineal bleed after
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  Speaker 3: all these beatings. That's why he was not able to say,
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  Speaker 3: That's why his consciousness was variable during the interview. Unfortunately,
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  Speaker 3: they did not respond yet. We're waiting on that and
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  Speaker 3: we are actually his appeal includes that one of the judges,
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  Speaker 3: one the Supreme Court judges, go there and verify for
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  Speaker 3: themselves the situation of doctor Sam. We are also working
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  Speaker 3: closely with a group called physician for human rights as well.
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  Speaker 3: They're already appearing on behalf doctor has Sam and another
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  Speaker 3: sixteen doctors who continue to be held unlawfully in as well,
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  Speaker 3: and all of them are being tortured. There is a
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  Speaker 3: total of more than eighty healthcare workers who continue to
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  Speaker 3: be in.
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  Speaker 4: During these conditions.
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  Speaker 3: There and a total of more than nine thou five
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  Speaker 3: hundred Prestinian hostages. All of them are being detained illegally
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  Speaker 3: with no charges, with no protections. Even the International Red Cross,
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  Speaker 3: International Center for International Red Cross appeal to the Supreme Court,
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  Speaker 3: and the Supreme Court of a Israel ordered the state
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  Speaker 3: to allow the Red Cross to visit and verify the
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  Speaker 3: situation and the treatment of the prisoners, and the state
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  Speaker 3: is refusing their own Supreme Court order. Can you imagine this?
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  Speaker 3: Even the International Red Cross is not able to go
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  Speaker 3: in there and check on them at least make sure
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  Speaker 3: they are being treated in human conditions and not enduring torture.
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  Speaker 3: And we cannot size, we cannot emphasize enough the absolute
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  Speaker 3: prohibition on torture under all international laws, Geneva Conventions.
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  Speaker 4: And here in the.
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  Speaker 3: United States there was something called the Hoffman Report. The
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  Speaker 3: Hoffman Report is a report that was made on behalf
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  Speaker 3: of the American Psychological Association, I think in two thousand
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  Speaker 3: and five or ten, because some psychologist at that time
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  Speaker 3: were complicit with the Bush administration in torturing those that
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  Speaker 3: they took from you know, Iraq and from Afghanistan. They
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  Speaker 3: were treating them badly and at detention centers Guantanamo Bay.
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  Speaker 3: And that was a very lengthy report, detailed report, almost
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  Speaker 3: five hundred pages that showed some complicity of some psychologists
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  Speaker 3: and medical you know, employees in the torture of those detainees.
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  Speaker 3: And the recommendation with the report, the resolution that the
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  Speaker 3: American Psychological Solution took after that is there's absolute prohibition
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  Speaker 3: of torture for anyone anywhere, under any circumstances, even if
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  Speaker 3: they are terrorists, even if they are guilty. If you
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: have someone charged with the crime, even if they are criminals,
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  Speaker 3: you still not allowed You're not allowed to torture them.
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  Speaker 4: There is absolute probation torture.
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  Speaker 3: And this is a code of ethics that we as
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  Speaker 3: a medical community cherish and we insist to live up to.
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  Speaker 3: And we cannot stay silent wild one of our own
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  Speaker 3: or any human being undergoes these conditions, so we are
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  Speaker 3: really appealing to everyone. So far, we have few elected officials,
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  Speaker 3: few Congress you know people and senators did speak up
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  Speaker 3: on behalf of doctor Sam, but there are too many.
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  Speaker 3: We are hoping, we are appealing that many more of
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  Speaker 3: our particians appeal on his behalf to save him. And
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  Speaker 3: we do have We do know that they do have
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  Speaker 3: the leverage and as well, this is the country that
• 13:59
  Speaker 3: the US support with billions of dollars and weapons and impunity.
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  Speaker 3: So our congress directed divisials, they do have a say.
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  Speaker 3: They can save one life if they use their leverage
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  Speaker 3: with the State Department, with our embassy and Asrael, with
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  Speaker 3: the Israeli ambassador here, our medical and mental healthier organizations,
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  Speaker 3: they do have leverage if they speak up.
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  Speaker 4: Again, this is.
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  Speaker 3: Regardless of your politics, regardless of where you stand. This
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  Speaker 3: is a humanitarian call to save human life that is
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  Speaker 3: being taken away in front of our eyes, and we
• 14:32
  Speaker 3: should not have any controversy about it. Regardless of our positions.
• 14:37
  Speaker 3: This should not be controversial. This is a humanitarian call,
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  Speaker 3: a universal call, and it's a very very urgent call.
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  Speaker 3: We don't think he will survive until the end of
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: the week, so the call should be immediate and urgent.
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  Speaker 3: We urgently appeal every human being wherever you are, do
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  Speaker 3: everything in your power reach call, use every leverage you
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: have to try to step in and do something to
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  Speaker 3: save the life of our colleague, doctor our Sophia, and
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  Speaker 3: his other colleagues too.
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  Speaker 5: I appeal to all my colleagues, especially pediatricians. Doctor Hassam
• 15:16
  Speaker 5: Abu Sophia is a pediatrician just like all of us.
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  Speaker 5: His fault was that he stayed in the pediatric hospital
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  Speaker 5: in the north of Rasda to take care of his child,
• 15:27
  Speaker 5: the children who are sick in Russia, and he could
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  Speaker 5: not bring himself to leave them without medical care. For that,
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  Speaker 5: he was punished by take by being taken hostage. I
• 15:39
  Speaker 5: appeal to every doctor, every nurse, every pediatrician, especially to
• 15:44
  Speaker 5: the American Academy of Pediatrics, take a stand, do not
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  Speaker 5: stay silent while one of us is being tortured, and
• 15:52
  Speaker 5: to all our colleagues follow us on. Doctors against genocide.
• 15:56
  Speaker 5: We have a lot of information that you can use
• 15:59
  Speaker 5: to become more active in advocacy against what is happening
• 16:03
  Speaker 5: to our colleagues, advocacy against torture and advocacy to be
• 16:09
  Speaker 5: a more responsible medical community, and thank you so much
• 16:12
  Speaker 5: for hosting US