New York hospital fires nurse after calling war on Gaza 'genocide'
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Hesen Jabr accuses New York University's Langone Hospital of dismissing her after she made pro-Palestine statements while winning an award for her work.
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Nurse Hesen Jabr at NYU Langone Health award ceremony. (Instagram photo, Hesen Jabr)
A nurse at New York University's Langone Hospital was dismissed after citing what she called a "genocide" in Gaza during an awards ceremony speech.
Hesen Jabr, 34, a labor and delivery nurse who has worked at NYU Langone for over a decade, made the statements while earning an award earlier this month for giving exemplary care to patients suffering from perinatal loss.
Jabr, a Palestinian-American Muslim, spoke about moms who have lost their children as a result of "Israel's" onslaught in Gaza, which has killed over 36,224 Palestinians.
Jabr stated in her speech that it pained her to "see the woman from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza."
“Even though I can’t hold their hands and comfort them as they grieve their unborn children and the children they have lost during this genocide, I hope to keep making them proud as I keep representing them here at NYU,” she stated.
Jabr told The Guardian she was fired on her first day back at work after her comments. Administrators at the hospital accused her of “bringing politics into the workplace."
“It’s because I mentioned ‘genocide’. It’s bringing up Palestine. They were like, ‘It’s fine you mentioned your mother and your grandmother. You should’ve stopped there,’” she told the publication.
According to an NYU Langone spokesperson's statement, Jabr was previously warned in December not to "bring her views on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace."
Jabr reported that there have been increased tensions at the hospital since the war on Gaza began, even recalling that two years ago, a co-worker told her Palestine "did not exist."
The nurse recalled that she was "ambushed" by the HR department into several meetings after she messaged one of her coworkers after they shared posts supportive of "Israel".
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She was told to stop posting as it violated the hospital's social media policy and code of conduct without evidence of how her posts did so.
Subsequently, Jabr was accused of "bullying and harassing" her coworkers, and when she told her employers she didn't feel safe after a pro-"Israel" group published her name and place of employment online, they failed to act.
“They never addressed my safety concern. It was like, ‘You’re bringing this on yourself. You need to fix it,’” Jabr reported.
She was also ordered to pay back a bonus and any pay increase she was awarded.
Dylan Saba, a staff attorney with Palestine Legal, stated that the organization has witnessed an "unprecedented crackdown" on people who speak out in support of Palestine.
While private businesses are not guaranteed the right to free expression under the First Amendment, Saba claims that other laws bar them from penalizing pro-Palestine comments.
Saba added that the First Amendment was not the only law applicable in these situations as employers may be discriminating based on an employee's national origins or race and religion.
"You have Arabs, Muslims, and Palestinians expressing basic support for Palestinian humanity and being discriminated against on the basis of those posts. Those employers may be engaging in discrimination under federal civil rights laws,” Saba added.
Jabr intends to take legal action against the hospital and is working with a lawyer to complain at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
Despite the warnings and eventual firing, Jabr stated that she felt obligated to come out to highlight the compassion of those dying in Gaza.
