My name is Dr. Fidaa Wishah. On June 23, 2021, I was unlawfully fired from Phoenix Children’s Hospital for being an advocate of social justice and using my voice to speak up for injustices in Palestine. I am a Palestinian woman who was born and raised in Gaza Palestine. I am a pediatric radiologist with over ten years of experience caring for children. I left Gaza when I was 17 years old and eventually graduated from medical school. As a child growing up in the Bureij Refugee Camp in Gaza, I witnessed the death, destruction and suffering of so many members of my community. I have seen friends and family members die due to a lack of access to medicine or basic access to medical care. I was determined to do something meaningful in my life and I decided that becoming a doctor was a way that I could make a difference. Growing up as a witness to injustice has molded who I am as a person. I fight to save lives in my professional life, and in my personal life I do the same. I am an activist. I do not just pay lip service to social justice issues. It is part of my being.
In 2019, I accepted a position with Phoenix Children’s Hospital (“PCH”). As a member of the PCH staff, I was supported in my advocacy of social justice issues and even promoted by PCH in their marketing related to my outspoken support for Black Lives Matter, which was called “White Coats for Black Lives.” However, in May of 2021, I was given notice that I would be terminated following a private social media post where I expressed outrage against the illegal bombing and murder of Palestinians in my birthplace; Gaza Palestine.
Let me be clear, I have never discriminated against a Jewish person in my personal or professional life. Many of my colleagues, friends, and mentors are Jewish. My social media posts have always been critical of the State of Israel and its treatment of the innocent people of Gaza and the West Bank. My mother, father, sister, and her children all still reside in Gaza in the same refugee camp and were being subjected to bombings and terror. Each day I feared that they would be killed. I used my platform as a U.S. citizen to bring awareness to what was happening. A plain and honest reading of my posts make it abundantly clear that my criticisms are of the actions of a state, not that of the Jewish people. Despite that, trolls on the internet began a campaign calling for my termination and bombarded PCH with messages. Within 48 hours PCH, without ever consulting with me, responded to the internet trolls claiming that they had completed a thorough investigation and terminated my employment. This is false. I acknowledge that PCH alerted me to the trolls and the complaints they were getting. However, 48 hours later, without any explanation or investigation, I was terminated. How can PCH claim to have completed a thorough investigation without ever having discussed it with me? The truth is, I am a Palestinian woman and I dared to speak up against Israel. PCH and its board terminated me because of who I am and where I come from.
Last week, my lawyers filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I plan to bring a lawsuit against PCH because the discrimination I experienced is unlawful and immoral. I have fought for justice for others my whole life and now I will continue that fight. My claims are more than just about the loss of my job and the money I won’t be able to make. It is about protecting other people who may be discriminated against because of their race, or national origin because they dare to use their voice.
The Council on American–Islamic Relations-Arizona along with three law firms have taken on Dr. Fidaa Wishah’s case. In a statement to Mondoweiss CAIR-AZ Executive Director Azza Abuseif said, “Phoenix Children’s Hospital (PCH) broke the law when they terminated Dr. Fidaa Wishah, a Palestinian female physician, for her criticism of Israel’s active war crimes against the Palestinian people. There has been a willful misrepresentation of her words following the cues of a known hate group – we find it very disturbing that PCH would take this retaliatory approach. The EEOC complaint is the first step in remedying this injustice. We look forward to getting her justice.” You can support Dr. Wishah’s legal effort by donating to CAIR-AZ here.
it’s so sad how entire careers are built on the dehumanization of palestinians, while individual palestinians are targeted for speaking out about israeli human rights abuses
The kids are not all right – Breaking the Silence put out a special report “Children and Youth – Soldiers Testimonies 2005 – 2011” (nothing’s changed since then):
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Children_and_Youth_Soldiers_Testimonies_2005_2011_Eng.pdf
“At first you point your gun at some five-year-old kid, and feel bad afterward, saying it’s not right. Then you get to a point where… you get so nervous and sick of going into a village and getting stones thrown at you. But it’s obvious, you’re inside the village, you’ve just passed the school house, naturally the kids will throw stones at you. Once my driver got out, and without blinking, just grabbed some kid and beat him to a pulp. And that kid was just sitting in the street and looked like some other kid, or wore another kid’s shirt, or perhaps he was that kid but that’s not the point. He beat him
to a pulp. Didn’t detain him. Just beat him.”
Dr. Fidaa Wishah
Well done!! Mabruk!! An excellent, ‘right on the money,’ eloquent and courageous response to the injustice you have been forced to bear at the hands of Zionists. Your fellow Palestinians must be very proud of you. Keep up the fight! Slowly, but surely, like all racists, illegal/brutal occupiers and oppressors, Zionists are digging their graves.
“The Tank Commander Shot One Of The Kids”:
https://www.breakingthesilence.org.il/testimonies/videos/72822
I just sent her some money. And btw I’m Jewish.