Watan-The New York University Langone Hospital dismissed the American Muslim nurse of Palestinian origin, Husn Jaber, just days after she received an award from this medical center for describing the ongoing war in Gaza as genocide.
The labor and delivery nurse received an award from the hospital on May 7th in recognition of her work with bereaved mothers who lost children during pregnancy and childbirth.
During the awards ceremony, she delivered a speech in which she expressed her pain over the suffering of mothers and their children in the Gaza Strip, describing the events there as genocide.
Following the award, the nurse stated on Instagram that she was summoned on May 22nd, her first day back at work after receiving the award, for a meeting with the hospital director and the vice president of the nursing department to question her about the speech she delivered during the award ceremony, according to Reuters.
She added that she was informed she had endangered others, offended individuals, and spoiled the awards event.
She indicated that she was summoned again later the same day, where the decision to dismiss her was read out, and she was escorted out of the medical center.
University Response
Steve Ritia, the spokesperson for New York University Langone, stated that the nurse was dismissed due to her statements about Gaza.
He added that she had been previously warned last December against expressing her views on this controversial issue at the workplace, referring to the war on Gaza.
According to the spokesperson, Husn Jaber did not heed the previous warning and made comments during a recent ceremony honoring employees, attended by a large number of her colleagues at the hospital, which upset some of them.
The New York Times conducted an interview with the American nurse of Palestinian origin, where she defended her stance and mentioned another incident she experienced at the age of 11, when a school official in Louisiana forced her to take a Bible despite being Muslim.
Campaigns Against Muslims
Many Muslims in the United States face campaigns on social media due to their support for Gaza and their denunciation of the ongoing Israeli war on it for about eight months.
Last April, data released by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) revealed that attacks on Muslims and Palestinians in the United States and discrimination against them reached record levels in 2023.
These attacks are driven by the rise in Islamophobia and prejudice in conjunction with the Israeli war on Gaza.