Doctors call for action to protect healthcare in Gaza

A group of doctors and faculty from Yale's School of Medicine have joined an international call to protect healthcare in Gaza. Speaking at a press conference in front of Yale New Haven Hospital they said that “As healthcare workers, it is our moral and ethical obligation to do all we can to protect our colleagues and healthcare infrastructure around the world. We are calling on leaders in healthcare nationally and globally to take an overdue public stand in defense of our colleagues and healthcare systems, and to protect children.”

Organized by the Connecticut chapters of Healthcare Workers for Palestine and Doctors Against Genocide, they said they were compelled to speak out because “the very foundation of healthcare in Gaza is being systematically dismantled. Every hospital has been bombed and the health system is in total collapse. More than 20,000 children have been murdered, hundreds of thousands have been displaced multiple times and starved.”

Citing recent reports confirming that medical missions are now banned from entering Gaza with no journalists, doctors, food, fuel or aid being allowed in, as well as conditions in which over 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed with hundrfeds more detained, the group demanded immediate action.

Echoing calls from the United Nations and international healthcare organizations and humanitarian aid agencies including Doctors Without Borders, the World Health Organization and others, the group said “We urge our healthcare leaders to follow in their footsteps and issue statements demanding:

1. Demand Israel Stop Bombing Hospitals and Attacking Healthcare and Aid Workers

2. Call for the protection of Children in Gaza and Lebanon.

3. Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the ongoing genocide to allow health operations to resume.

4. Support a Comprehensive and Immediate Embargo on Weapons to Israel and Divestment from Israel to Stop the Ethnic Cleansing of Civilians and Destruction of Healthcare

5. Advocate for Unrestricted Humanitarian and Medical Access to Gaza

6. Establish healthcare education and training at your institution for patient-facing staff to provide informed care to patients affected by war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide

Local organizers and speakers included emergency physician Phil Brewer, MD, pediatrician Sakena Abedin, MD, Michael Espelin, APRN, Konan Beke, MD, an Internal Medicine resident at Yale New Haven Hospital, Emily Siff, PhD, Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, and family physican Liza Goldman Huertas, MD.

Election Commentary

 

“This election is more than an election. It is a turning point that will decide what kind of country we will live in. Will we have the ability and right to protest, and to continue to demand a ceasefire? Will we have the right to teach real, uncomfortable history in our classrooms. Or will many, many more of us be blacklisted, jailed, deported, or otherwise restricted for what we believe, who we love, and if we have been to a rally for a progressive cause. Will our seniors have health care. Will labor unions be made illegal. Will public education be massively defunded. Will we live in real fascism in the United States. Will all abortion clinics be closed. This is what is on the line. We must make Kamala Harris the next president. Please help us make sure we never have to face the alternative. We have too much to face already. We must build and go forward, and not give in to politics of convenience.”

This message, posted on the first day of early voting by Lisa Bergmann, was accompanied by a comparison of where the candidates stand on issues that affect the lives of working class people, and an expose of how the MAGA/Trump Project 2025 agenda threatens all democratic rights.

Also on the first day of early voting, the CT Alliance for Retired Americans held a special phone bank to call union retirees with a message to vote early and to support pro-worker candidates including Jahana Hayes in the Fifth Congressional District and the Harris-Walz presidential ticket to preserve and expand Social Security..

Long lines in Connecticut's cities and towns on the state's first ever day of early voting underscored the high stakes of this election, and the importance of weeks of door knocking and conversations held to talk about the issues and overcome confusion..

Early voting is open from October 21 to November 3 (10 am to 6 pm) and on October 29 and October 31 (8 am to 8 pm). In most municipalities the early voting location is in town hall. Those who are not registered to vote can do so at the time and place of early voting.

A question on the ballot will further open access to voting by allowing for no-excuse absentee voting, so that any voter could request an absentee ballot, as is done in most other states.

Fascism, Environment and Democracy on the Ballot in 5th CD

We have learned some hard, environmental lessons in the Naugatuck Valley recently. Rain storms, super charged by climate change, have wreaked havoc in our Valley and surrounding towns. Housing has been lost, literally, and two lives swept away by raging surface water.

Both in January 2024, and in a bigger way in August, storms brought large volumes of water. For example, in Naugatuck the main road of Rubber Ave. was cut off by overflowing stream water in a number of places. This meant that emergency vehicles could not reach certain areas in a timely manner. 

Southwood Apartments, with hundreds of multinational, working class residents, were among those cut-off. Climate justice is very much an issue here. 

The preservation of passive open space (no hard surfaces) in the Gunntown ecosystem, just west of the Southwood complex, is a front burner issue. These lands play a crucial role in water retention. Housing, that is very much needed, must be planned for the center of town.

But the lessons were political too. 

George Logan (R), former State Senator of the 17^th District which covers much of the Valley going south, is challenging incumbent Jahana Hayes (D) for a seat in the U.S. Congress. The 5^th Congressional District covers most of Waterbury and the northwest corner of the state. 

Logan had multiple negative votes concerning environmental quality. He voted to privatize public land that had quality wildlife habitat. Privatizing public land almost always leads to less passive open space, more carbon in the atmosphere contributing to climate change, and more pollution in the air we breathe. 

These are huge issues for our health. The World Health Organization (WHO) finds that air pollution causes 7 million deaths per year.

The old labor adage, that what is won locally can be taken away in Hartford and Washington D.C., is very much in play. 

Logan, a Trump clone, has a lifetime environmental score by the Ct League of Conservation Voters (LCV) of 69%.  The national LCV lifetime score for Jahana Hayes is 98%. That latter score was the leading percentage among the Ct Congressional Delegation. Her votes on preventing climate emissions and supporting off shore wind stand out.

Fascism, the environment, and democracy are very much on the November 5^th ballot.

New Haven Educators Demand More Federal Public School Funds

 

New Haven Federation of Teachers president Leslie Blatteau told a rally outside Metropolitan Business Academy early Monday morning that it's time to spend less on wars, make the wealthy pay their share in taxes, and meet the needs of every public school student.

The spirited demonstration of educators, students, elected officials and community members, held at 7:00 am, was one of three marking the day that federal ESSER (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief) pandemic funds ended. Other rallies were held at Fair Haven school and Brennan Rogers Magnet school.

New Haven Public Schools will be losing more than $127 million. One Metro teacher explained that among other things, the pandemic funds made it possible for the school to have a full time nurse, but without the funds the school will have to share a nurse with other schools,

State Senator Gary Winfield, telling about how important public schools are for his own children, pledged that when the next session of the State Legislature begins next year, funding will be his top priority, along with ending imposed spending restrains.

“September Surge”, rallies across the country including one in Hartford, called for swift passage of the "Keep Our Promise to America's Children and Teachers (PACT) Act" by the U.S. Congress. 

 

A local petition was launched urging New Haven's board of education to adopt a resolution to "Fund Our Schools." It calls for support of the federal PACT Act and would signal officials' commitment to safe, welcoming and thriving environments that meet the social and emotional needs of all students. 

 

The petition says passage would “signal that the people of our school districts widely support adequate, equitable, and sustainable funding increases to mitigate the harm caused by decades of underfunded schools.”

The almost $200 billion of relief funds to public education since the COVID-19 pandemic benefited students across the country with resources from one-on-one tutoring, to free summer schools, to additional support personnel for students with disabilities. Positive outcomes were seen academically, socially and emotionally.

The petition says that “by having school boards across the country pass resolutions supporting these efforts, we can galvanize this moment to shed light on the critical funding needs in our public schools.”

The local "September Surge" actions were organized by parents, community members, students and educators in the statewide Connecticut for All (C4A) coalition, with the New Haven Federation of Teachers spearheading the demonstrations.

Concord Hills Tenant Union Wins Temporary Housing Relocation

When tenants tragically lost their homes in a fire on August 10 at Concord Hills Apartments, 105-111 Sherbrooke Ave in Hartford, the city unfortunately relocated the families, including elders and children, to rundown mold and pest infested motel rooms with no cooking facilities. These unsafe conditions resulted in burglaries, hunger and health problems which sent two individuals to the emergency room.

 

The tenants responded to their crisis by organizing themselves into the Concord Hills Tenants Union, affiliated with the Connecticut Tenants Union, demanding their rights to decent temporary housing.

 

Forty-five days later the Tenants Union celebrated victory on the steps of City Hall after Mayor Arulampalam agreed to immediately relocate all tenants with children, disabilities, or health issues to better interim hotels, and in addition secured agreements with three management companies in Hartford to provide tenants with options for new apartments; and also secured an agreement from Greyhill Group, the owner of the Concord Hills Apartments, to return security deposits as legally required and to waive unpaid rent.

 

The victory followed two weeks of intensive actions including testimonies to the City Council, meeting with the Mayor,.circulating a community petition, sharing their stories with reporters,and mobilizing support from allied organizations. 

 

The night before, during a City Council meting, City Councilor Josh Michtom announced what the Mayor had finally agreed to. 

 

The displaced tenants had been subjected to intimidation by their management company, Greyhill Group, including threats of sending negative references to future landlords and demanding that tenants sign legal waivers in order to access their own belongings.

 

Mayor Arulampalam had initially declined to relocate the displaced tenants, as legally required by the Uniform Relocation Assistance Act (URAA). Following one protest the Mayor arranged for a “resource fair” intended to connect tenants to social workers and charitable organizations and to provide the moving assistance funds required by state law.

 

The URAA guarantees temporary housing and other rights to persons displaced by government action—including condemnation of apartments due to fire. The City of Hartford has been sued in the past over its failure to abide by the URAA on behalf of displaced tenants. 

 

The Concord Hills Tenants Union had the support of the Connecticut Tenants Union, the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, and many community organizations who participated in the protests and collected signatures on a petition demanding immediate action.