‘Nurses Against Genocide’ protest ANA’s silence
www.workers.org
“ANA your hands are red, 160 nurses dead. Silence is complicity. Our code compels us.” These are some of the chants by four defiant nurses who disrupted the American Nurses Association Member Assembly in Washington D.C., which began June 27.  Holding a banner reading, “Nurses Against Genocide

One of the organizers who participated in the action said: “We coordinated online from different states. All of us are full-time, working nurses who participate in activism regularly, including staging actions like this one. Not everyone could make it in person, but there were nurses from across the country who helped outline our goals, design and print the banner, develop our statements and decide when and where to stage our demonstration.

“We couldn’t have done it without them. When we reached the ANA stage, there was only one nurse who stood and clapped in solidarity. That nurse went on to propose the motion that passed by a landslide. There have been nurses reaching out to thank us and say they weren’t brave enough to stand with us, so we really hope that other nurses feel inspired to speak up and follow suit.”

After delivering their message, the nurses left of their own accord, contrary to ANA reports that they were escorted out. As one of the protesting nurses explained: “We finished reading every single point on our list. We never expected to reach the end of the page; so to their [ANA leadership] credit, most of them sat there dumbfounded.”

Following the disruption at the assembly, members voted 80% in favor of a resolution recommending that the ANA Board of Directors “account, at least annually to the membership assembly, the direct and indirect investment streams and lobbying portfolios” and “develop a mechanism and process for ongoing transparency” in investments and lobbying that “prioritizes social justice.”

The resolution calls for divestment from institutions and organizations that “enforce inequality and violence particularly against Black People and People of Color,” including but not restricted to defense contractors, weapons manufacturers, private prison corporations and detention facilities.

The revolution against South African apartheid has taught us that draining the coffers of capitalist death machines is effective. Nurses have spoken up, saying that they are ready to begin dismantling the apartheid state of Israel and secure a free Palestine. There is much more to be done, and the bold action of nurse activists demonstrated that when they fight for their ethical professional rights, they win.