BY LUCIA W. SMITH
On a chilly Saturday morning in November, children gathered with families and colleagues in Stewart Park, across from Abbott Northwestern and Minnesota Children’s Hospitals, including the Mother Baby Center, to commemorate that other “Children’s Press Conference” held a year earlier, Nov. 7, 2023, outside Gaza’s largest 700-bed hospital complex, Al Shifa. Within months, Al Shifa hospital was destroyed by Israel’s military attacks.
The Children’s Press Conference in Minneapolis was organized by local people active within HW4P (Health Workers for Palestine, Twin Cities) and FAMM (Families Against Military Madness, newest committee of WAMM – Women Against Military Madness).
A stunning display of 450 red paper poppies seemed to sprout from the ground surrounding the event speakers and their supporters. The poppy flower symbolizes the bloody war in Gaza and reflects the colors of the Palestinian flag. Closer looks at these poppies, however, revealed that each held the name, biographical information, and, often, a photograph of a healthcare worker killed in Gaza during the year-long genocide reported at gazahcsector.palestine-studies.org/ar/medical_teams. The Children’s Press Conference in Minneapolis was held in the midst of a paper poppy garden of death.
People were welcomed by Liz McLister, a mother of three children, a registered nurse, and FAMM co-founder. She compared and contrasted the hospital settings in the two locations – Gaza City and Minneapolis – and introduced each of the speakers.
Wolf, age 12, read the statement initially delivered a year earlier by children in Gaza:
“Since October 7th we’ve faced extermination, killing, bombing over our heads. All of this in front of the world. . . We came to Al Shifa to seek shelter from the bombing, but suddenly faced death again when [Israel] targeted the hospital. The Occupation is starving us. . . We come now to shout and invite you to protect us. We want to live. We want peace. We want to judge the killers of children. We want medicine, food and education. We want to live as the other children live.”
Oliver, a Central High School student, presented his original statement:
“. . . I wonder how many kids in the Press Conference [in Gaza] are still alive today. And the ones who are alive, how much longer will that be true? . . . A year after that press conference, those kids still don’t have what they asked for. In fact, it’s gotten incredibly worse. . . We can only imagine what schools look like in Gaza after a year of bombing funded by our country. We all have a responsibility right now to figure out what to do. . . To parents: Please talk about this issue as much as you can with your families.”
Salah, age 15, also delivered his original speech:
“. . . for us to be standing here today means that we have failed the children of Gaza. . . We, the youth, cannot stay silent while the children are begging for help. . . We, the youth, hear Gaza. . . These children. . . are not just numbers or statistics, they are sons, daughters, brothers and sisters and friends. . . forced to live in the shadows of destruction and surrounded by ruins of what was once their home. . . So, to the leaders of the world, I ask you, if these were your children. . . would you still remain silent? . . . The children of Gaza need more than our pity. They need action . . . Stop the genocide, stop the bombing of kids in Gaza. We demand an arms embargo. We demand a cease-fire, and we demand peace.”
Following the students’ statements, Dr. Asfia Qaadir, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, spoke as a member of HW4P. She reported that, as of November 2024, there has been no acknowledgement by any major health system or medical society of this largest, most rapid extermination of children in recorded history. Now there are no fully functional hospitals in Gaza. More than 1,000 healthcare workers have been killed and hundreds more have been detained by Israeli forces under circumstances of documented torture. Dr. Qaadir outlined the demands of “Not Another Child, Not Another Hospital.” Based on the ethical imperative of medical professionals and supported by thousands of healthcare workers across the U.S., it calls for a weapons embargo on Israel and reversal of the current ban on humanitarian medical aid into Gaza.
The poignant commemoration was closed by Anna Madison of FAMM, calling for action and saying there is nothing more important than the life of a child.
