In early January, the American Academy of Pediatrics — the largest professional body for pediatricians in the U.S. — wrote a letter to former Secretary of State Tony Blinken calling on the State Department to look into the situation of a Gazan doctor who was detained by the Israeli military. Now, several major Jewish organizations are calling on the AAP to issue a retraction to their letter, given Dr. Hassam Abu Safiya’s affiliation with the terrorist group Hamas. 

The Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Medical Association, Hadassah and StandWithUs wrote in a Tuesday letter obtained by Jewish Insider that the AAP’s failure to mention that Abu Safiya has been determined by “Israeli authorities and other sources” to be a member of Hamas risks “fundamentally compromising the integrity of the Academy.”

“The implications and optics of such a statement are troubling, especially given the Academy’s slow response to the kidnapping, captivity, torture and murder of Israeli children by Hamas,” the organizations wrote. 

In the letter, they called on the AAP to issue a retraction, clarify that the organization “does not condone terrorism,” institute mandatory training for AAP leadership about antisemitism and anti-Zionism and strengthen policies on hate speech within AAP online forums and listservs. The Jewish organizations argued that such changes are necessary to “restore trust” in the body.

“The letter [to Blinken] also undermines your members’ ability to effectively serve their patients,” the organizations wrote. “Parents who bring their children to the doctor are now having to worry that they may face antisemitism from their family’s health care provider.” 

Jewish physicians have been sounding the alarm about growing antisemitism within the medical field for months. The American Jewish Medical Association was formed in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks to address Jewish doctors’ concerns about bias in the field. 

Dr. Yael Halaas, a plastic surgeon in New York and the founder and president of AJMA, said the letter comes from a desire to work with the AAP because of the important role it serves in American healthcare.

“AJMA values what our premier healthcare academies bring to U.S. health and wants to partner with them to make sure no group faces discrimination,” Halaas told JI. “Our Jewish pediatrician members have been outraged at the double standard, misinformation and discrimination that both Israel and the Jewish people have experienced on AAP listservs and proposed amendments.”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt told JI that the AAP “must act in accordance with its mission and its duty to its members rather than engaging in divisive political activism.”

The AAP has a membership of more than 67,000 American pediatricians, and the body publishes one of the most influential medical journals in the world. A spokesperson for the Academy did not respond to a request for comment.