Congressional Letter Supporting Freedom for Dr. Abu Safiya Sent to Rubio
by Stanley Heller, Administrator, Promoting Enduring Peace
On Sept. 10, Oregon member of Congress Dr. Maxine Dexter published a letter that she sent to Secretary of State Marco Rubio. It was signed by 69 members of Congress and called for him to press Israel to grant freedom for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. All five members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation signed. The doctor had been the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza until Israeli forces made the hospital close on Dec. 27, 2024. He was seized then, and has only been seen on occasional visits by his lawyer. Sixty-six House members and three senators signed on to the letter to Rubio, including former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and former top-ranking member of the Judiciary Committee Jamie Rankin.
We are delighted that all five members of the Connecticut delegation signed on to this necessary and vital letter. It’s been 20 months of agony and torture for the doctor. He has not been put on trial for any offense and has not even been formally charged. We strongly urge U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal to sign on to this statement or make their own plea for the abducted doctor’s freedom. Israel takes our billions. It should respect basic human rights. Luke Bronin, who is not a member of Congress but who won the Democratic primary in the first Congressional district (the Hartford area), will hopefully make his own statement.
The Congressional letter begins:
We write with urgent concern about the life-threatening conditions facing Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian pediatrician detained by Israel without charge or trial. Israeli authorities have detained him now for nearly two years, reportedly without adequate medical care. As recently as early July, Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyer warned that his physical condition had deteriorated to the point of near-death.
You can see Congresswoman Dexter’s full letter at FreeDrAbuSafiya.org.
It links to the hand-signed letter and a printed list of signers.
The Campaign to Free Dr. Abu Safiya was formed at a meeting in Woodbridge at the Palestine Museum US in November 2025, where the doctor was given a Courage Award in absentia by one of the coalition member groups.
[The website for Promoting Enduring Peace is pepeace.org, where you can find more information about the struggle to free Dr. Abu Safiya and learn about the other projects that Promoting Enduring Peace is involved with.]