Los Angeles Pediatric Society

Meet Dr. Susan (Sue) Kressley, newly elected President of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). Susan used her position of power to send a letter to Sec. of State Antony Blinken ostracizing and scapegoating Israel for the ongoing war in Gaza. AAP is comprised of nearly 70,000 paying members; none of them, except for Sue's close inner circle, was made aware or approved this letter. Thousands are now pulling their fees in disagreement with Sue's abuse of power. Read one member's scathing response sent to AAP CEO Mark DelMonte, Sue Kressley herself, & DEI Chief Health Equity Officer Joseph Wright: "I am writing to agree with what other members have sent to you concerning the letter to Blinken - the blatant, one dimensional aspects of these concerns are very troubling and risk discrimination and disregard for the diversity and equity the AAP proclaims to desire. Why is there never any concern for the hostages that include two young children, Ariel and Kfir Bibas, a baby who now has been in captivity longer than he was in freedom, as well as multiple adolescent males and females, who we know from released hostages are being subjected to sexual abuse, starvation, branding, and other tortures. Reports are coming out daily about the atrocities Hamas is continuing to subject these teenagers to. They have even reported forcing children to perform sexual acts on each other. Why is the AAP not speaking out about this? Why is Hamas never mentioned as exploiting health care facilities and using civilians as human shields? Or forcing children into violence as child soldiers by training from an early age to use guns and kill Jews? Why is the AAP not demanding that the Red Cross visit these captives? Or demanding the unconditional release of all hostages? There is also legitimate concern about this pediatricians involvement with Hamas. Just this week a video showing a Hamas terrorist stating that Hamas uses the hospitals for weapons and military purposes was released. The director of a hospital must know what is happening and is complicit on some level. Unless the AAP is supportive of Hamas, I feel they should be putting all these concerns in context and holding Hamas accountable for their actions that contribute to the devastation to Gazan children, including Hamas hijacking the humanitarian aid trucks. Asking for humanitarian corridors without also demanding that Hamas comply is very prejudicial. Due diligence must be done to find out all information from multiple sources before jumping on the propaganda bandwagon of making these requests of the State Department. Why is the AAP not advocating for Israeli children who have been evacuated from their homes for over 15 months, and spend every night in bomb shelters hiding from bombs from Iran. Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen, groups who want to annihilate the Jewish people? Who have lost parents, siblings and other family members? Whose parents have been away from home for months due to serving in the army? Israel is a small country. Every person knows someone who was killed. Does their trauma not matter to the AAP? Why is the AAP not sending letters to the State Department regarding conflicts in Sudan, Yemen, and other countries around the world? I appreciate this is a complicated geopolitical situation, and I’m not sure what the AAP wants to happen. But the handling of this feels very uneven and one dimensional and it’s very disappointing." Susan Kressley, and every person involved in this letter, must step down immediately to avoid further staining the reputation of the AAP.