Sacramento doctors call out Rep. Doris Matsui’s silence on Gaza crisis | Opinion
For 20 years, the Sacramento chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) has regularly met with the Sacramento staff of Rep. Doris Matsui to discuss a variety of issues. Matsui has occasionally attended these meetings and has been supportive of our efforts.
However, for nearly two years, we have been unable to meet with her to discuss the humanitarian crises in Gaza, despite multiple meeting requests.
Her Sacramento staff have informed constituents that while that they could “pass on” their concerns, staff members “could not” speak on behalf of the congresswoman. Constituents have been told to check her website for her position on the crises in Gaza. They have been told that the best way to communicate with her would be through e-mails and letters.
However, despite repeatedly contacting her office, including in the form of a January 2024 letter signed by 96 Sacramento area health care workers, Matsui has yet to respond. To our knowledge, she has not met with any civil rights or human rights advocacy groups to discuss Gaza this year or in 2024.
A Quinnipiac University poll published in August found that 75% of Democrats (and 60% of all voters) oppose sending more military aid to Israel for its war in Gaza. Additionally, 77% of Democrats (and 50% of all voters) think Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. (In recent days, Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan.)
Is Matsui doing her job when she refuses to meet with her constituents to hear their viewpoints and to explain her position regarding the catastrophic situation in Gaza?
As of Oct. 2, 10% of Gaza’s population have been killed (66,148) and injured (168,716), according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. More than half a million people in Gaza are starving at a famine level, according to an Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis released on Aug. 22.
A Sept. 16 UN Independent International Commission report declared that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. The report concludes: “The international community cannot stay silent on the genocidal campaign launched by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza. When clear signs and evidence of genocide emerge, the absence of action to stop it amounts to complicity. Every day of inaction costs lives and erodes the credibility of the international community. All states are under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available to them to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
We want to meet with Matsui to ask if she agrees with a majority of Democrats that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and oppose sending further weapons to Israel. Will she join her colleagues in blocking these weapon transfers? Does she agree that all governments are “under a legal obligation to use all means that are reasonably available ... to stop the genocide in Gaza?”
We want to ask if she believes that Israel is using starvation as a method of warfare. Will she support full restoration of U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, the only agency uniquely qualified to deliver aid to Palestinians?
If not, why not?
Matsui’s responsibility is to meet regularly with her constituents. She needs to hear what they have to say and respond — not just when it is politically expedient to do so. How else can she represent her constituents during these critical times?
Harry Wang, MD, is president of the Sacramento chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.