NEW YORK (1010 WINS/WCBS 880) -- A New York City emergency room doctor was fired by Northwell Health due to an Instagram post in which she celebrated Hamas's Oct. 7 terrorist attack at a music festival in Israel, writing that “Zionist settlers” were getting “a taste of their own medicine,” the health system confirmed.
Dr. Dana Diab – a former emergency room physician with Lenox Hill Hospital on the Upper East Side – shared a video of the attack to her Instagram story.
The video was originally posted by Craving Palestine and shows Israeli citizens running during the Hamas attack. The caption refers to the Israelis in the video as “illegal Israeli settlers” and Hamas as “Palestinian fighters” who “launched an offensive.”
A screenshot of the post, and a screenshot of Diab’s Instagram profile page, was tweeted out by Stop Antisemitism at 11:01 a.m. on Oct. 16 on X.
Northwell Health responded to Stop Antisemitism’s post at 4:27 p.m. on Oct. 16, stating: "We've been alerted to discriminatory comments that appear to have been posted by a team member regarding the crisis in the Middle East. These views don't represent Lenox Hill Hospital & Northwell Health & go against our core values. We are investigating & taking immediate action."
The account responded to the post again at 7:36 a.m. on Oct. 17. "We are deeply sorry for the hurt and offense these comments have caused. These views do not represent Lenox Hill Hospital and Northwell Health and go against our core values. The team member is no longer employed with Northwell," the post reads.
Diab has since made her Instagram account private and changed her profile picture from a personal image to a Palestinian flag with the text “I stand with Palestine.”
She also added a bio of three Palestinian flags and associated her account with a fundraiser by the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) titled “Urgent Relief for Gaza’s Children.”
The PCRF fundraiser, as of Tuesday afternoon, has raised over $3.5 million of its $5 million goal.
In an interview with the New York Post Diab commented that she “never called for harm to anyone” and that she “never [has] and never will abdicate [her] duty and oath as a physician.”
Diab did not immediately respond to 1010 WINS/WCBS 880’s request for comment.
New York Health + Hospitals, which also listed Diab on its website, provided 1010 WINS/WCBS 880 with the following statement in response to a request for comment: "NYC Health + Hospitals stands for compassionate, humane care with dignity and respect for all people. We don’t allow any conduct at work that promotes hate, intolerance, or any other behaviors that undermine our mission, values, or commitment to care. We are aware of this social media post and are investigating."