From Medicine to the Margins: How Indian American Dr. Rupa Marya’s Fight for Palestinian Rights Cost Her Career

Dr. Rupa Marya never imagined that saying “stop bombing hospitals” would end her distinguished medical career. Yet that simple plea, posted on social media as Israeli forces struck healthcare facilities in Gaza, set in motion a chain of events that would cost the renowned physician her position at the University of California, San Francisco, and thrust her into a legal battle over academic freedom and free speech.

“I didn’t expect that my career-ending move would be to say ‘stop bombing hospitals,’ for expressing support for Palestinian liberation and for criticizing the U.S.-backed genocide,” Marya told Democracy Now this week, just days after filing two lawsuits against her former employer.

A Trailblazing Career Cut Short

Marya’s fall from institutional grace is particularly striking given her previously celebrated status within the medical establishment. Named one of the top 20 most influential women in biomedicine by Nature magazine, she had built a career that seamlessly blended clinical excellence with social activism. As a person of Indian American descent raised in the Sikh religious tradition, her work centered on what she calls “decolonial theory” – examining how colonialism and structural racism impact healthcare outcomes, according to court documents cited by NBC News.

After completing her residency in internal medicine at UCSF in 2007, Marya joined the faculty and spent the past five years focusing exclusively on patient care. Her expertise extended beyond the hospital walls: California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to the Healthy California for All Commission in 2021, an initiative to advance universal healthcare in the state. She co-authored the acclaimed book “Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice” with Raj Patel, and her multifaceted talents include composition and music.

The Unraveling Begins

The troubles began in November 2023, when Marya started posting on social media about Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. As hospitals came under attack and healthcare workers were killed, she felt compelled to speak out. “Her posts take aim at state policy and supremacist political ideologies, not at any religious or ethnic group,” court documents state, according to NBC News.

But it was a September 2024 post that proved most controversial. Marya wrote that UCSF students were concerned about a first-year Israeli student who may have served in the Israel Defense Forces, asking “if he participated in the genocide of Palestinians” and seeking advice from colleagues on how to handle the situation.

The post caught the attention of California State Senator Scott Wiener, who accused Marya on social media of promoting “the same UCSF professor who promoted the ‘doctors’ plot’ – an age old antisemitic conspiracy theory that Jewish doctors are harming patients – is now targeting a 1st year med student for harassment.” UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood quickly took “immediate action,” stating that targeting community members in ways that foster hostility would not be tolerated, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Marya’s case reflects a wider crackdown on Gaza-related speech in academic institutions. The Guardian reports that the Trump administration has intensified efforts to force universities to address what it deems antisemitic activity.

Escalating Retaliation

What followed was a months-long campaign that Marya describes as systematic harassment. She was placed on leave in September 2024, and the UCSF Executive Medical Board suspended her clinical privileges on October 1, calling her a “possible imminent danger” based on her social media posts, according to NBC News. Though her privileges were reinstated two weeks later, the damage was done.

The university had begun its investigation much earlier. In November 2023, the dean of UCSF’s School of Medicine notified Marya that they would assess whether her social media activity violated university policies. By January 2024, UCSF published a statement calling certain circulating ideas a “tired and racist conspiracy theory,” and while it didn’t name Marya directly, a university official later acknowledged it was in response to her posts, according to court documents.

The professional consequences were accompanied by personal terror. After UCSF and Senator Wiener’s public statements, Marya received death threats, rape threats, and what she describes as “horrific, racist death threats.” Faculty members told her they were being asked to file false reports about her clinical behavior – a particularly painful allegation for someone with no patient safety incidents in 23 years of practice.

Perhaps most troubling to Marya was the stark contrast in how UCSF handled different types of threats against her. In 2020, when she received threats while writing “Inflamed” and speaking about COVID-19 protection for vulnerable populations, university security officials proactively met with her to discuss safety measures. But when the threats escalated around her Gaza-related posts, “UCSF didn’t respond when I asked for help,” she told Democracy Now. When they finally did respond after 10 days, it was to inform her she was under investigation for her protected speech.

Following the Money

Marya’s investigation into these disparate responses led to disturbing discoveries about institutional connections. She learned that UCSF’s largest donor, the Diller Foundation, also contributes to Senator Wiener and has donated to the Canary Mission – a controversial website that documents pro-Palestinian activists and has alleged ties to the Israeli government. The Trump administration has reportedly used the site’s database to identify students for potential deportation.

In May 2024, UCSF fired Marya despite her requests for a hearing. Her attorney, Mark Kleiman, argues that dismissing her violated both her free speech rights and proper university procedures. “Firing Dr. Marya doesn’t only violate her right to free speech, it threatens all of us,” Kleiman said in a statement to NBC News.

The two lawsuits Marya filed this week take different approaches: one is a First Amendment lawsuit claiming constitutional violations, while the other is a civil rights case alleging discrimination based on her support for Palestinian rights and marginalized communities’ healthcare access.

A Broader Chill

Marya’s case reflects a wider crackdown on Gaza-related speech in academic institutions. The Guardian reports that the Trump administration has intensified efforts to force universities to address what it deems antisemitic activity, with the Department of Education warning Columbia University it could lose accreditation over alleged violations of federal anti-discrimination laws.

Meanwhile, the war in Gaza continues to exact a devastating toll. The Guardian reports that Israel’s military campaign has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians and leveled much of the territory. Last week alone, at least 31 Palestinians were killed when Israeli forces opened fire near a food distribution center in Rafah.

Despite losing her career, Marya remains defiant. More than 1,000 healthcare workers and students have signed open letters demanding her reinstatement and condemning UCSF’s suppression of political expression. For Marya, this support represents something larger than her individual case.

“Solidarity is the only thing we have. It’s our superpower to fight authoritarianism, fascism and this kind of racist repression,” she told Democracy Now. “I ask for all healthcare workers around the world to stand in solidarity with me, because my fight is our fight, and our fight is for the liberation of Palestine and our collective liberation.”

The question now is whether the courts will agree that her termination violated fundamental principles of free speech and academic freedom, or whether institutions can continue to silence voices that challenge powerful interests. For Marya, the stakes extend far beyond her own career: “We cannot do our jobs without our voices. Doctors need our voices. Our healthcare workers need our voices to advocate for the health of all people.”

As she prepares for what may be a lengthy legal battle, Marya’s message to her former colleagues remains clear: healthcare workers have not just a right, but a moral obligation to speak out against the destruction of medical infrastructure and the targeting of civilians, wherever it occurs. Whether that principle will be upheld by the courts – and protected by academic institutions – remains to be seen.