Dr. David Connolly Hall III September 3, 2024

The Islands’ Weekly

David’s activism functioned as a kind of dual career. In 1979, Dr. Judith Lipton’s grand rounds description of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima convinced David to set out on a lifelong journey to abolish nuclear weapons. He and Anne joined Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility (WPSR), and by the mid-nineties David had moved from chapter president to the presidency of national Physicians for Social Responsibility. Overall, David served on the national PSR board for ten years, and on the WPSR board for 38 years, twice as chapter president. In 2023, WPSR conferred upon him its Lifetime Achievement award.

In 1993, David and Anne joined a WPSR delegation to Israel and Palestine, where they met Dr. Eyad Sarraj, the founder of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. This visit led them to eight more WPSR medical missions to Gaza, including one with Congressman Jim McDermott, wherein David confronted Yasser Arafat directly over the imprisonment and beating of Dr. Sarraj.