The world is burning. 40,000 Palestinians, overwhelmingly women, babies, children, and the elderly, have been killed in cold blood by Israel in the last eight months. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) labelled the murders “plausible genocide”. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is going to issue arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu and his minister of defence, Yoam Gallant.
A week ago the ICJ ruled that the Israeli Occupation cease its military operations in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip “immediately”.
“Israel must immediately halt its military offensive, and any other action in the Rafah Governorate, which may inflict on the Palestinian group in Gaza conditions of life that could bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part,” the court said in its ruling.
At this point, I need to point out that the ranks of those defending Palestinians are full of Jews. However, what are some Canadian medical schools and major universities– as well as some Jewish doctors and Israel advocates within them doing? They are desperately trying to silence anyone who supports Palestine. What is worse, they sometimes succeed.
Case of Dr Yipeng Ge
Dr Yipeng Ge is a doctor who was finishing a medical residency in public health medicine in Ottawa. In the fall of 2023, an associate professor in the University of Ottawa medical faculty, Dr Yoni Freedhoff (who is Jewish) took offence at some social media posts written by Dr Yipeng Ge about Israel’s war on Gaza and drew attention to them. Freedhoff called Ge’s messages antisemitic and genocidal against Jews. Dr Ge, who had served in Gaza with Doctors Without Borders, noted “I had the opportunity to visit Palestine earlier this year. What I saw with my own eyes was a system of apartheid and system of oppression.”
On Dr Freedhoff’s Substack page, which he shared on social media, Freedhoff posted an article that focused on Dr Ge’s posts and called them an example of “antisemitism.” Dr Freedhoff displayed screenshots of what he said came from Dr Ge’s social media accounts, though at least some posts appear to have since been removed.
Dr Freedhoff denounced posters Dr Ge posted as “explicitly equating zionism with the genocide of Palestinians.”
As a result, Dr Ge was suspended in the final year of his five-year residency program. He was suspended in November 2023. After a three-month long investigation by the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine, his employer offered to reinstate him. But Dr Ge received no apology and no recognition that the Faculty of Medicine had done anything wrong. Dr Ge refused to return to his residency program and is now looking for other opportunities.
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA), the professional organization that represents Canada’s 75,000 physicians, also suspended Dr Ge in early November 2023. Dr Ge was the one medical resident representative on the board. He accused CMA leadership of “bullying, harassment, and intimidation” related to his posts. He resigned his seat in late December 2023. Dr Ge said,
“I have substantial concerns related to the actions of the CMA leadership that has created an unsafe environment for me on the board … To equate what I was doing [posts about Israeli genocide] to rising antisemitism around the world is really, really hurtful and also untrue… That narrative to support Palestinians in their call for equality … to call that antisemitism, I think, does no one any good.”
In a podcast interview with The Fulcrum (the University of Ottawa’s English-language student newspaper) Dr Ge commented that he saw
“a pattern of silencing and extremely negative and harmful rhetoric about people speaking about very decent things, health and human rights for Palestinians in the context of the ongoing genocide in Gaza. [People in power are] using different tactics and means to take down people whether it be medical students or [medical] residents—they’re being taken down in certain ways.”
Below: Dr Yipeng Ge (Canadianmuslims.ca); Dr Ben Thomson; Dr Ritika Goel (MD program, U of T) ; Dr Gem Newman (thedailyscrumnews.com); encampment at the Studley Campus of Dalhousie University, since mid-May (credit: Lauren Phillips/The Coast)
Case of Dr Ben Thomson
Dr Ben Thomson, a nephrologist at the Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital north of Toronto was suspended for a month from his job – a couple of weeks after 7 Oct. — because of his social media posts in favour of Palestinians’ rights. But to CBC News, Mackenzie Health said that “it is false to suggest Dr. Thomson was suspended for his views,” yet did not give details. Dr Thomson, like Dr Ge, had volunteered as a doctor on humanitarian posts abroad in Uganda and in Gaza.
There was no impartial investigation of Thomson before or after his suspension. The hospital presumed that his posts were inherently antisemitic because they sought to humanize Palestinians, which speaks to the dangers in criticizing Israel. Yet, Thomson’s tweet did not incite hate nor target anyone based on their religious belief, ethnicity, or race but sought to correct misinformation and oppose language that justified violence against Palestinians. Somehow, doctors merely trying to save lives (as prescribed in the Hippocratic Oath) are considered by some to be antisemitic. More than 14,000 people signed a petition by Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East (JPME) for Thomson’s immediate reinstatement.
“No babies were beheaded… you repeat this nonsense out of racism. In the meantime, Palestinians are experiencing genocide and war crimes and you are silent.”
Dr Thomson, 10 Oct. 2023
Dr Thomson wrote on 10 Oct, “No babies were beheaded… You repeat this nonsense out of racism. In the meantime, Palestinians are experiencing genocide and war crimes and you are silent. History will judge you very badly.”
From that point on he was fair game for attacks on social media by at least one colleague, an Emergency room doctor, Gil Nimni. Referring to Thomson, Nimni posted on X, “…saying 6 million didn’t die at the hands of Nazis … This I believe is called conduct unbecoming of a physician.” Another doctor accused Thomson of denying the Holocaust, while another stated Thomson denied “the trauma of victims of these unspeakable crimes” (in reference to the Holocaust).
In response, Thomson wrote, “Death of civilians is without a doubt horrible and unacceptable. However, inciting genocide by dehumanizing Palestinians is also unacceptable.”
Thomson’s post was also shared by an account called Documenting Antisemitism (now taken down) in Canada, which asked, “Do you trust this ghoul to provide safe patient care to Jewish patients?”
Somehow, to some people, questioning early Israeli reports on October 7 that later proved unfounded, is akin to Holocaust denial. Wonders will never cease.
“If you do not remove [your post about Israel], I advise you and the rest of your staff to stay out of your office.”
anonymous male in a threatening phone call to the hospital
Yet an anonymous man – whom the police apparently never found –called the hospital and left this message:
“This message is for Dr. Ben Thomson. Remove your post regarding Israel. It is disgusting, you are a disgusting human being, you do not know what you’re saying, and if you do not remove it, I advise you and the rest of your staff to stay out of your office.”
“We know where you live and work, pal. One eye open.”
threatening message posted on Dr Thomson’s social media
Thomson himself was threatened when his home address was published on a pro-Israel site. Further, a message posted on the site read “We know where you live and work, pal. One eye open.” Police urged Dr Thomson to leave his home and move elsewhere – for his own safety.
Eighteen colleagues pitched in to cover his salary until Dr Thomson was reinstated – but the chilling effect on his colleagues and others in the medical profession was palpable.
“Canadian Jewish Physicians” on Facebook
In Dec 2023, the CBC received screenshots of a closed Facebook group called Canadian Jewish Physicians. The screenshots show a group of members saying they have compiled a list of 271 medical students who had signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire and a stop to Israel targeting hospitals and health workers in Gaza. Some members of the Canadian Jewish Physicians want to ensure that students who signed the open letter and sympathize with Palestinians are not offered preferred residencies. “The stated intention is to share this list with program directors ahead of residency interviews.” This flies in the face of the nonprofit organization CaRMS (Canadian Residential Matching Service) process which matches newly graduated doctors with their preferred residency programs. As the CaRMS site says, “CaRMS will conduct all of its affairs according to the following values: fairness, objectivity, reliability and transparency.” Again, a group clearly identified as Jewish physicians claims credit.
Screenshots from a private Facebook group sent to CBC News by a member, in which a handful of members say they’ve compiled a list of 271 medical students who signed an open letter calling for a ceasefire and an end to targeting health-care facilities and workers in Gaza. (Canadian Jewish Physicians/Facebook)
Case of Dr Ritika Goel
In 2021, a University of Toronto doctor and faculty member was accused of “antisemitic behaviour”. Dr. Ritika Goel, is the social justice, anti-oppression and advocacy theme lead for the doctor of medicine and postgraduate training programs at the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto.
Goel was one of 3,000 health care professionals who had signed an open letter that asked Canadian health care workers to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza – where Israel had killed Palestinian doctors and bombed clinics. Friends and colleagues of Goel argued that the allegations against her were baseless and harmful to larger efforts to stamp out racism and prejudice.
Goel was the target of an anonymous letter that circulated in May 2021.
The direct attack on Goel prompted her supporters to noted that there was a “stifling” and “disingenuous” discussion on Israel and Palestine. As one supporter Dr Zac Feilchenfeld of Toronto, wrote,
“I think the claims of antisemitism against Dr. Goel are a conflation of criticizing Israel, criticizing the actions of the Israeli government and the Israeli army with antisemitism.”
More than Over 1,000 medical students, residents, and physicians formed a group, Canadian Medical Learners and Physicians, and signed an open letter in support of Dr Goel. They demanded the University of Toronto deal with “writers of The Call and to ensure that our medical school remains a place where all medical students can flourish – regardless of their background. Our students cannot flourish when inflammatory and untrue statements are made about our colleagues and our faculty.” The letter from 1,000 pointed out in part,
“Criticism of the state of Israel or the ideology that is used to justify Israel’s war crimes (as pointed out by Human Rights Watch and other reputable organizations) is not antisemitic.”
Still, the University of Toronto ignored the attacks on its own faculty member, Dr Goel, clearly hoping it would go away. Eventually, because of huge support for her in the medical school, the matter died down.
Case of Arij Al Khafagi, nursing student
In Winnipeg, Arij Al Khafagi, a fourth and final year nursing student and the president of the Nursing Students’ Association at University of Manitoba was suspended with a five-year reprimand on her academic transcript.
A week after 7 Oct, she posted this well-known cartoon and somehow that cartoon warranted suspension. Al Khafagi also re-posted a video of people searching rubble in Gaza for a missing child with a caption criticizing supporters of Israel for backing a government responsible for mass destruction and killing Palestinian civilians.
She was not allowed to finish her studies and graduate. There was nothing specific but “vague criticism” of Al Khafagi’s social media posts which opposed Israeli violence in Gaza; still she was labelled antisemitic.
It is “an unacceptable message to academically penalize a student for expressing herself.”
Manitoba MLAs Khan and Perchotte, Nov. 2023
On 23 Nov, Al Khafagi’s MLA, Conservative Obby Khan and Tory MLA Richard Perchotte, sent a joint letter to the Minister of Advanced Education and Training, Renée Cable. The letter said the suspension sent “an unacceptable message to academically penalize a student for expressing herself,” and asked Cable to work with the university to allow Al Khafagi to continue her studies, pending her appeal. One week later, both MLAs withdrew their support of Al Khafagi; they apologised for hurting the Jewish community and giving a green light to antisemitism.
Al Khafagi’s nine-week suspension was overturned and she was reinstated in January 2024 by a disciplinary panel of staff and students from the Rady Faculty of Health Sciences (at U of M). Administrators at the college said they received complaints about her Instagram posts from peers and anonymous people who accused her of “both making antisemitic comments and wider unprofessional conduct.” There was, of course, a cost. First, the notoriety of the case and being called an antisemite is particularly pernicious for someone who is going to work in the healthcare profession. Secondly, there is the chilling effect – as seen with the two MLAs — on those around Al Khafagi who tend to shrink back and likely will no longer stand up to the pro-Israel lobby.
“What we need is a culture of robust debate and not a culture of fear.”
Ben Baader, PhD, professor of History, University of Manitoba
Ben Baader, an associate professor of history at U of M who is himself an Orthodox Jew, supported Al Khafagi’s reinstatement and spoke against the school’s “broad interpretation” of antisemitism. He said the student’s posts were “forceful political commentary in a dramatic historical situation. . . What we need is a culture of robust debate and not a culture of fear.”
Case of University of Manitoba valedictorian who called for a ceasefire in Gaza
Still staying with the University of Manitoba, Dr Gem Newman gave a valedictory address on behalf of graduates at the university’s Max Rady College of Medicine at convocation two weeks ago. He referred to “the genocidal war that Israel is waging on the people of Palestine.” He urged his fellow classmates to call for an “immediate and lasting” ceasefire in Gaza.
Dr Newman insisted doctors’ voices “have power,” and called out the Canadian Medical Association, Doctors Manitoba and the Professional Association of Residents and Interns of Manitoba (PARIM) for their “deafening silence” on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“… some of you here today are worried that you might face censure for speaking about the genocidal war that Israel is waging on the people of Palestine, that it could jeopardize your career before it’s even begun. … Surely, I don’t have to remind any of you that advocacy is literally in our job description.”
Dr Gem Newman, valedictorian, Max Rady College of Medicine, U of M, 20 May 2023
Further, Dr Newman acknowledged that speaking out in favour of Palestinians was difficult. “I’m sure that some of you here today are worried that you might face censure for speaking about the genocidal war that Israel is waging on the people of Palestine, that it could jeopardize your career before it’s even begun,” Newman said to the graduating class.
“Surely, I don’t have to remind any of you that advocacy is literally in our job description.”
Unfortunately, the Max Rady Medical School’s major donor, Ernest Rady, did not agree. In 2016, Rady, a successful US businessman, donated $30 million to the medical school in memory especially of his late father Max Rady, who graduated from the U of M’s medical school in 1921 – at a time when there was a quota on Jews attending medical schools across Canada –including at U of M. Ernest Rady, who now lives in California, made his fortune in banking, finance, insurance, oil, gas and real estate in Canada and the US. When he found out about Dr Newman’s speech, he wrote a letter to the University of Manitoba’s president, chancellor, dean and faculty of the medical school. He condemned the address as “hate speech” and “lies”.
When told his comments at convocation were not appropriate and not welcome, Dr Newman said, “Every platform is an appropriate platform to call for an end to genocide.”
Philanthropist Rady made three demands: that the university edit out Newman’s speech from the convocation video recording; that the university condemn Newman’s comments as erroneous and denounce them as ”antisemitism”.
The convocation video is no longer available on the University of Manitoba site. It is reminiscent of the erasure of people from photographs a couple of generations ago.
Most targets of antisemitism are racialized people
And are these medical professionals, or doctors in training, truly antisemitic? It seems only almost all of the Establishment Jews’ targets are people of colour. As Larry Haiven notes in his article “Racialized are prime targets of Pro-Israel attacks –and its deliberate” in Canadian Dimension here, “the answer to the question ‘Who is antisemitic?’ might well be ‘Anyone, but especially a racialized person, who criticizes Israel.’” Haiven wrote, “racialized people have been special targets of pro-Israel lobby organizations in Canada because they spoke out on Palestinian rights. And these examples suggest how the defend-Israel-at-all-costs industry has a racism and Islamophobia problem.”
Partial list of who is antisemitic?
So –just for the record – who in fact is antisemitic – who is against the Jews? Well, here is a partial list according to the Jewish establishment in Canada and those who support Israel:
Filmmakers including Israel’s own filmmaker Yuval Abraham for his film No Other Land, which is about the destruction of the Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank; it won the 2024 Berlin Film Festival’s best documentary award. Abraham, a Jew, was called antisemitic. Ken Loach, Britain’s most revered and celebrated filmmaker, has also been called an antisemite.
And the thousands of Jews around the world, many of them young, who have picketed and marched and occupied and spoken out, and signed petitions. Some have put themselves in danger of professional assassination (by pro-Israel forces), to express their opposition to the genocide carried out in their name.
Featured image at the top: University of Toronto encampment (credit: toronto.ctvnews.ca)
[…] It’s another to try to silence and stop anyone who criticizes Israel. We know there are dozens of doctors, medical personnel, even a nursing student, who have been disciplined or fired from their studies or […]
Another ruined dinner party... 
[…] It’s another to try to silence and stop anyone who criticizes Israel. We know there are dozens of doctors, medical personnel, even a nursing student, who have been disciplined or fired from their studies or […]
LikeLike