An anti-Israel student group is sponsoring a lecture Wednesday at the State University of New York Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn accusing Israelis of committing medical “genocide” in Gaza, calling it propaganda and This has provoked the anger of Jewish doctors who claim that this is a “blood libel'' against the government.
The event, co-sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine, is titled “Crimes Against Humanity: The Destruction of Palestinian Healthcare in the Ongoing Genocide and the Continued Legacy of Settler Colonialism.”
Guest speakers include Drs. Feroze Sidhwa, Simon Fitzgerald, Abdel Aziz al-Bawab and lawyer Diara Shamas have also accused Israel of the “genocide” of Gazans and the “war crimes” they claim are being committed by Israel. He plans to testify in opposition.
Physicians from the Jewish American Medical Association said the one-sided panel reeked of “medical propaganda” and anti-Semitism directed at Israeli Jews.
Sidwa, one of the panelists, spent two weeks in March and April caring for patients in a hospital in the Gaza Strip.
in New York Times opinion piecehe wrote about the treatment of children shot in the head in a dangerous disaster zone under Israeli artillery fire.
“There are many things that stood out to me while working in a hospital in Gaza, but one of them was that almost every day I was in the hospital, I saw young children who had been shot in the head or chest; That means everyone died.'' Death. Total of 13 pieces. At the time, I thought this must be the work of a particularly sadistic soldier nearby,” Sidhwa wrote in the article.
“But after I returned, I met an emergency medicine doctor who had worked at another hospital in Gaza two months earlier. “I couldn't believe the number of children who had been shot in the head,” I told him. said. To my surprise, he replied: “Yeah, me too.” Every day. ”
Yael Harraas, president of the Jewish Medical Association of America and a New York physician, argued that Sidfa was accusing Israeli soldiers of targeting children.
“It's anti-Semitism. It's a blood libel against the Jewish people. It's medical propaganda,” Halas told the Post.
Irving Raphael, a former orthopedic surgeon who completed his medical training at SUNY Upstate Hospital in Syracuse and a member of the Jewish Medical Association, said he has complained about similar Israel-bashing incidents on the same campus. said.
He said the phrase “settler colonialism” used to promote the event was code for those who do not recognize Israel, the Jewish homeland or its right to exist.
“It's a disregard for history. It's blatant anti-Semitism. It's propaganda,” Rafael said.
“We are disappointed, but not surprised, that SUNY did not take stronger action in response to this incident.”
SUNY Downstate confirmed in a statement that the SPJ-sponsored event will take place.
“To be clear, this is not an event sponsored by SUNY administration. Any event that promotes hatred, bigotry, or anti-Semitism is offensive and does not represent SUNY values. No,” a SUNY Downstate spokesperson said.
“Campus leadership is aware of this incident and will be closely monitoring the situation to ensure that all content-neutral time, location, and etiquette restrictions are followed. The safety of our campus community is our top priority. is.”
The National Palestinian Justice Students Group and several chapters praised Hamas' October 7, 2023 invasion of Israel.
SJP has participated in numerous anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian protests on and off university campuses.
It has 275 chapters in the United States and Canada, including the State University of New York, New York.
The Anti-Defamation League, the top Jewish civil rights watchdog, said that Students for Justice in Palestine “justifies terrorist attacks against Israel, particularly the Hamas-led October 7 onslaught, and uses anti-Semitic rhetoric. and propaganda, and is a major organizer of defamation on campus.” Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns and anti-Israel protests on college campuses. ”
“It became a central organizing node for student camps that proliferated across U.S. universities in the spring and summer of 2024, amid rising anti-Semitic activity and sentiment on U.S. college campuses.”
With anti-Semitism on the rise on college campuses across the country, some universities, including Columbia University, have suspended or banned SJP from their campuses for violating their rules.
Elsewhere in the Empire State, the University of Rochester said Tuesday it was investigating vandalism in which Jewish professors and others' faces were plastered on threatening “wanted” posters posted on campus.
“This behavior is disturbing, divisive, and intimidating…We consider this anti-Semitism and will not tolerate it on campus. This is not who we are. This goes against everything we stand for. We have an obligation to reject it,” said University of Rochester President Mangelsdorf.
Gov. Cathy Hochul condemned anti-Semitism on campus and commissioned a study from the City University of New York to prevent anti-Jewish hatred and other forms of discrimination.
“When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, they committed a horrific act of terrorism. We believe there is no room for this,” a Hochul spokesperson said.
“Since taking office, Governor Hochul has reformed state law to crack down on hate crimes and will continue to take every step possible to keep New Yorkers safe.”
