An anti-Israel student group is sponsoring a lecture sunny downstate On Wednesday the Medical Center in Brooklyn accused the Israelis of carrying out health care “genocide” in Gaza – drawing outrage from Jewish doctors who said it amounted to propaganda and a “blood libel” against Jews.
Event – Co-Sponsored by Students for Justice in Palestine – The title is “Crimes against humanity: The destruction of Palestinian healthcare in the continuing legacy of ongoing genocide and colonialism.”
Guest speakers include doctors. Firoz Sidhwa, Simon Fitzgerald, Abdel Aziz Al Bawab, and lawyer Diala Shammas – who will also testify against the “genocide” of Gazans and “war crimes” they claim Israel is committing.
Doctors with the Jewish American Medical Association said the one-sided panel smacked of “medical propaganda” and anti-Semitism imposed on Israeli Jews.
Sidhwa, one of the panelists, cared for patients in hospitals in the Gaza Strip for two weeks between March and April.
one in New York Times opinionHe wrote about the treatment of children shot in the head in a dangerous, disaster area under Israeli bombardment.
“One of the many things that stood out to me about working in a hospital in Gaza was this: Almost every day when I went there, I would see a newborn baby who had been shot in the head or chest, literally in their All were gone. Thirteen in total. At the time, I assumed it was the work of a particularly sadistic soldier located nearby,” Sidhwa wrote in the article.
“But after returning home, I met an emergency medicine physician who had worked in a different hospital in Gaza two months before me. I told him, “I couldn’t believe the number of kids I saw getting shot in the head.” To my surprise, he replied: “Yeah, me too.” Every day.'”
Yael Halas, president of the American Jewish Medical Association and a New York doctor, claimed that Sidva was accusing Israeli soldiers of targeting children.
“This is anti-Semitic. This is a blood libel inflicted on the Jewish nation. This is medical propaganda,” Halas told The Post.
Irving Raphael, a retired orthopedist who conducted his medical training at SUNY Upstate Hospital in Syracuse and is a member of the Jewish Medical Association, said he has complained about similar Israel-bashing incidents at that campus.
He said the phrase “settler colonialism” used to promote the event is code for those who do not recognize Israel, the Jewish homeland, or its right to exist.
“This is a disregard for history. This is blatant anti-Semitism. This is propaganda,” Rafael said.
“I am disappointed but not surprised that SUNY has not taken stronger action against this incident.”
SUNY Downstate acknowledged in a statement that the SPJ-sponsored event would take place.
“To be clear this is not a program sponsored by the administration at SUNY Downstate. Any event that promotes hatred, bigotry, or anti-Semitism is abhorrent and does not represent the values of SUNY,” said a spokesperson for SUNY Downstate.
“Campus leadership is aware of the incident and will monitor the situation closely to ensure that all content-neutral time, place, and manner restrictions are followed. The safety of our campus community is our top priority.”
The national Students for Justice in Palestine group and several individual chapters have applauded Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
SJP has been involved in numerous anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests on and off college campuses.
It has 275 chapters in the US and Canada, including SUNY Downstate.
The Anti-Defamation League, a top Jewish civil rights watchdog group, said that Students for Justice in Palestine “has justified terrorist attacks against Israel, particularly the Hamas-led October 7 attack, by engaging in anti-Semitic rhetoric and propaganda.” and is a major campus organizer of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign and anti-Israel protests on university campuses.”
“It has been a central organizing node for student encampments spreading across American universities and colleges in the spring and summer of 2024, amid a rise in anti-Semitic activity and sentiment on American college campuses.”
Some colleges – including Columbia University – is suspended or banned SJP from campuses for rule-breaking activity as anti-Semitism has increased on college campuses across the country.
Elsewhere in the Empire State, the University of Rochester said Tuesday it is investigating vandalism that included threatening “wanted” posters bearing the faces of Jewish professors and others that were posted across campus.
“This act is disturbing, divisive, and intimidating… We view it as a form of anti-Semitism that will not be tolerated at our university. This is not who we are. It goes against everything we stand for and we have an obligation to reject it,” said Mangelsdorf, president of the University of Rochester.
Governor Kathy Hochul has condemned anti-Semitism on campus and launched a study to prevent Jew-hatred and other discrimination. City University of New York,
“When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, they committed a terrible act of terror. A spokesperson for Hochul said, Governor Hochul strongly condemns anyone who glorifies terrorism and believes that hateful discourse has no place in New York State.
“Since taking office, Governor Hochul has changed state law to crack down on hate crimes and will continue to do everything possible to keep New Yorkers safe.”
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