Jewish doctors intervene
'AMSA deeply regrets any pain, anxiety and fear caused by a recent social media statement regarding the current conflict in the Middle East,' said president, Tish Sivagnanan.
The Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) has apologised for what’s been called an appalling statement on the Israel–Hamas conflict.
The statement was put out by AMSA Crossing Borders, an affiliated subgroup which deals with issues around the health of refugees.
“Crossing Borders unequivocally stands with the Palestinian people in the face of Israel’s genocidal assault and complete siege on Gaza, the latest horror in 75 years of oppression and colonialism for Palestinians. As medical students, we have a particular responsibility to take a stand against the worsening war crimes that Israel is committing in Gaza,” the original statement said.
It has now been withdrawn and replaced.
Jack Green (pictured), president of the Australasian Jewish Medical Federation (AJMF), said the phrase was highly inappropriate, one sided, factually incorrect and emotive.
He said there was also a lack of recognition of Israeli suffering due to the heinous Hamas crimes committed.
“This is one of several inappropriate statements that have been made in medical circles since the commencement of the conflict which is a concern to Jewish medical practitioners, some who don’t feel completely comfortable in their work environments at present,” he said.
The AJMF president said this incident has been disturbing for Jewish medical students in Australia as it appeared to be a biased statement from their representative body.
“Jewish medical students here in Australia currently don’t feel safe,” he said.
After formal complaints from Jewish doctors, AMSA issued an apology.
“AMSA deeply regrets any pain, anxiety and fear caused by a recent social media statement regarding the current conflict in the Middle East released by Crossing Borders,” said the organisation’s president, Tish Sivagnanan.
She said the post was released without going through AMSA’s standard protocols and without any prior knowledge or approval by AMSA’s leadership, thus missing the rigorous review processes they have in place.
“As soon as the AMSA executive became aware of the issue, immediate action was taken to coordinate an urgent internal response resulting in the removal of the statement from all public and internal platforms.
“We are evaluating our internal processes with urgency, and will take extensive action to ensure this does not happen again.”