‘Baseless and libelous’ allegations, ‘rumors’ behind decision, Israeli student says
Scholars across the world are calling on the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations to reverse a recent decision suspending its Israel chapter.
The federation, which represents more than 1.5 million medical students worldwide, voted to suspend the Federation of Israeli Medical Students for two years during its General Assembly meeting on Aug. 6.
The Israeli group is accused of “threats against medical students, online harassment and hate speech,” a federation news release states.
The suspension does not revoke the group’s membership, and representatives still may attend international federation meetings as observers, according to the release.
The federation asked for “respect” for its decision, adding that “any supposition that FIMS has been removed from IFMSA and/or silenced constitute misinformation.”
But Miri Shvimmer, a medical student and chairwoman of the Israeli group, said in a statement the suspension was based on “baseless and libelous” allegations and “rumors.”
Shvimmer said some also brought up “the fact that members of the Israeli medical students’ organization serve in the Israeli military.”
What’s more, she said their group only learned of the allegations 10 minutes before the vote.
“When we were given the opportunity to present our perspective, half of the delegates left the room, including many members of the executive board, and those participating online were unable to hear our arguments because the live stream was paused,” Shvimmer said.
Medical scholars across the world are calling for the suspension to be reversed.
In an X post this week, University of Toronto Professor Emeritus Peter Singer described the vote as a “terrible decision” that “delegitimizes Israel by punishing medical students: the very young people needed to build a peaceful future for all.”
A former special advisor to the World Health Organization, Singer said the federation should “immediately” reverse the suspension, calling it “prejudicial and procedurally flawed.” He is not to be confused with the retired Princeton University philosophy professor of the same name.
Dr. Mark Silverberg, a gastroenterologist and professor at the University of Toronto, wrote on X that it will lead to “more division” and “hate.”
“And it’s starting at the earliest stages of medicine. What other country’s medical students are treated this way?” Silverberg wrote.
In the U.S., a leader of the medical organization Do No Harm also condemned the vote.
“This is yet another example of pervasive antisemitism in medicine, unprecedented and founded on baseless accusations of ‘genocide’ and ‘occupation,’” Senior Fellow Dr. Jared Ross said in a statement Thursday.
Ross said his organization joins others in Israel, Germany, Italy, and Luxemburg “in calling for a formal investigation of this blatant discrimination.”
Meanwhile, Israeli medical leaders are trying to get the decision reversed, according to Israel National News:
The chairman of the Israeli Medical Association, Prof. Zion Hagai, is working to cancel the suspension.
The decision can only be overturned by a two-thirds majority at the General Assembly of the federation, which will be held next year in August 2025 and the year after in August 2026.
Minister of Health Uriel Busso responded, “The outrageous decision is a badge of shame and disgrace for the medical world. It is a political decision made without any factual basis and contrary to all moral and ethical principles, giving a boost to terrorist organizations. I intend to act with all relevant parties to cancel the severe decision.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish advocacy group based in Los Angeles, said the students are being punished because of an alleged crime by their government — one that it did not commit.
Meanwhile, the federation is “silent on actual genocides perpetrated by other governments,” including China, “which is actively destroying Uyghur culture,” Cooper said in a statement this week.
Nor has the federation suspended “medical students from Iran, whose national policy is the extermination of Israel,” he said.
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