An article in the Toronto Star, published on November 25, 2023, written by Shrree Pardakar and titled “Health Workers Feel a ‘Culture of Silencing'” provides further evidence of the Canadian persecution of those who defend Palestinians, this time in the medical field. I will simply type the article over a series of days in parts.
Freedom and rights. Life and death. As Israel leaves Gaza in blood-soaked dust and imperils the right to life there, the freedom to denounce it is becoming increasingly repressed in Canada.
Under these circumstances, it’s not surprising that several Ontario doctors who are facing repercussions for supporting Palestinian rights were nervous speaking to me. Some said they feared reprisals, others said they did not want to exacerbate delicate work relationships.
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There’s also an abundance of over-scrutiny and low-level harassment behind the scenes.
Some came after a coalition named Health Workers Alliance for Palestine released an open letter this month calling on Israel to stop bombing hospitals in Gaza.
“There are no circumstances in which health facilities, patients and health care workers can be viewed as legitimate targets of military operations. Israel’s war crimes must stop immediately,” the Nov. 10 petition reads in part.
It was signed by more than 3,000 professionals from across the country. Since its release, many of the signatories have said they are facing professional repercussions. They’ve been hauled up by higher-ups, told there were complaints lodged against them and accused of making Jewish colleagues feel unsafe.
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A medical student with a prominent university in Ontario who signed that letter said he received intimidating comments from colleagues asking why he’d written the letter.
One of them told him anti-Zionism was equivalent to antisemitism. Another said he was “disgusted” to be his colleague. “Essentially, pro-Palestinian voices or … any advocacy for Palestinian human rights has been essentially vilified and turned into something that it’s not and it’s disheartening.”
That the university has said nothing is even more disheartening, he said. “I feel it continues to contribute to the culture of silencing.”
Brooding institutional silence becomes clear when discretion is involved. Many hospitals and institutions, doctors say, have failed to acknowledge the atrocities that are occurring in Palestine. They refuse to use the word “Palestine” in internal communications or even the term “Palestinian people.”
In Ge’s case, University of Ottawa spokesperson Jesse Robichaud said: “As per the prescribed procedures, interim measures were put into place and the matter was referred to the Faculty of Medicine Postgraduate Professionalism Subcommittee. Every effort is underway to ensure a timely treatment of this case and due process.”
Is the university seriously going to spend its resources pondering whether a doctor who seeks human rights for all including Palestinians–while strongly criticizing Israeli actions–is suggestive of a doctor who wouldn’t provide fair care in Canada? By that token, are doctors who support Ukrainians not offering fair care to patients of Russian origin? Is this how health care insitutitions are going to go about tackling established medical racism? Based on geopolitical opinions of the day?
In what world is doctors saying “stop killing” or “don’t bomb hospitals” contradicting their professional, moral and ethical obligations?
A petititon seeking Ge’s reinstatement has garnered 85,000 signatures. A coalition of labour groups launched the Palestine Legal Referral Services this week consisting of more than 50 lawyers offering counsel for those being penalized for supporting Palestine. That it has come to this is tragic.
There is a definite chill in the air, and it has nothing to do with the weather.
The Abolitionary 