Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes British Medical Association’s statement condemning antisemitism
Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomes the statement released by the British Medical Association (BMA) condemning antisemitism and racism.
The BMA is the trade union and professional body for doctors and medical students in Britain, and its statement comes in the wake of multiple instances of antisemitism over the past fortnight, which include mezuzahs being vandalised in Borehamwood, a rabbi in Essex being assaulted and hospitalised, and a convoy of cars that drove down the Finchley Road shouting “F*** the Jews…rape their daughters” through a megaphone.
In its statement, the BMA said: “Recent events internationally and in the UK have brought to the fore how differences in ethnicity, faith and culture can be used as a justification for hate and violence. Shameful acts of antisemitism and incitements to violence against Jewish people witnessed in recent days, on the streets of the UK and on social media, run contrary to a key ethical principle for doctors to do no harm. Antisemitism and racial discrimination harms people and harms communities. We empathise with the negative impact these events have had on our Jewish members. Therefore, we have and will continue to affirm that hate in all forms is unacceptable. Whether by doctors or towards doctors; from patients, other doctors, or any healthcare professional. Antisemitism and any form of racial discrimination is unacceptable and to maintain the trust of our patients and colleagues, the BMA affirms that we cannot achieve equality for some without equality for all.”
A spokesperson for the Jewish Medical Association told Campaign Against Antisemitism: “Racism – structural, institutional or plain and simple personal – can take many different forms and guises. Antisemitism is one type of racism. One doesn’t have to look different to be subject to racism. And doctors are at least as likely as anyone else to be subjected to racism, including antisemitism. Sadly, some doctors and some patients are perpetrators of antisemitism. Ignoring antisemitism as racism is unacceptable.
“Against this background, the Jewish Medical Association (UK), in supporting Jewish medical professionals and students in the UK, welcomes the forthright recognition of this issue by the British Medical Association in their recent statement. We are saddened that it has been necessary for the BMA to publish this statement about tolerance and respect, but it is clearly needed and we call upon other national organisations to adopt this as their model.”
Other unions have come under fire for their stance on recent antisemitism-infested demonstrations, with Jewish members quitting one union en masse in protest.
