Terminally Ill: Medical Journal Infected With Anti-Israel Bias
July 7, 2011 15:10 by Simon Plosker
The UK medical journal, The Lancet, has returned to its annual Israel-bashing issue exploring health conditions in the Palestinian territories.
Last year, the journal employed active supporters of the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel as supposedly expert commentators on the situation, which earned it a 2010 Dishonest Reporter Award. Lancet editor Richard Horton even posted a snide response aimed at HonestReporting.
This year, it has, for the most part, toned down the politics in favor of medical analysis.
One article, however, shows that the Lancet has not dropped its political campaign against Israel. This standout piece, highlighted by the Palestinian Ma’an News Agency, deals with “Childbirth at checkpoints in the occupied Palestinian territory“. As Richard Horton puts it in his overview of the reports:
A legal analysis of the evidence of denial of free movement for Palestinian women in labour and the consequences for their children supports the conclusion that Israel’s policy “is consistent with the criteria for crimes against humanity”.
While we do not question that the need for IDF checkpoints may very well affect freedom of movement to the detriment of the Palestinian population, we do take serious issue with the highly politicized interpretations of the article’s author Halla Shoaibi:
The denial of passage to Palestinian women in labour, resulting in increased numbers of childbirths at checkpoints and en route to the hospital, is consistent with the criteria for crimes against humanity in accordance with article 7(1)(k) of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – ie, “other inhuman acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering or serious injury to body or to mental or physical health”, and meets with the presence of “widespread or systematic attack directed against any civilian population”. Further research is needed to assess whether and how such a case could be made to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
We can save Shoaibi the need for further research. The accusation above contends that Israeli forces are causing suffering to pregnant women with intent to do so. This is an absurd and particularly vicious canard that purposely ignores the reasons behind Israeli checkpoints in the first place and promotes a view of Israeli soldiers as being inherently evil.
Shoaibi fails to mention the well-documented Palestinian abuse of ambulances and medical facilities to transport and harbor terrorists. And what about female Palestinian suicide bombers disguising themselves as pregnant women?
The Lancet’s absurd and unsupportable conclusion that Israel is intentionally trying to harm pregnant Palestinian women is a form of demonization that crosses the line from reasonable criticism, especially from a medical journal. Perhaps it is really The Lancet that is intentionally trying to harm Israel’s image in the world arena and the medical profession. At the very least, the credibility of this supposedly respectable journal continues to be harmed by its exploitation of medical research to serve a narrow political goal.
If you are a certified medical professional, please administer a dose of medicine by sending your considered comments to The Lancet’s Ombudsman, Charles Warlow – ombudsman@lancet.com
Check out our Home Page for today’s other top stories
Terminally Ill: | ..meanwhile on the background!
6:47 am
Jul 09, 2011
[...] Read More [...]
Agree or Disagree:
1 
0
Therealtruth
7:45 am
Jul 09, 2011
There are what, 157 Arab Muslim states and countries and their population and wealth is the largest and most expansive in the world. They have something called “Alms” for the poor, so
where is all this money for their billions of people? Why must any Arabs living near Israel even have to go to an Israeli hospital when Muslim leaders and even this USA leader has contributed billions to the Palestinians to allegedly help them and yet where are the hospitals and scores of Arab doctors who can come to their aid (especially with the bursting population problem they have in these countries-in their OWN territories for their own people. Leave tiny Israel out of it, it should not have to be their responsibility to help the ever-increasing Arab/Muslim population, it should be the Arabs who produce the population. The US has given them enough to build many hospitals and clean up their acts as to living in squalor and creating generations who are raised on pure hatred and lies towards neighbors who have saved many of their lives when their own countries wouldn’t let the Arabs in for help as Israel did. Remember when israel helped that Palestinian woman who was badly burned? They saved her life and took great care of her and when she healed, her so-called “THANKS” was to come back to the hospital with bombs strapped on to blow up the doctors and all the innocent people at the hospital. History’s already shown how devious and brutal the Islamic mindset is. They use mosques to fight behind, they use ambulances, they go straight to women and children (with babies) in their car seats and shoot them dead on, they steal IDF uniforms and have murdered dozens of couples, and thousands by their
bombs, snipers, rockets plus their preaching has been nothing but bloody hate-filled of which they teach their children from the time these tots can even talk. That’s no way to ever achieve any kind of peace by anyone, anywhere! Where (ONCE AGAIN) are the true
writers in the MEDIA who come forth and written HONEST articles detailing opinions from BOTH, not just the Islamic SIDE?! If they have problems with going to Israel for medical
attention, then they should go their own countries’ medical facilities. In fact, it even makes sense. The writers of the LANCET and other such anti-semetic magazines are only cutting their noses to spite their faces. Let the Islamic people help their own, they’ve got money, they’ve got their Kings, their Sheiks, their Imams, their clerics, their warlords, and so many hate-filled other people of other lands who would gladly give to these people. Leave Israel alone!
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
87 
3
Beverly Kurtin
2:45 am
Jul 11, 2011
Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
The money that has been sent to them? Squandered by their “leadership.” A story is told of an Arab boy who had seen both Arafat and Sharon. Arafat was driving a Rolls or a Bentley and was wearing a Rolex. Sharon was driving a Japanese compact, and was wearing a Timex. That shook the boy’s confidence in Arab “leaders.” Virtually ever cent that is sent into Arab hands passes through their “leader’s” bladders. The people never see a cent of the billions of dollars that have been wasted on them.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
48 
2
Yochanan
11:10 am
Jul 09, 2011
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Agree or Disagree:
0 
10
Beverly Kurtin
2:22 am
Jul 10, 2011
Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye…Islam has ONE and only ONE mandatory command: Kill all Jews no matter where on earth a Muslim finds them. They are inherently liars. They do not care what they say to further their desires. “Pregnant” women have been homicide bombers, ambulances have been used to transport weapons and have also been used as a platform for murder. If the Lancet does not like Israel’s NECESSARY slow down of enemies who wish to cross Israel so that they can be examined for explosives, etc. then LET THE PEOPLE WHO WRITE THAT ISRAEL IS GUILTY OF CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY GET THEIR BEHINDS OVER TO THE TERRITORIES THE ARABS ARE IN AND PERFORM L&D DUTIES AT THE CHECKPOINTS. (L&D = labor and delivery.)
Each and every Arab country is both APARTHEID AND PERMITS NO JEWS IN ITS BOUNDARIES WITH THE EXCEPTION of Jordan and Egypt.
The British are well known antisemites; their motto seems to be that when Israel is mentioned, make it as sdrawkcab as possible. Personally, I loath the British and always have. Their connection to Nazi Germany should be more widely known that it already is.
The Lancet is full of steer stool.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
42 
2
David Hamilton
3:40 pm
Jul 10, 2011
Beverly, I agree with much of your comments, but please don,t condemn ALL brits.
There is much in our media truly sympathetic to Israel’s cause but unfortunately those who seek to condemn are horribly vociferous.However, many non-Jewish groups are truly supportive, and such groups, their followers, and many individuals who are open and supportive deserve our thanks, and do not deserve your global condemnation
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
28 
0
Beverly Kurtin
2:30 am
Jul 11, 2011
You’re absolutely right, David; I apologize for my blanket and ignorant remark. I guess the loudest voices get heard and it just rubs me the wrong way. Realizing that, what, if anything, can the decent people of Great Britain do to get their points across to the various media that constantly seems to blast Israel for just about everything including the Big Bang?
Forgive my ignorance about what y’all may be doing. (I’m a Texan through and through.) The easy thing is to blame the people and forget who is really trying to cause trouble.
Again, I apologize. Sometimes my angst overrides my common sense. Cheerio!
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
21 
0
Yehezkel Meizel
10:00 am
Jul 10, 2011
Note that there are birth facilities in the Arab occupied territories.
These women choose to go to Israeli facilities because they get better care than they would in their own facilities. So much for racism.
If there were to be an independant Palestinian state, where would these women go?
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
51 
0
alan m.
2:53 pm
Jul 10, 2011
I recall that Israel wanted to place a “portable” hspital at the Gaza strip border to attend to injured, sick, child-bearing Gazaites but Hamas threw cold water on that plan.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
32 
0
Denis MacEoin
3:13 am
Jul 14, 2011
I wrote a letter to the Lancet’s Ombudsman and am waiting for a reply, if I get one. One point I made was that the article implies that forcing women to have home births was putting them and their babies at risk. This is complete bollocks. Study after study has shown that home births are at least as safe as hospital births, if not better. It’s still a controversial area, but that basically holds true. This means that sending the women home to give birth was not endangering them in the least. There are also issues about why wmen were coming to the checkpoints when on the point of labour anyway.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
8 
0
Chaya
11:18 am
Jul 14, 2011
I wrote something on The Lancet’s FB page and added the video of that woman who disguised herself as pregnant but she had a suicide belt on her.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
10 
0
Steven Kalka
3:10 am
Jul 15, 2011
The only use Lancet has for Jews is on the cross.
Agree or Disagree:
5 
2
patricia jones
8:00 am
Jul 17, 2011
WELL PUT POINTS OF VIEW HERE – AND IT IS KUDOS TO BEVERLY KURTIN FOR HAVING THE DECENCY TO RECOGNISE THAT MOST BRITS DO NOT SHARE IN THE ANTI- SEMETIC FEELINGS THAT ARE BEING DISPLAYED BY THE LANCET AND OTHERS IGNORANT OF THE TRUTH.
MY FATHER FOUGHT IN WW2 ALONGSIDE MANY JEWS……THEY WERE OUR FELLOW COMPATRIOTS. I COULD VERY EASILY HATE THE GERMANS FOR WHAT THEY DID TO OUR COUNTRY AND OUR PEOPLE BUT I DO NOT. IT IS TIME TO MOVE ON – NEVER FORGET – BUT MOVE ON.
Agree or Disagree:
3 
0