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
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Vic
8:13 pm
Jul 07, 2011
Israel should stop letting them into Israeli proper. Let palestinians take proper care of their own. Then, as a side effect, there wouldn’t be grounds for accusations.
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Tzipporah
10:04 pm
Jul 07, 2011
The problem with that is that all the liberal boneheads would then accuse Israel of racism and of withholding treatment.
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zg
10:46 pm
Jul 07, 2011
It’s time we should stop worrying about what any one says and believe and defend our cause with resolve. Those with malevolent intent wouldn’t be convinced either way, so we should stop trying to appease them.
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Don Krausz
9:06 pm
Jul 07, 2011
Actually, this Lancet article is a compliment to Israel. Gaza has a population of 1,604,238 people, and so it must have medical facilities. If the Gazans prefer to use Israeli hospitals, then they must have good reasons for doing so. Gaza is at war with Israel; is Israel under an obligation to provide medical care despite the known attempts by suicide bombers to kill and maim? Why would Gazans be prepared to endure the obligatory delays at checkpoints unless it is to their advantage?
I’d appreciate seeing the Lancet comment on this.
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Ron Shapiro
9:45 pm
Jul 07, 2011
Simple solution is for all Arab women to seek treatment from Arab doctors and stay in an Arab hospital. Don’t they have wonderful Arab doctor’s and hospitals in Ramallah or Gaza?
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Chaya
10:32 pm
Jul 07, 2011
Exacly. I live in NY State. If I tried to cross into Canada each time I was ready to give birth, I probably would not make it there on time either.
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Terminally Ill: Medical Journal Infected With Anti-Israel Bias « THE BLACK KETTLE
10:31 pm
Jul 07, 2011
[...] MORE [...]
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Steve Teicher
11:38 pm
Jul 07, 2011
I ha e Friends situ kidd in the idf. I Am positive Thatcher they violate nô one’s rights. Articles suggesting Thatcher Isralis systématisa l’y violate civil rights of Palestinians are false.
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Dr. Harry Hamburger
11:41 pm
Jul 07, 2011
Shame on you for allowing politics and anti-semticism in a medical journal. Israel helps Palestians on a regular basis in their hospitals. Just remember that more Christians love Israel than Jews.
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Nathan Zafran
11:47 pm
Jul 07, 2011
The abuse of ambulances and the use of “pregnant” women, who are in fact live bombs or couriers of ammunition or ordinance, has been raised in above comments. I wish therefore to tell of a specific event in Hebron. An Israeli roadblock on the road from Hebron to Bethlehem was accused of causing a miscarriage by delaying the woman from rushing to nearby Bethlehem to give birth. As usual this raised the usual outcries and accusation of “crimes”. The usual crapheads who don’t miss a chance to gang up and to bash or accuse Israel of criminal activity had a field day at the time. (My educated guess is that The Lancet must have joined in the binge). But a very important issue was conveniently overlooked by these hypocrites. The Palestinians, so far have received more civilian aid than any country in the world, including starving and drought-ridden countries, to the tune of 18 billion US dollars, by contributing countries. There are also commitments for an additional 4.5 billion. Even so, today they have a deficit of a half billion dollars. They cannot put their act together and there is no demand for accountability, what the money is spent on. Getting back to the above subject, how come that Hebron, with an estimated 130 thousand inhabitants, and one of the highest birthrates in the world, don’t have their own maternity wards and women need to rush to neighbouring Bethlehem? Do you really believe that those santimonious antisemites would raise such an issue? Not on your life!
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Dick
12:00 am
Jul 08, 2011
This is so typical of Antislemitism, in England and the middle east. They are taking a page from the Nazi’s, publishing book, making movies, and making lies the norm when talking about Jews, and Israel.
They should be ashamed, and if they take any ads, those companies should be contacted, and Israel should be all over this in the media of Israel the EU, and USA.
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uzitiger
4:21 am
Jul 08, 2011
Who cares what the Jew hating British say anyway. If they care about the so called Phallustinians then they can fly them to England and provide them with socialist medicine.
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Trevor Fletcher
8:13 am
Jul 08, 2011
What I fail to understand is that with all the billions of aid dollars and euros flowing through to the Palestinian authority, they still haven’t managed to build proper hospital facilities and properly trained doctors for either the West Bank or for Gaza. Until then they will continue to use Israeli facilities and then complain about our security needs.
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Nigel
12:39 pm
Jul 08, 2011
The Lancet, ‘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”’, is clearly intentionally causing great suffering and/or serious injury to the mental health and/or inciting leading to serious injury to the physical and mental health of Jewish civilian populations worldwide, which is an inhuman act and a crime against humanity.
However, it seems that while The Lancet implicitly accepts the humanity of the so-called Palestinian Arabs, there is no such implicit acceptance of the common humanity of Jews. And if you take a good look at the recent laws that have been or are in the process of being enacted around the world in respect of banning Jewish ritual slaughter, you will find that there are laws that protect human rights and laws that protect animal rights but not at the expense of human rights, particularly religious rights. Therefore one has no choice but to conclude that Jews are not considered human and/or Judaism is not recognized as a religion. It is important to note that Muslim ritual slaughter actually permits pre-stunning, so the constant mention that these new laws also affects Muslims is totally false and acts as a smokescreen to blatant classical antisemitism. ALL animals slaughtered in New Zealand, for instance, are pre-stunned AND slaughtered in accordance with Muslim law, and exported to Muslim countries. Furthermore, there have been at least two court cases in Britain in which the judges upheld the legitimacy of hatred of Israel as a defence to violence against British Jewry.
When are Jewish leaders in Israel and the diaspora going to start addressing these issues from the perspective that they deny the common humanity of Jews and deny their equality before the law? Joining with Muslims to protest bans against ritual slaughter is joining the smokescreen of the enemy. Only ONE community is affected. Accepting peerages and claiming that Royal invitations to private Christian ceremonies are not consulted upon beforehand and are Royal commandments, in the face of well-documented violence against one’s community that is at 1930′s levels, court interference in the community’s debate over ‘who is a Jew?’, judicial antisemitism and anti-Zionism, governmental (and supra-governmental) anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism, among many other examples of a community under attack (such as, lawfare, BDS, etc) and misjudged responses or lack thereof, demonstrate a highly questionable approach to representing just one diaspora community. An approach that permeates a smokescreen over the unequal treatment of Jews, the assault on their religious independence and practices, lack of religious respect (seemingly from the top of the establishment through to the media), and the pervasive anti-Zionism (in the media, academia, the unions, and local/national/supra-national government), which thinly veils the classical antisemitic foundations.
It is clear that many so-called Jewish community leaders accept the anti-Zionism and even embrace it, for whatever ‘reason’. Even supposedly Orthodox religious leaders have made statements that delegitimize Judaism (by promoting an unthinkable surrender of the Temple Mount, the Western Wall and the Old City) and consequently delegitimize the modern state of Israel in any borders. Maybe some believe an external ‘show’ of anti-Zionism somehow strengthens the legitimacy of their diaspora community? But they are seemingly blind to the double-edged sword they bring down upon their community. On the one hand, their anti-Zionism fuels delegitimization of the state of Israel. On the other hand, anti-Zionism fails to separate any Jewish community from anti-Jewishness.There is a clear failure to acknowledge that Zionism is not responsible for anti-Jewish violence but merely an excuse for it, to justify the unjustifiable, the ongoing anti-Jewishness of more than 2000 years.
Diaspora communities aren’t strengthened by doveish stances but seriously wounded by them. Weakness entrenches discrimination and its side-effects. For instance, there are already many barriers to employment for Orthodox Jews over and above the discrimination of employers that is difficult to combat. Will anti-Zionism become a ‘legitimate’ barrier to employment? Will Jews be officially restricted from/to certain occupations, as in days gone by? And will Jews only be able to truly practice their religion in secret? Far-fetched? I’m not so sure. As far as I can see, we’re actually not that far away from such a situation in practice.
And if Jewish leaders continue to take an approach that seemingly equates personal honours with personal and/or community influence and/or respect, while accepting anti-Zionism (and the legitimacy of associated violence and blood libels against fellow Jews), accepting judicial activism and religious interference, speaking and acting as if Jews somehow uniquely belong to an inferior/subservient/temporary class of citizenship, and failing to act appropriately and fearlessly against classical antisemitic violence and incitement, blood libels, delegitimization of Orthodox Judaism itself (and even contributing to it), whenever and wherever, such as drawing proper attention to the politicization of The Lancet and the clearly intentional traumatization and thinly veiled dehumanization of Jews contained therein, I fear an ever-worsening social and economic climate for Jews, especially visibly Orthodox Jews.
G-d will surely help us if we help ourselves!
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zg
4:00 pm
Jul 08, 2011
Nigel,
I couldn’t agree with you more. When-we Jews- will realize that we are a collective and either we all succeed or we all suffer the consequences of our fragmentation, and the consequence of one group tries to down grade the other by offering various compromises and solace to our enemies on some other Jewish Groups’ expense?
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Nathan Zafran
11:56 pm
Jul 09, 2011
The Lancet is about as concerned about the plight of the Palestinians as I am of ever becoming an astronaut. Instead of being overburdened with medical problems and issues, all we read about is suspicion about the Zionists. They are not alone! After the Haiti disasater, the entire world praised the first field hospital, erected by Israel. Guess what! That rabid and distorted baronnes, “doctor” Jenny Tonge couldn’t discount world support and enthusiasm but she expressed “concern” about organ theft and therefore demanded that the authorities check to see if the Israelis were’nt stealing organs to sell across the world. So you see, whether they are totally illiterate and morons, or whether they are supposedly academics and educated, the Brits are a bunch of totally open hypocrites, devoid of any honesty and integrity.
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Brent Pudsey
1:40 pm
Jul 08, 2011
In Jerusalem there is the Sharey Zadok Medical centre which has provided treatment to soldiers who fought against Israel. In this way Israel has shown mercy and compassion on here enemies. She is not the brutual and merciless state that the media has portrayed her as.
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HaroldT
2:56 pm
Jul 08, 2011
All Jewish practitioners should immediately cancell their subscription to The Lancet and not send any medical articles for publication.
Is there a wealthy Jew willing to set up an oposition magazine?
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David Hamilton
6:08 pm
Jul 08, 2011
Last year I cancelled subscription to the British Medical Journal after blatent anti Israel articles. Those of us who protested the article, however constructively, were not given a hearing, being accused of mounting an ‘orchestrated campaign’!
I couln’t get a response from the British Medical Association,who publish the journal, and he is Jewish!
Fortunately no such sentiment appears to exist in our Health service
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jacko
3:24 pm
Jul 08, 2011
The Brits among other peoples dislike and fear Arabs and Moslems and have contempt for them but the Jews they hate. There is no reason for it but it is a fact.
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Robert Lewis
2:23 am
Jul 09, 2011
Rubbish!
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Jill Fisher
4:33 pm
Jul 08, 2011
One would expect a scientific journal to base it’s findings on empirical evidence. Since this is not the case with The Lancet, all articles published therein loose their creditability as do the researchers themselves.The Lancet has given new meaning to the phrase” publish or perish”.
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Lilly
4:47 pm
Jul 08, 2011
If the Brits think that the Jews will forget, they are wrong. The Brits should shut up and beg for forgiverness for acting like Nazis before and during WWII when they made everything possible to prevent European Jews from reaching Palestine and be saved. Even during the war, they prevented them from escaping from their countries to other countries. They have always been what the French call them “Perfidious Albion”.
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Robert Lewis
12:43 am
Jul 09, 2011
Lilly, please don’t tar all Brits with the same brush. There are antisemites in the UK as well as many friends of Israel too. This is true of most countries. I am part of a Christian group who pray regularly for Israel and that God will forgive us for atrocities committed against her. (Abandonment of Balfour agreement, preventing Jews from returning to Israel during WW2 etc etc.) Believe me, to genuine believers in Yeshua and many other Brits from all walks of life who support Israel, there is nothing more painful than the rumination of these egregious acts of betrayal; yet having been instigated with the best of intentions in support of God’s nation and children. I know you won’t forget, but please find it in your hearts to forgive.
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zg
4:25 am
Jul 10, 2011
Robert,
People here speak out of pain. This Lancet magazine is habitually antisemitic (They call it Anti Zionist), and no one seems to do a thing about it. Here your church has the opportunity to show it’s support of the Jewish people through some kind of direct action with this magazine and/ or it’s advertisers. You may let us all know if something is coming out of this.
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zg
8:51 pm
Jul 08, 2011
Any one has an idea, how can we shame the advertisers into removing their ad sponsorship even it’s for only one insertion only, so that these anti-semites would feel it in their pocket?
Any ideas?
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Armand Kidouchim
11:41 pm
Jul 08, 2011
Yes Identify their advertisers,….e-mail to them the following:
Please be informed that you are supporting with your advertising money an anti semitic organization (The Lancet) who uses lies and propaganda against Israel and the Jews.
We invite you to stop your support or face an Israeli/Jewish negative reaction to your products.
We will hold publishing your Corporation/Products name to our constituency pending your action/reaction to this e-mail.
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Anama
10:06 pm
Jul 08, 2011
Make easier to comment or to direct adding information in each damaging article you send, to facilitate the appropriate answer in the same place.
By instance: Richard Horton editor in chief of The Lancet, is already a discredit man. He is a real lunatic as you can watch in this YouTube video here: Dr Richard Horton – Time to Go Demo 23 Sept 2006 http://youtu.be/v7BzM5mxN5U
Read also the commentaries bellow the video, and you will be happier. He is publicly discredit as fanatic and fraudulent professional organizing bias campaigns under fake proposals. Also here is quiet revealing about him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Horton_%28editor%29 Please read what The British Medical Journal of 22nd January 2011 ran an editorial by Fiona Godlee says about him…and more…
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Anama
10:17 pm
Jul 08, 2011
To all my friends here I would like to say that Israel worst enemy is in the Left. Be careful they are no friends and they are powerful.
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Armand Kidouchim
3:30 am
Jul 09, 2011
The leftists are composed of:
Liberals / Democrats / Progressists / Mainstream Media / Unions / All of SOROS organizations and Universities,….their agenda is a ”New world Order”…(tall order and UTOPIA).
Israel has nothing to Fear it has Strong relations with India, China and USA all based on Technology and advanced Sciences…(do better anyone?)
Also to be noted Israel has the most advanced robotique science in the world.
KAKAMENAJAD / CHAVEZ / HIZBALLAH / ERDOGAN / HAMAS Etc….Etc…. ”WATCH OUT”
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Ehud
1:43 am
Jul 09, 2011
“data indicate that only 8% of all births took place at home in 1999 compared with 33% in 2002″. Hmm, I wonder, what happened between 1999 and 2002 that might explain this increase. Perhaps an arbitrary Israeli decision? Oh, I remember: the Palestinians began the 2nd intifada! And I thought that doctors are trained at making associations between cause and effect.
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