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[EXCERPTS]

The Lancet is a seemingly prestigious medical journal published in London. But behind the respectable façade hides support for Hamas and blood libel against Jews. Editor-in-Chief Richard Horton has long been accused of using medical ethics as a pretext to advance unethical interests, like the publication of the recent “Open letter for the people of Gaza” (July 23, 2014). This letter ignores the Israeli victims of rockets and terror tunnels, and refers to Israel’s defense efforts as war crimes committed “under the pretext of eliminating terrorism.” This is just another example of the deadly campaign that uses the prestige attributed to the medical profession as a weapon of hatred and war.

One of the signatories of the letter is Mads Gilbert, a well-known Israel basher. This radical Norwegian doctor visited Gaza during the 2008-2009 Operation Cast Lead to show his “solidarity” with the Palestinians. During that operation, Gilbert, speaking from Gaza’s Shifa hospital, appeared on several media outlets and made unfounded accusations regarding Israeli war crimes. All the while he completely ignored the fact that Hamas had commandeered the hospital, using it as a military headquarters and a rocket launching facility.

These assaults involve influential Israeli organizations too, including Physicians for Human Rights – Israel. This group provided unfounded allegations to the infamous Goldstone report (which accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead), and is now joining nine similar organizations in accusing Israel of “serious violations of international humanitarian law.” (Incidentally, all nine are funded by the New Israel Fund and European governments). Like the aforementioned organizations, this group takes advantage of its medical prestige to advance a political agenda.

The bodies that fund these organizations, including many government institutions, should be held accountable for the fact that medicine is being used to mount libelous campaigns against Israel.

It is possible to diminish the influence of these bodies by exposing their misuse of medical ethics and holding the Norwegian, British and other bodies who fund them to account.

The Lancet medical journal is a financial body, therefore, the most effective (and certainly the most complicated) strategy would be to cancel subscriptions and to pull advertising in protest of the misuse of medical ethics. Those who use their professional status and prestige to promote anti-Semitism and support terrorism are dishonoring the Hippocratic oath they took, vowing to “never do harm.”