DARA Doctors

This is the speech that I delivered at today's University of Toronto Governing Council meeting. "The Antisemitism Action Plan for the University of Toronto was written in support of the Jewish community who has called for a concrete response to the explosion of antisemitism at the University of Toronto since October 7th 2023, The document has been endorsed by every major Jewish Association including the UJA, CIJA, B'nai Brith, Stand With Us, DARA, ALCCA, CWAA, CAEF, AJP. The Honourable Harry LaForme's letter of support for the Antisemitism Action Plan is far more eloquent than anything I could do say. I'd like to read you an excerpt: "I am Anishinaabe and a proud member of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. The University of Toronto is located on the treaty territory of my First Nation. My name is Harry LaForme. I am a former Judge of the Ontario Court of Appeal and a practising lawyer. I am an Officer of the Order of Canada and have been awarded the designation of Indigenous Peoples Counsel. Concerned about the antisemitic hate taking place on your campus Chief and Council of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation wrote the President of the University of Toronto on June 26, 2024. Page upon page of the Antisemitism Action Plan lists examples of hatred and bigotry targeting Jewish, Israeli and Zionist faculty, students, staff and guests, members of your university community that took place before and after the June 26th letter. The incidents are disturbing and the fact that they have continued for years disappointing. However, I hope the Action Plan signals a real commitment to change." The Plan is the culmination of the work of many of the leading universities who have been wrestling with the explosion of antisemitism on their campuses. Since the report was written there have been multiple additional reported acts of antisemitism which I will not enumerate due to time constraints. Suffice it to say that they would make your hair stand on end. Culture takes shape over years,and it is troubling to say that Antisemitism has become part of the culture at the University of Toronto. We have seen a shift in terminology where the word Jew has been replaced by Zionist, but in a world where 95% of Jews are Zionists, it is a distinction without a difference. We can no longer take half measures or overly cautious steps in trying to remedy the hate that is growing on our campuses. We must meet it head on with a firm NO. I do hope that the administration will make good use of the document, The Jewish Community deserves and demands nothing less." @UofT @CIJAinfo @bnaibrithcanada @UJAFederation @DARADoctors @StandWithUsCA drive.google.com/file/d/1WGIUdt…

"An institution that cannot ensure the safety, inclusion, and dignity of its own community cannot credibly sustain its claim to excellence." The Chair of the McGill Law Faculty Advisory Board has resigned due to antisemitism at the university. @mcgillu @UofT

UPDATE: The Antisemitism Action Plan DOES NOT appear in the agenda of the upcoming University of Toronto Governing Council meeting. The Action Plan has been endorsed by all of the major Jewish associations including UJA, CIJA, B'nai Brith, Stand With Us, DARA, ALCCA, CWAA, CAEF, AJP, the Honourable Harry LaForme, and others. Since the Action Plan was been released, numerous incidents of antisemitism have occurred at the University. Their current strategy is not working. The time for half measures is over. It's time to deal with antisemitism at the University of Toronto with a sense of urgency that it deserves. @UofT

Another day, another act of antisemitism at the University of Toronto. This time it was the dissemination of anti-Jewish discrimination material at a medical lecture at a University of Toronto teaching hospital. The University needs to own this problem and deal with it definitively. Please read the attached Antisemitism Action Plan for the University of Toronto put forward by myself and three other members of the University's Governing Council. drive.google.com/file/d/1WGIUdt… @uoftmedicine @UofT

It seems that not a week goes by where there isn't a gross act of antisemitism at the University of Toronto. Here, a candidate for a student election at the @UofT Munk School is running on a pledge to detach "the school from its Zionist roots". Peter Munk was a Hungarian Jew who narrowly escaped the Holocaust with his life. With approximately 95% of Jews being Zionists, and Zionism being one of the main tenants of Judaism, this represents either thinly veiled antisemitism, or ignorance. The irony is that this candidate will probably win. That's how normalized antisemitism has become at the University, and that's how tolerant the University is of antisemitism. @munkschool @munkdebate

🚨 Joint statement from Patriotic Doctors of Iran (@DoctorsIran ) & Doctors Against Racism and Antisemitism (@DARADoctors ): On Medical Neutrality, Protection of Healthcare Workers, and Human Dignity in Iran The Patriotic Doctors of Iran (PDI) and Doctors Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (DARA) express grave concern regarding escalating reports of violence, intimidation, detention, and persecution directed at physicians, healthcare workers, and civilians in Iran. Our organizations unequivocally condemn violations of the professional independence of physicians and any infringement upon the civil and human rights of medical personnel and patients. Reports of actions by Iranian authorities, including security bodies such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), raise serious concerns regarding violations of the universally recognized principle of medical neutrality. Medical neutrality is a foundational principle of international humanitarian law and medical ethics. It requires that healthcare professionals be permitted to provide care to the sick and injured without interference, discrimination, intimidation, or reprisal, regardless of a patient’s political affiliation or social status. Medical facilities, transport systems, and healthcare personnel must be protected from attack, obstruction, or misuse. Documented reports from international human rights organizations describe deeply troubling patterns, including hospital raids, the arrest and detention of physicians for treating injured protesters, intimidation of nurses and paramedics, interference with medical care, and the criminalization of routine medical treatment. Such actions undermine the Hippocratic Oath, erode trust in healthcare systems, and endanger public health. These actions may constitute violations of multiple international legal frameworks, including the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Iran ratified in 1975 and remains legally obligated to uphold. The World Medical Association (WMA) has also expressed serious concern regarding reports of violence against healthcare personnel in Iran, including arrests of injured protesters within hospitals and detention of physicians for treating patients. The WMA has condemned such actions as violations of medical ethics, human rights, and international law and has called for the immediate protection of healthcare workers and the preservation of medical neutrality. In light of these developments, we call upon national and international medical associations, licensing authorities, academic medical institutions, humanitarian organizations, and global health bodies to actively uphold their ethical responsibilities to defend medical neutrality and protect healthcare workers from intimidation or retaliation by state authorities. The global medical community has a duty not only to advocate for patients but also to safeguard the professional independence and physical safety of physicians and medical personnel. Failure to respond to such violations risks normalizing the persecution of healthcare professionals and undermining the ethical foundations of medicine worldwide. We therefore call for: The immediate release of all detained physicians, nurses, and healthcare personnel The cessation of harassment, intimidation, and prosecution of medical professionals for providing car An end to interference in hospitals and medical facilities The protection of civilians and patients seeking medical treatment Full compliance with international humanitarian and human rights obligations Medical ethics must never be subordinated to political coercion. The act of healing must never be criminalized. No physician should face imprisonment, violence, or death for fulfilling their ethical duty to treat the wounded. We stand in solidarity with the courageous physicians, nurses, paramedics, and citizens of Iran. We call upon the global medical community, international institutions, and governments to defend medical neutrality, ensure accountability for violations, and support the protection of healthcare workers. References World Medical Association. Open Letter Regarding Violence Against Healthcare Workers in Iran. Available at: wma.net Human Rights Watch. Iran: Surge of Arbitrary Arrests and Repression. Available at: hrw.org Amnesty International. Iran: Authorities Escalate Crackdown on Protesters and Civilians. Available at: amnesty.org Associated Press. Reports of interference with hospitals and obstruction of medical care in Iran. Available at: apnews.com United Nations. Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948). International Committee of the Red Cross. Geneva Conventions and Medical Neutrality.

Antisemitism at the University of Toronto has become systemic and sadly, normalized. A group of governors from the University's Governing Council have taken independent action to address the hatred. Here is our report. drive.google.com/file/d/1WGIUdt… @UofT @fordnation @nolanmquinn

@yipengGe Where did you come up with this lie? What is confirmed truth is the fact that regime thugs were killing doctors and wounded protesters in emergency departments in Iran. You must have had lockjaw then. Keep supporting the Killers of Iran. You are disgusting.

🚨 BREAKING: DARA has sent a formal letter to the University of Toronto demanding full accountability after Dean of Dentistry Dr. Anil Kishen included grotesque antisemitic cartoons in a student lecture—images evoking Nazi-era propaganda.His "oversight" apology is unacceptable. We call for a thorough investigation, decisive discipline, and zero tolerance for antisemitism on campus.Anil Kishen is unfit to lead or teach. Read our full letter below March 2, 2026 We are writing in regard to the outrageous antisemitic images contained in the recent presentation to students by Dr. Anil Kishen, Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry at the University of Toronto. The cartoon images in question are pornographically grotesque illustrations of anti-Jewish and anti-Zionist hatred. Without exaggeration, they are reminiscent of the obscenities circulated in Der St?rmer by the Nazi party in the 1930s. Dean Kishen subsequently issued an apology to the class, which is itself insulting and unacceptable. He characterized the inclusion of the cartoons as an “oversight”, and professed to be unaware of “the additional meanings or context” of the images. For any sentient adult, let alone a prominent academic, to make such a bizarrely absurd claim beggars belief. DARA rejects Dr. Kishen’s disingenuous apology. We are aware that he has taken leave pending the outcome of any administrative investigation into this incident. He must not be allowed to use this ploy as a tactic, to show remorse and hide from view until such time as the news cycle moves on. DARA demands that an immediate formal investigation be undertaken of this incident and of the failures of the academic enterprise in the Faculty of Dentistry that allowed it to occur; disciplinary action resulting from the enquiry must be decisive and exemplary. In an era marked by a surge in antisemitism and antizionism in Canada that is unprecedented in our lifetime, and by the concurrent politicization of healthcare education, leadership at the University of Toronto must adopt, implement, and be seen to enforce, an unequivocal zero-tolerance policy toward ethnic hatred. Anything less would constitute a failure of both leadership and of the institution’s most basic educational duty: to foster critical thinking, intellectual integrity, and ethical professionalism. Anil Kishen has shown himself to be unsuitable to fulfill the role of an academic healthcare professional. He is unfit to teach our students. Board of Directors DARA (Doctors Against Racism and Antisemitism) daradocs.org daradoctors@gmail.com

StopAntisemitism is demanding accountability from the University of Arizona after lecturer Jason Gervase posted videos signing/telling followers to chant “F*ck Zionism,” “F*ck Israel,” and “Zionists not welcome here”. The vast majority of Jews globally are Zionists. His conduct violates University policy & raises Title VI OCR concerns.

Dear @metpoliceuk, I know you have arrested her in the past, but it is time to make it permanent. Ms Mengele should not only lose her medical license, but should face legal consequences for her deranged incitement.

Dallas-area ocular surgeon Dr. Shehzad Batliwala of West Texas Eye Associated took to social media claiming the Jewish nation makes up 0.2% of the world’s population yet is responsible for 99.9% of its problems. In other posts, he’s pictured wearing a keffiyeh, a symbol that, especially post-10/7, has been widely associated with violence. Would you trust this man anywhere near your eyes?

BREAKING: Hamas has been caught using ambulances to move fighters and supplies. Where is the outrage?

Is it the official policy of @Columbia University to employ faculty who publicly traffic in dangerous and disgusting tropes?

BREAKING: Iran has struck the Palestinian Al-Makassed Hospital, in Jerusalem.

Let’s explain this very deliberately worded statement. CUAD is an umbrella of several dozen student groups that are very much recognized by the university, led by university students, and given access to university resources. CUAD is, in every way, a Columbia problem.

If you've ever been involved in harvesting organs from a donor, you would understand that it is both a complex and solemn affair. There is none of the usual OR chit chat. There is only silence and respect for the donor and their sacrifice. It's a complex procedure that is done by highly trained transplant surgeons. To even suggest that a soldier would harvest organs shows both a level of ignorance and a blind hatred that should immediately disqualify Jeremy Corbyn from holding public office. @jeremycorbyn jpost.com/diaspora/antis…

Antisemitism and antizionism have permeated into all corners of academia in this country. We are living in a Canada where a senior academic, the dean of a dental faculty, feels emboldened enough to sabotage a lecture on strangulation theory and dental pulp with vitriolic and offensive imagery. There is no excuse for the conduct of Dean Anil Kishen during a lecture at U of T's Faculty of Dentistry. B'nai Brith Canada is reaching out to the University's leadership to demand accountability and action. We will not allow tenure and academic freedom to excuse and justify this egregious abuse of authority. Our students deserve better and we will not rest until our campuses are safe and welcoming spaces conducive of the success of all. @UofT @UofTDentistry

This is a slide on 'strangulation theory' from a second year lecture at University of Toronto school of dentistry. The political messaging is both clear and clearly out of place in a lecture on tooth decay. Whatever the motivation of the professor, the end result is that Jewish students feel unwelcome in a class that was meant to teach a subject completely unrelated to the professor's activism. The AAUP 1940 Statement of Principles on Academic Freedom clearly states that, "teachers are entitled to freedom in the classroom in discussing their subject, but they should be careful not to introduce into their teaching controversial matter which has no relation to their subject." The University of Toronto is failing in its fundamental duty to provide a safe, non-discriminatory, and accessible learning environment to ALL of its students. @UofT @nolanmquinn @UofTDentistry

Doctors Without Borders employed the DEPUTY HEAD OF ISLAMIC JIHAD’S MILITARY MANUFACTURING UNIT, covered it up, then accused Israel of targeting NGOs for demanding transparency about its staff. Vom. Vom. Vom.