The National Jewish Assembly (NJA) is deeply concerned by Motion 55 before the British Medical Association (BMA), which seeks to cast the use of the IHRA definition of antisemitism in the NHS as a threat to “free speech”.
The NHS exists to serve everyone. Jewish and Israeli patients, and Jewish and Israeli members of staff, are entitled to the same dignity, professionalism and fair treatment as anyone else, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, sexuality or political background.
Healthcare professionals are free, in their private capacity, to hold and express views on international affairs. But that freedom does not extend to abusive, discriminatory or extremist rhetoric, whether in the workplace or on personal social media, that gives Jewish or Israeli patients, or those perceived to be associated with Israel, legitimate reason to question a clinician’s impartiality. Recent cases have shown that public comments by doctors can properly raise questions about fitness to practise and about whether patients can trust they will be treated without prejudice.
No doctor should assume that conduct which would rightly trigger scrutiny if directed at any other minority group becomes acceptable simply because the target is Jewish, Israeli or associated with Israel. Nor should hospitals, surgeries and consulting rooms become venues for divisive activism on a conflict as bitter and emotive as this one.
The IHRA definition does not prohibit legitimate criticism of Israel, any more than it prevents criticism of any other state. It helps institutions recognise when criticism crosses the line into antisemitism. At a time when Jewish NHS staff and patients have already reported feeling isolated and intimidated, this is no moment to weaken protections against anti-Jewish prejudice in one of the country’s most important public institutions.
The BMA should reject Motion 55 and make clear that the NHS is a place for treatment and equal care, not for the normalisation of anti-Jewish hostility under the banner of political expression.
Click here to read a Telegraph article about this.
Click here to read the BMA motion
