AJMA Statements
The American Jewish Medical Association is a non-political 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization comprised of Jewish physicians, fellows, residents, medical students, public health and healthcare professionals.
AJMA Statement on the IFMSA Suspension of FIMS
The AJMA strongly condemns the actions of the IFMSA regarding the baseless suspension of the Federation of Israeli Medical Students (FIMS) on August 6, 2024, without due process.
By manufacturing false allegations that Israelis have “a lack of morals and humanitarian values”, by misusing the term “genocide” related to the war in Gaza, and by accusing the medical students of this crime that neither they nor their government has committed, the IFMSA is demonstrating blatant antisemitism and hypocrisy. Further, they are demonstrating hypocrisy by taking these actions while remaining silent on actual genocides perpetrated by other governments.
Regardless of the actions of the Israeli government, no medical students should be assigned blame or punished for the actions of their government. No other delegations, from countries actually engaging in crimes against humanity, have been held accountable for their government’s actions, nor should they be. This double standard toward Israel is unacceptable and unbecoming of the IFMSA.
While pretending to care about human rights and the rights of women, the IFMSA has made no statements regarding the inhumane acts, the taking (and ongoing holding) of innocent hostages, and the sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023. Not one word about the use of hospitals and other medical facilities for the storage of weapons or hiding of militants, both violations of international law.
The absurdity and antisemitism of IFMSA are obvious. To expel the Jewish state, IFMSA ignored its own internal rules and fabricated “evidence” that is not supported by the international press or even Hamas. IFMSA has chosen to suspend Israel but not suspend Russia regarding its invasion of Ukraine, Palestine for the Hamas-perpetrated murders, rapes, and hostage-taking of Israeli civilians, nor has it taken action against the medical student associations of China, Venezuela, Vietnam, Hungary, Cameroon, Afghanistan, or Iran for humanitarian abuses, denigration of women, restriction of religious freedoms, or dictatorial governments.
According to IFMSA’s constitution, if a national association violates any law of the Federation’s constitution, an official investigation must be conducted, completed, and adequate proof of the violation presented. The process was not followed in Israel’s case. Despite a request from the delegations from Germany, Italy, and Luxembourg for a formal investigation, as mandated by IFMSA’s constitution, the suspension proceeded. FIMS was given two minutes to answer the nebulous allegations brought against it before the suspension vote was taken.
With this action, which ignored IFMSA’s due process and procedures, the IFMSA has corrupted its mission and standing in the international medical community through inconsistent treatment of its members, arbitrary insertion of politics into its decision making, and blatant discrimination on the basis of nationality. The field of medicine should not be subject to political bias, nor should its members be held accountable for their governments.
AJMA calls on all U.S. medical institutions to ignore the antisemitic and baseless suspension of Israel from the IFMSA. Institutions in the U.S. must publicly commit to continuing to permit students from Israeli institutions to participate in residencies, fellowships, collaborations, and any and all other medical research and study opportunities regardless of the actions of the IFMSA. U.S. Law does not permit discrimination on the basis of national origin, even when actions of international organizations are discriminatory. We strongly recommend that participation not be denied to Israeli medical students.
Further, we call on medical institutions to consider their funding of AMSA and IFMSA and any other organizations that promote, advance, or remain quiet when faced with antisemitism.
IFMSA and AMSA have been led astray and seem to have forgotten that the first responsibility of doctors-in-training is patient care and the generation, conservation, and dissemination of knowledge about the causes, prevention, and treatment of human disease. US medical schools, corporations, and international organizations that financially support IFMSA and AMSA must take immediate action to let IFMSA and AMSA know that they do not support the unjust suspension of FIMS. AMSA is financially supported by member dues, sponsorship payments by several US medical schools, and has partnerships with many medically related US corporations, and those funders should reconsider where they invest their support.
While AMSA has not issued a comment on the suspension of Israel from IFMSA, nor have they indicated how they voted on the motion, their general stance, accompanied by a misuse of the word genocide, is clear. In April, AMSA issued a statement standing “in solidarity with students of numerous institutions…demanding immediate action to address the ongoing genocide in Gaza…we condemn the role the United States has played as a funder and arms dealer, directly enabling this genocide…many universities are working with militarized local police forces to arrest students and faculty…AMSA condemns these actions taken by many universities as violent, unethical, immoral, and fascistic…” In response to a strong letter from AJMA, AMSA refused to acknowledge or change their antisemitic and alienating stance.
Message to House Energy and Commerce Committee from the AJMA
We thank the members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for their letter to research universities to ensure that action is taken immediately to stop harassment and intimidation of students, especially egregious acts that have been directed toward Jewish medical students.
The message from Congress is clear and concise: if there is harassment, if there is intimidation, if there is antisemitism, there will be repercussions including the possibility of the loss of millions and millions of dollars in funding.
The American Jewish Medical Association has been raising a red flag about disturbing incidents from coast to coast, and we are thrilled to see action.
See article here: E&C, E&W Republicans Press HHS Secretary Becerra on Preventing Civil Rights Violations at Universities Receiving NIH Grants
AJMA Statement on International Day for
the Elimination of Sexual Violence
AJMA stands with our sisters in captivity.
Today marks International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence. We must not forget the 16 female hostages still held captive by Hamas in dangerous conditions, subjected to daily sexual and physical abuse.
More than eight months have passed since the horrific attacks on October 7, and there are still 120 hostages in Gaza. They must ALL be released immediately! FREE THEM NOW!”
June 19th is a significant date to promote international efforts against sexual violence in conflict, ensure accountability for perpetrators, and provide justice and support for survivors.
We must stand together and the international community must support survivors.
Together, we can make a difference and work towards a world free from sexual violence in conflict.
To learn more about the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence and read the testimonies of women who have been released from Hamas captivity, please click here.
#WomenLifeFreedom
#BringThemHomeNow.
AJMA Statement on Antisemitism and Children
AJMA stands firmly against all acts and expressions of antisemitism, particularly those targeted at and experienced by Jewish-American youth.
Antisemitism is among the oldest and most ingrained racist beliefs, spanning at least two millennia of persecution, and punctuated by the Holocaust with the extermination of more than 6 million Jews. There is ample and indisputable evidence of the impact racism has on child well-being. Defined as an Adverse Childhood Event (ACE), racism experienced by children has a negative effect on both their physical and mental health, and is pervasive in affecting children’s social and family interactions and school performance.
At its core, antisemitism is a collection of conspiratorial beliefs holding that Jews are inherently distinct and foreign from society; that they wield hidden power and outsized influence; and that they collectively and individually use that power to undermine the foundational tenets of society itself. Antisemitism in America has been slowly rising over the past several years, but has seen a 140% year-on-year rise following the October 7th attack on Israel. This includes a 135% increase of antisemitic incidents in K-12 schools and a more than 300% increase on college and university campuses. (1)
There has also been a spike in antisemitic rhetoric masked as “anti-Zionism.” Jewish identity is defined by more than religious practice. In fact, the cultural norms and worship practices of Ancient Israel and Judea emerged millennia before the modern Western concept of a “religion.” The Jews are a people with a shared history and heritage that is deeply rooted in the land of Israel. Indeed, according to a PEW survey, eight in ten Jews say that caring about Israel is an essential or important part of what being Jewish means to them. For the vast majority of Jews, Zionism - the belief that a Jewish state should exist in the historical Jewish homeland - is an integral part of their Jewish identity. (2)
The Department of State has used a working definition, along with examples, of antisemitism since 2010. (3) On May 26, 2016, the 31 member states of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), of which the United States is a member, adopted a non-legally binding “working definition” of antisemitism at its plenary in Bucharest. This definition includes anti-Zionism, such as holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel or denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination.
With increasing frequency, Jewish children who define their identity as part of a people with an ancestral connection to Israel, are disparaged, bullied, shunned, and treated as pariahs. In schools and universities, they are taught they must hide, or disavow, this part of their heritage in order to avoid being targeted and ostracized. Many of those same schools and universities have allowed violent and abusive rhetoric towards Jews in their community so long as they are referred to as “Zionists,” incorrectly claiming that this long-held connection to their ancestral national origin is simply a political belief. The Department of Education has clarified that this form of harassment - which targets Jews on the basis of their shared ancestry and ethnicity - is a form of national origin discrimination on the basis of shared ancestry. (4)
As medical professionals dedicated to the health and healing of all individuals and communities, and as members of long-standing national medical organizations, we stand together in strongly denouncing and counteracting the growing number of antisemitic incidents targeting Jewish students. These include physically barring Jewish students access to school buildings; overtly threatening acts of violence toward Jewish students on campuses, grade and high schools; forcing Jewish students to renounce their Zionist identities in ideological purity tests; and demanding that Jewish students espouse an antisemitic narrative that Jews in Israel are foreign oppressors with outsized power and influence, and no historic tie to their own homeland.
AJMA opposes all forms of antisemitism and calls on all medical organizations and institutions to do the same. There is no place for any hatred or racism in our children’s lives.
1. https://www.adl.org/resources/report/audit-antisemitic-incidents-2023
3. https://www.state.gov/defining-antisemitism/
4. https://sapirjournal.org/antisemitism/2023/08/anti-zionist-harassment-is-against-the-law-too/