Chair of Forum for Health in Arab Society: 'Silence in the Face of Incitement Is Not Neutrality—It Is Abandonment'

In response to a complaint against an Arab medical team at Rambam Hospital, Arab professionals express concern. Prof. Azzam calls the accusations 'cheap and despicable,' and Attorney Mafar calls on the health system to back its workers and fight racism, saying that silence in the face of incitement is abandonment.

Earlier this week, a complaint was filed against an Arab medical team at Rambam Hospital, following a post by Yehoshua Shani, chairman of the Gvura Forum, who claimed the team had inadequately treated his nephew and three comrades, soldiers wounded in southern Lebanon. This sparked a media storm, and the Ministry of Health and medical workers' organizations backed the team. Prof. Fuad Azzam, director of the fertility preservation clinic at the 'Lis' Medical Center, told 'Davar' that the attempt to mix a claim about quality of care with the Arab origin of the caregivers is 'cheap and despicable,' and warned against turning Arab origin into evidence of unprofessionalism. He recounted a personal experience from his past as a young doctor, when a patient refused treatment from an Arab doctor. Attorney Murad Mafar, chairman of the Forum for the Advancement of Health in Arab Society, criticized the system's response as 'late' and called for a clear policy against racism and incitement. He said, 'Silence in the face of incitement is not neutrality—it is abandonment.'

Chair of Forum for Health in Arab Society: 'Silence in the Face of Incitement Is Not Neutrality—It Is Abandonment'