After 15 hospital CEOs in Toronto mischaracterized a peaceful pro-Palestinian rally as antisemitic, many of their employees have joined thousands of voices demanding an apology and retraction of their “fabrications.”
Toronto healthcare workers are pushing back against their employers, demanding an apology and a retraction for what they say are “false accusations of antisemitism over the fabricated Mount Sinai story.”
“The statement that you signed after the emergency 'Hands Off Rafah' demonstration on Monday, February 12, 2024, was based on fabricated information which has caused significant damage by reinforcing racist stereotypes of Palestinians, slandering protestors (sic) as antisemitic and unnecessarily instilling fear in the public,” reads a letter signed by the Health Workers Alliance for Palestine (HAP) and other pro-Palestinian groups, including Jews Say No To Genocide.
The letter was sent Tuesday, Feb. 20, to the 15 CEOs who accused protesters at that rally of antisemitism for momentarily stopping near — and some of them climbing atop — an entrance to Mount Sinai Hospital, an institution which has Jewish roots but treats anyone.
“It’s absolutely disgusting and shameful that the hospitals’ CEOs say absolutely nothing about [Israel’s] targeting of healthcare workers, or the targeting of [25] hospitals in Gaza … and yet they’re willing to almost instantly sign on to a letter that’s based on a lie,” says Dr. Ben Thomson, a nephrologist at Mackenzie Richmond Hill Hospital and member of HAP, a national organization representing healthcare workers. He was at the Hands Off Rafah rally on Feb 12.
Speaking to The Media Co-op by phone about the letter campaign, Dr. Thomson mentioned that workers like him will face “almost inevitable” repercussions for speaking out.
In the letter, they criticize the various hospitals’ CEOs for not taking the time “to understand what had actually occurred” during the few minutes that the rally passed by the Mount Sinai Hospital on University Ave. (more...)
Healthcare workers slam their CEOs for slandering pro-Palestinian protesters
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