All three anti-Israel motions presented at the British Medical Association’s annual conference in Liverpool passed on Tuesday with a majority vote.
With a total of 45 BMA motions focusing on Gaza, the Jewish Medical Association asked for added security after feeling ‘intimidated and excluded’ at the event.
The resolutions, referred to as Motions 41, 42 and 43, have now all been carried and will now become official policy of the BMA policy.
Motion 41 reads, “Criticism of the actions of the state of Israel is not per se antisemitic.” This motion was taken almost directly from the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of antisemitism.
Motion 42 asked for the BMA to affirm “the right of healthcare professionals and medical students to criticize states, governments, or institutions for actions that contravene international law.”
Accompanying it was a subclause asking for “acknowledgment that medical students advocating for Palestine have been the subject of disciplinary action by their medical schools” and that the British Medical Association should encourage medical schools “not to penalise and censor Palestinian advocacy.”
Motion 42 acknowledges “the rise of antisemitism on campus and the need to protect Jewish students,” it did so on the condition that antisemitism be differentiated from “rightful advocacy for Palestine.”
Motion 43 calls for condemnation of the “systematic destruction of hospitals in Gaza and the killing of over 1,000 healthcare workers since October 7, 2023,” and the “immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained healthcare workers in Israel as political prisoners.”
It also urges the UK government to “actively support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in their investigations and prosecutions of war crimes.”
Speaking to Jewish News on the condition of anonymity, a London GP said: “The UK is currently at substantial risk of terror attacks. Islamist terrorism is the most significant terrorist threat to the UK by volume, and extremist Islamist groups threaten the stability, peace and safety of this country. These British Medical Association members are obsessed with passing motions about a war in the Middle East instead of a focus on British medical issues. They are not interested in any other geopolitical issue, such as the humanitarian crisis in Sudan which is impacting many millions of people.
“This preoccupation with the demonisation of Israel and by association Jews, incites and facilitates hate, in particular virulent antisemitism, and threatens the wellbeing and potential safety not only of British healthcare staff but also of British patients and the general public, by potentially leading to radicalisation and terror attacks.”
Motion 43 makes no mention of the Israeli victims or Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The BMA said:
“We are totally clear that antisemitism is completely unacceptable. There is no place for it in the BMA, NHS, or wider society and we condemn antisemitism in the strongest possible terms, as we do with all discrimination based on race, religion, sexuality, gender or disability.”
The organisation described its annual conference as “an inclusive space, where wellbeing of members and staff is our priority.”
The statement also said that “the BMA has a long and proud history of advocating for human rights and access to healthcare around the world, and motions submitted to this year’s conference by grassroots members from across the UK reflect the grave concerns doctors in the UK have about the Gaza conflict and the impact on civilians and healthcare. Resolutions passed at the conference made clear calls around the principles of medical neutrality and the need to respect international humanitarian law that are applicable to all conflicts.
“Motions were also submitted on the crises in Ukraine, Yemen, and Sudan, all of which the BMA has spoken out about and taken action on in recent years. Meanwhile we have campaigned on other international health and human rights issues, such as the abuse of the Uyghur population in China with medical complicity.”
