The SAJBD calls for the reinstatement of Dr Bridget Farham as editor of the SAMJ

9 April 2024

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) calls for the immediate reinstatement of Dr Bridget Farham as editor of the South African Medical Journal, following her ousting by the South African Medical Association (SAMA).

Dr Farham’s forced resignation comes after a torrent of abuse meted out from pro-Palestine SAMA members, and after facing criticism from SAMA itself.  This was in response to a sober editorial where she stated that there was “no moral equivalence” between Hamas’ invasion of Israel on October 7th, and Israel’s retaliation.

The unprofessional and unfair treatment of Dr Farham by SAMA is an unacceptable form of bullying that attempts to cancel anyone who dares to express a different view in spite of academic rigour. 

By forcing Dr Farham to resign, SAMA has brought itself into disrepute and has damaged the proud reputation of an organisation that claims, to unify doctors with diverse backgrounds and exists “to serve its members’ best interests and needs in all healthcare-related matters.”

Not only are they not fulfilling their mandate, but they are also behaving in a manner that is contrary to what we would hope to see from a medical professional body. 

Text of editorial:

Israel, Gaza and moral equivalence

I have been accused of moral cowardice for declining two submissions that are frankly heavily biased towards Palestine, and neither of which mention the events of 7 October 2023. Perhaps my accuser is correct.

I have certainly had no wish to wade into the intensely complex realm of Israel and Palestine in the pages of the SAMJ; and I stress that the opinions voiced here are mine alone. But perhaps it is time, as the editor of the premier medical journal in South Africa, that I voice my thoughts.

I have no religious affiliations. In fact, I am atheist. But I have always abhorred antisemitism, anti-Islamic sentiment and racism. My sources of information on the Israel-Gaza conflict are The Guardian, Al Jazeera and Haaretz, which will give an idea of my political bias. I watched the events of 7 October 2023 with complete horror. An Israeli friend, whose family were displaced from the southern Gaza border on that day, let us all know that he was safe. My many Jewish friends and colleagues were in a state of complete shock.

I must be honest and say that I did not ask my Muslim friends how they were feeling, which may have been an oversight. However, reading the news, acts of antisemitism around the globe massively increased immediately after the event, even before Israel launched their ‘self defence’ barrage of missiles into Gaza. That alone tells me that antisemitism lies very close to the surface, and the feeling that there is no longer a safe homeland is completely understandable.

But now, 160 days into the war, I am once again watching in complete horror as Israel goes, to my mind, far beyond the right to self defence. The utter devastation that has been wreaked on Gaza is of biblical proportions and indeed Benjamin Netanyahu has used biblical references when sending his army into Gaza. The death toll so far exceeds any other recent conflict and the disproportionate killing of women and children is horrific and cannot be seen as ‘collateral damage’. And now that we have entered the holy month of Ramadan, the images of families at Iftar meals in the rubble are heart breaking.

The almost complete destruction of medical facilities, the use of rape as a weapon of war (evidence suggests by both sides in the conflict) and the sheer scale of the destruction and displacement are to be condemned. I have mixed feelings about South Africa’s petition to the ICJ accusing Israel of genocide, mainly because they have been remarkably silent about similar events in Sudan and Democratic Republic of the Congo, and not because I feel the case was completely without merit.

The same person who accused me of moral cowardice for not publishing her submission on the weaponization of health system destruction also said that she, and many others, feel that the events of 7 October 2023 can be justified by 75 years of Israeli oppression. This is where I cannot agree. Nothing justifies the horror that was meted out to families on the southern Gaza border that day. Just as nothing justifies Israel’s continuing destruction of Gaza and its people. There is no moral equivalence.

ENDS

Issued by Wendy Kahn, National Director, SAJBD, 9 April 2024