Arab Israeli Doctor Denounces Racism Amid Criticism Over Military Patient Care at Rambam Hospital

Professor Fouad Azem, a senior Arab Israeli fertility specialist at Rambam Hospital, addresses recent accusations against Arab medical staff regarding their treatment of injured soldiers. Azem highlights the irony of such claims occurring at a hospital named after Maimonides, a Jewish physician who worked in the Arab-Muslim world over 800 years ago. He stresses that a doctor's ethnic origin does not determine their professionalism or loyalty, but rather their knowledge, skills, and commitment to patients.

Azem recounts a personal experience from early in his career when a patient refused treatment from an Arab doctor, unaware he was speaking to him. He condemns the politicization of ethnic identity in medical care, calling it a dangerous form of racism disguised as concern for soldiers. Azem emphasizes that all medical staff in Israel, Jewish and Arab alike, work side by side daily to save lives without regard to patients' or colleagues' backgrounds.

He calls for any claims of substandard care to be investigated transparently and professionally, without resorting to ethnic profiling or prejudice. Azem underscores that Arab medical professionals are integral to Israel's healthcare system and have long been entrusted with the lives of Jewish and Arab citizens alike. He warns against allowing public discourse to regress into divisive rhetoric that undermines trust in a vital shared institution.

Azem concludes by affirming his pride in his Arab identity and medical profession, insisting that compassion and humanity must be the sole criteria for judging healthcare workers. He invokes the legacy of historical figures like Maimonides and Avicenna to illustrate the longstanding coexistence of cultures in medicine and urges society to reject racism in all its forms.