Israeli physicians, scientists deplore Trudeau 'smear campaign portraying protesters as "Nazi sympathizers"'

Leading Israeli physicians and researchers today addressed an open letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressing “deep concerns” regarding recent rhetoric portraying protesters as Nazi sympathizers.

The letter comes as Canada prepares for a vote at 8 pm this evening in parliament over the emergency order. If it is revoked, this opens the legal channel that is now blocked, allowing the protesters to return. If not, Trudeau can stall until the Senate vote, and if it passes the Senate, knowledgeable observers say the situation “is going to get very dark.”

Watch Canadian MPs debate Emergency Act live:

The letter reads:

The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau 
Prime Minister of Canada
House of Commons
Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0A6
Dear Prime Minister Trudeau,

As in many other countries since the outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, Canadians have been subjected to draconian restrictions placed on their basic freedoms, such as lockdowns, forced quarantines, mask mandates, school closures and more recently, vaccine mandates.

Leaders all over the world have begun to realize that these measures carry enormous harms, with little or no benefit. Others double-down on their previous position, denying the evidence and aggravating the damage done to their nation’s livelihood and fundamental liberties.

In recent weeks, we have been following the news about the Freedom Convoy 2022 protests that have taken place in Canada in response to these measures. We witnessed, with mounting concern, how instead of a constructive dialog with the protesters, you adopted a smear-by-association campaign, portraying the protesters as ‘Nazi sympathizers’, ‘racist’ and ‘antisemitic.’ The last incident was your allegation on February 16 that a Jewish member of the Conservative Party was “standing with people who wave Swastikas.”

We, an apolitical group of Jewish Israeli medical scientists,  physicians, researchers and legal scholars, some of us second or third generation Holocaust survivors, are deeply concerned by your attempt to stigmatise the Freedom Convoy 2022 protesters as Nazi ideology supporters. The important fight against antisemitism should not be weaponized and directed at a legitimate civil protest which aims  at restoring fundamental liberties, to what used to be, until not long ago, one of the freest countries in the world.

Sincerely,

Prof. Michael Levitt
Prof. Amos Adler
Prof. Shoshy Altuvia
Prof. Mira Barak
Prof. Zvi Bentwich
Prof. Rivka Carmi
Prof. Asher Elhayany
Prof. Zvika Granot
Prof. Gilad Haran
Prof. Asa Kasher
Prof. Retsef Levi
Prof. Udi Qimron
Prof. Eyal Shahar
Dr. Ifat Abadi-Korek
Dr. Bruria Adini
Dr. Ron Babecoff
Dr. Eli David
Dr. Uri Gavish
Dr. Michal Hemmo Lotem
Dr. Dotan Rousso
Dr. Amir Shahar
Dr. Guy Shinar
Dr. Yoav Yehezkelli

About the signatories

• Prof. Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (Complex Systems), professor of Structural Biology, Stanford University.
• Prof. Amos Adler, Associate professor, department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, Specialist in Pediatrics and Clinical Microbiology, Tel Aviv University.
• Prof. Mira Barak, Professor of Medical Sciences, head of Medical Laboratory Sciences at Zefat Academic College. Founder of the Corona labs in the Northern region, and at Ben Gurion airport.
• Prof. Shoshy Altuvia, Specialist in RNA biology, Professor of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, in the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University.
• Prof. Rivka Carmi, Professor of Medicine, Specialist in Pediatrics, Neonatology and Medical Genetics. Former Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Ben-Gurion University, Chairman of the Association of Deans of Medical Schools, President of Ben-Gurion University.
• Prof. Asher Elhayany, Professor of Medicine, Specialist in Family Medicine and Public Health Administration. Former director of Meir Hospital and former CEO of Meuhedet HMO. Former chairman of the National Council for Community Health.
• Prof. Zvi Bentwich, Professor of medicine, an expert in internal medicine, immunology and infectious diseases. Head of the Tropical Diseases and AIDS Center at Ben-Gurion University. President of the Nala Foundation for the Prevention of Infections in Developing Countries. A member of the Board of Physicians for Human Rights.
• Prof. Zvika Granot, Specialist in the field of neutrophil research, Professor of Immunology in the Faculty of Medicine at the Hebrew University.
• Prof. Gilad Haran, Chemical and Biological Physics, former Dean of Chemistry Faculty, Weizmann Institute of Science.
• Prof. Asa Kasher, Professor Emeritus of Professional Ethics and Philosophy. Winner of the Israel Prize for Philosophy. Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Composed dozens of state and public codes of ethics, including the military code of ethics.
• Prof. Retsef Levi, Professor Retsef Levi, MIT School of Management. Expert in analytics, risk management and public health systems.
• Prof. Udi Qimron, Former Head of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Clinical Microbiology at Tel Aviv University, Specialist in T cells, mucosal vaccines, and genetic engineering of bacterial viruses.
• Prof. (Emeritus) Eyal Shahar, Epidemiologist, University of Arizona
• Dr. Ifat Abadi-Korek, Expert in epidemiology and molecular biology. Director of Research and Academy at Assuta Medical Centers. Former advisor to the Israeli healthcare public committee.
• Dr. Bruria Adini Health Systems Administration, Head of the Department of Emergency and Disaster Management at Tel Aviv University. Former Head of the IDF Emergency Preparedness Division (Lt. Col.) and Senior Adviser to the Ministry of Health's Emergency Division.
• Dr. Eli David, AI Researcher, Lecturer, and Entrepreneur, specializing in deep learning and evolutionary computation.
• Dr. Ron Babecoff, Founder and former CEO of Biondvax (universal influenza vaccine development).
• Dr. Uri Gavish, Physicist, an expert in algorithm analysis and a biomedical consultant.
• Dr. Michal Hemmo Lotem, Paediatrician, Medical innovation Expert. CEO and Founder of Osheya - Women Lead Health. Former Vice President of Innovation at Sheba Medical Center; Founder of Beterem SafeKids Israel; Winner of the Prime Minister's Award for special contribution to children.
• Dr. Dotan Rousso, A former Criminal prosecutor in the state of Israel and currently a lecturer in philosophy at Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Alberta, Canada.
• Dr. Amir Shahar, Specialist in internal medicine, cardiology, emergency medicine and medical administration. Founder and former head of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Sheba Hospital, former deputy director of Meir Hospital and currently ER director at Laniado Hospital.
• Dr. Guy Shinar, Physicist, medical device entrepreneur in the fields of diabetes and cardiovascular medicine.
• Dr. Yoav Yehezkelli, Specialist in Internal Medicine and Medical administration. Expert in Emergency and Disaster Management. Consultant to KI Institute for computational medicine. One of the founders of the Israeli epidemic task-force and preparedness programs for extreme biological incidents.