Israel Matzav

The Muslim Hippocratic Oath and 'affirmative action, Israeli style'

If you think 'affirmative action' in the US is bad, allow me to introduce you to 'haflaya metakenet,' or 'affirmative action, Israeli style'.

I don't know how this works in Europe, but in the US, the 'affirmative action' ends when the university semester begins. Yes, there is 'discrimination' in favor of those who have been discriminated against in the past (except for Jews) in the admissions process, but once you get to university you are supposed to stand or fall on your own academic merits.

That's not the case in Israel. In Israel, haflaya metakenet often means that if you are from a minority group (i.e. Arabs) you're entitled to have your grades raised all the way through your university degree. And in some cases, it means that you can transfer from one university program to another. For example, into medical school. It also means that it's much easier to maintain an average that will keep you from being expelled from a program. Like medical school. That's why there's a proliferation of Arab doctors here in Israel. (For the record, my eldest daughter graduated from a program in one of the medical schools here - but did not become a doctor - and she is the source of much of my knowledge of the application of haflaya metakenet in Israeli medical schools).

On graduation from medical schools, doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. One of the key phrases of the oath, the one most often cited is "I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone."

The following was actually posted in the comments section of the well-known European blog Brussels Journal. In the main article to which the comment relates, some well-known doctors who were or are terrorist leaders are named, including George Habash and Mahmoud al-Zahar. But there have been many others including former Arafat advisor Ahmed Tibi, Hamas leader Abdul Aziz al Rantissi, and others. Did they take the Hippocratic Oath I cited above - never do harm to anyone? If what's written below is the Hippocratic Oath that they took, it would sure explain a lot of things and give Israeli Jews a reason to fear being treated by Arab doctors:

Muslims have their own version of the Hippocratic Oath.(Note the potential "get out clause" toward the end of the text).

THE OATH OF A MUSLIM PHYSICIAN

Praise be Allah, the Teacher, the Unique, Majesty of the heavens, the Exhaulted, the Glorious, Glory be to Him, the Eternal Being Who Created the Universe and all the creatures within, and the only Being Who contained the infinity and the eternity. We serve no other god besides Thee and regard idolatry as an abominable injustice.

Give us the strength to be truthful, honest, modest, merciful and objective.

Give us the fortitude to admit our mistakes, to amend our ways and to forgive the wrongs of others.

Give us wisdom to comfort and counsel all towards peace and harmony.

Give us the understanding that ours is a profession sacred that deals with your most precious gifts of life and intellect.

Therefore, make us worthy of this favoured station with honor, dignity and piety so that we may devote our lives in serving mankind, poor or rich, literate or illiterate, Muslim or non-Muslim, black or white with patience and tolerance with virtue and reverence, with knowledge and vigilance, with Thy love in our hearts and compassion for Thy servants, Thy most precious creation.

Hereby we take this oath in Thy name, the Creator of all the Heavens and the earth and follow Thy counsel as Thou has revealed to Prophet Mohammed (pbuh).

"Whoever killeth a human being, not in lieu of another human being nor because of mischief on earth, it is as if he hath killed all mankind. And if he saveth a human life, he hath saved the life of all mankind". (Qur'an V/35). [Emphasis mine. CiJ]

[This medical oath which is complete from the historical and contemporary writings of physicians of Islamic World, was officially adopted by I.M.A. in 1977].

Islamic Medical Association of North America.

I went to the web site linked above and found a statement of ethics that does not mention the 'killing another human' phrase. But the oath as stated above is found here.

As the Toronto Globe and Mail pointed out yesterday, being a doctor is a 'brilliant cover' for a terrorist:

“People often assume that terrorists are poor, disadvantaged people who are brainwashed or need the money. But the ones who actually perpetrate violence without handlers and manipulation are highly intelligent by necessity,” said Magnus Ranstorp, a terrorism expert at the Swedish National Defense College in Stockholm.

“It's only the smart ones who will survive security pressures in a subversive existence. Sometimes they are doctors, a profession that provides a brilliant cover and allows entry to countries like Britain,” he said in an interview Tuesday.

...

“It sends rather a chill down the spine to think that people's values can be so perverted,” said Pauline Neville-Jones, former head of the Joint Intelligence Committee, which advises the British government.

“It means obviously that you can't make any assumptions, or have any preconceptions about the kind of people who might become terrorists. It does mean that you widen the net, obviously,” she said on BBC-TV.

...

Martin Kramer, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said people often wrongly conclude that a good education and prosperity works against development of terrorists.

“The Sept. 11 bombers were better educated than the average person,” said Kramer, who also is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center, a Jerusalem think tank. “Educated people have long been drafted to fight in jihadi causes. For example, many mujahadeen fighting the Russians in Afghanistan were highly educated engineers and doctors.”

After the failed terror attacks in England and Scotland last weekend, the British authorities are looking into the country's dependence on foreign doctors, many of whom are Muslims. Are the Israeli authorities listening?

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 8:42 PM