The CMA's head office was inundated with calls in late April asking it to oppose a move to oust Israel from the World Medical Association (WMA), but the WMA says the calls were based on a false report in an Israeli newspaper, which it categorically denied.
“It was a hoax, and we formally responded by press release,” Dr. Delon Human, the WMA secretary general, stated in an Apr. 30 email to the CMA.
The rumour started circulating Apr. 24 after the Jerusalem Post reported that “the Israel Medical Association [IMA] is in danger of being ousted from the WMA because of the ongoing political campaign against Israel.”
The WMA responded angrily on its Web site (www.wma.net). “The statement was a complete hoax, with no basis in truth. Since [the article appeared] the WMA has received up to 20 000 email messages per day to protest against this plan.”
The CMA is a member of the WMA and hosted its 1999 annual meeting. Dr. John Williams, the CMA's director of ethics and former chair of the WMA's Committee on Ethics, received 25 calls and emails opposing Israel's expulsion on Apr. 29 and 30. The CMA Public Affairs Department received more than 100 during the same period.
“The WMA has received no request whatsoever for the Israel Medical Association to be expelled,” says Human. “We have decided to discuss the issues relating to physicians and health care in the Middle East conflict and will do so at our [May 2–5] meeting in France. It is not part of our agenda to discuss sanctioning or expelling the IMA. What we want to discuss is what we can do to help control violence targeted at health care professionals in the Middle East. The Israel Medical Association has been most helpful in this regard.” — Patrick Sullivan, CMAJ