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A Further Perspective
Donald Berwick and the Anti-Israelis
In Obama’s man, socialized health-care and Israeli-bashing go hand in hand.
In bypassing Senate confirmation, Donald Berwick avoided scrutiny of his belief that Britain’s National Health Service was a mode for reforming healthcare in America as well as any business relationships that might overlap with those he will oversee as he implements Obamacare and Medicare cuts. The ensuing furor overshadowed Dr. Berwick’s growing involvement with the international advocacy group, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). PHR was established with funding from the Ford Foundation “to investigate the health consequences of human rights violations and work to stop them.”
Two facets of Berwick’s involvement with PHR are noteworthy in light of his extremely liberal views about the role of healthcare as a vehicle for social justice and income redistribution. Berwick began donating thousands of dollars to PHR in 2000 when the outfit was focusing most, if not all of its, investigations on Israel’s treatment of terrorists during the Intifada. For instance, PHR “conducted a medical and forensic investigation in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank from October 20-27, 2000 to investigate allegations of excessive use of force, including the use of prohibited ammunition in the current conflict between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators and authorities.”
In 2002 PHR released another report on the impact of Israel’s battle against Fatah and terrorists holed up in Jenin. The PHR investigation added credibility to the false claim that the IDF massacred the population. It went after Israel in seven major reports. By comparison it launched one report on Zimbabwe, five on Sudan, none on Iran or Iraq or North Korea. (PHR also issued 12 reports on the U.S. and its interrogation of terrorists). It also gave an award to Eyad Sarraj, a human rights activist in Gaza who later justified homicide bombings as a natural response to Ariel Sharon’s election as prime minister and helped organize the recent flotilla operation. During this time, Berwick’s contributions to PHR steadily increased.
In 2008 he joined the board of PHR, which must be seen as an endorsement of the organization’s mission and focus. In doing so he arrived just as Richard Goldstone, his fellow board member, was involved with the United Nations in laying the groundwork for investigating whether Israel’s Operation Cast Lead, initiated in response to rocket attacks on Israeli civilians by Hamas, constituted war crimes. The following PHR press release all but accuses Israel of deliberately targeting wounded civilians and medical facilities. These charges would later be the core of the Goldstone’s commission report war crimes accusations:
PHR has received recent reports from medical colleagues and human rights organizations in Israel [my emphasis] that among other violations, a clearly marked Red Cross supply truck, pre-coordinated with the IDF for transport, was nonetheless fired on by Israeli tanks and that the A-Raeiya Medical Center and clinics, far from military or government installations in Gaza, were attacked from the air by Israel causing $800,000 worth of damage and preventing care for hundreds of Gaza residents.
PHR noted that military violence in as densely populated a location as Gaza inevitably will cause extensive civilian casualties, and the organization appealed to both parties to this conflict to negotiate an immediate ceasefire on humanitarian and human rights grounds. PHR CEO Frank Donaghue stated today, “The parties to this horrific conflict are choking an entire population — threatening access to food, shelter, medical care, and creating daily terror and insecurity. No military objectives can justify this.”
During a time when PHR helped coordinate Goldstone’s activities against Israel, Berwick moved from being just a contributor to being a board member. Dr. Berwick was not and should not be held responsible for Goldstone’s actions on behalf on the UN Human Rights Commission. But he willingly increased his support for and involvement in an organization that singled out Israel for human rights abuses and mistreatment of civilians. He joined the board of PHR at a time when Goldstone was taking a leading role and PHR’s public statements were framing the central arguments Goldstone would advance.
At the same time, Berwick was not only lauding Britain’s National Health Service as a towering example of social justice, he was pocketing millions in compensation and free lifetime health benefits courtesy of the corporations and health interests he will now both regulate and reward. His involvement in the anti-Israel PHR will not disqualify him the eyes of his liberal supporters, particularly among reorganized ranks of the Journolistas. Indeed, it will likely only lead them to redouble their coordinated effort on his behalf. You can’t be a true “progressive” unless you attack Israel or are criticized for doing so. Today Berwick is their man, in more ways than one.
About the Author
Robert M. Goldberg is vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and founder of Hands Off My H ealth, a grass roots health care empowerment network. His is new book, Tabloid Medicine: How the Internet is Being Used To Hijack Medical Science For Fear and Profit, was published last month by Kaplan.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (24) | Leave a comment
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Hershl| 7.23.10 @ 7:04AM
Israel is under attack from all sides.
Besides the Hamas terrorists in Gaza who have been raining rockets onto Israel from the South, Southern Lebanon is occupied by Iranian terrorists, Hizbollah, who attacked Israel in July, 2006.
The Hizbollah terrorists are at it again and Israeli intelligence has determined that they are planning another war in the near future.
This time, things will be very different since Israel has been working overtime to destroy them.
http://jewishdailyreport.wordp.....errorists/
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.23.10 @ 2:01PM
Hershl,
Thank you for the link.
I think the "Day of The Lord"...is nigh.
Our prayers are with the Israelis.
Alan Brooks| 7.23.10 @ 8:52PM
Iran will fight to the last Palestinian.
martin j smith| 7.23.10 @ 7:56AM
This guy should be further investigated and this info should be widely ciruclated--relating to Obamacare and this coming election cycle. American voters need to understand who this guy is and how he will effect their healthcare.
Alan Brooks| 7.24.10 @ 10:06PM
How brave Iranians are, sponsoring rocket attacks on Israeli civilians...
"...and now a word from our sponsor: @#&*!"
Louis Jenkins| 7.23.10 @ 8:46AM
We have enjoyed a immense health care system that has abaited many affilictions. No more. Berwick is the new sheriff and things are gonna change. Get used to it. Berwick will get along fine with the Journolistas. Such a wonderful bunch of pigs. Israel will continue doing what it does, ensuring its national security by whatever means are necessary.
hardcard| 7.23.10 @ 8:57AM
I smell a soros in this mix
Bob Miller| 7.23.10 @ 9:13AM
Leftist "activists" partake of the whole smorgasbord of lunacies. Berwick's boss (czar of all czars?) has shown signs of this, too.
gregprich| 7.23.10 @ 12:41PM
I think it is significant that Berwick's comments on the British National Health Service related not to the quality of its health care but to its function in redistributing wealth. He has an agenda that has nothing to do with medicine. Just another hollow Leftist. Who doesn't expect to participate in the programs he advocates - hence his care that his own health care is provided for for the rest of his life. But we are making progress. The Obama Administration did not have the brass to expose Berwick to public scrutiny. The public would not have put up with him.
Radegunda| 7.23.10 @ 4:08PM
The British press is replete with stories of shoddy treatment at the hands of the NHS. Some British readers put in defensive comments about how glad they are to have the NHS--but how many of them have any experience of medicine that is not controlled and rationed by government?
As for Israel, Berwick evidently hasn't paid the slightest attention to how Israeli hospitals routinely treat residents of Gaza on an equal basis with Israelis--even though Muslims have been known sometimes to back and attack those same hospitals, just because they're Jewish.
Nick| 7.24.10 @ 12:01AM
What?
A comment thread about Israel that did not attract a dozen anti-Semites?
How things have changed at TAS.
Or, maybe there is a big Klan rally somewhere this weekend.
N| 7.25.10 @ 9:30AM
obama has the distinction of being the most hostile president ever to our one ally, the only democracy in the middle east, Israel. Dems hate hearing this, but the fact is obama was born to a muslim father, making him muslim. His policies verify his islamophile mentality. This alone will bring Democrats to utter defeat in November. One can only wonder what dangerous policies he will embrace in a 2nd term. I'm a life-long Democrat who voted GOP for the first time in the last presidential race. As long as obama forces the Dems to embrace his Rev. Wright anti-Israel policies, I will not vote for another Democrat.
N| 7.25.10 @ 9:51AM
What amazes me is that after 9/11 our elected officials never bothered to educate themselves about islam and the teachings of the koran. They would have found beliefs that are so hostile and in conflict with the American way, that the koran should be declared hate speech. The koran endorses a level of hate, intolerance, violence, anti-Semitism, mysogony, that no other religion has ever promoted or would tolerate. The koran encourages killing and lying in the furtherance of islam. When they are victorious over the infidel, historically they have converted the holy places of their vanquished into mosques, as they did by building mosques on the Temple Mount, and as the did in Cordoba, Spain. Now they intend to build a mosque on the ashes of the World Trade Center, their most celebrated victory over the infidel in recent history, and call it the Cordoba Center. In the immortal words of Sun Tzu's The Art of War - "Know thy enemy."
Ken | 7.25.10 @ 9:51AM
Sorry but you are wrong. Conflating socialism with "anti-Israelism" is pure bunk.
There may be a lot of socialist who don't like Israel, but it's not because Israel is some model of liberty and free-market ideals. In fact, Israel, is very socialist itself. About 70% of their economy is government controlled and run.
Of course when you can have your fifth column here in America coerce politicians (of both parties) into giving you lots of money, you can afford to be socialist.
But Israel's sins are the reason why many right wingers like myself abhor Israel. I live for the day when "conservative" publications like the American Spectator aren't such slaves to their jewish donors that they too can learn to speak the truth.
Ken
Laser Guided Loogie
Jim O'Brien| 7.25.10 @ 8:11PM
Read "The Israel Test" by George Gilder. Israel is now a world leader in start-up companies, particularly in technological innovation, ranking second only to the United States in 2008. It is clearly a capitalist, free economy.
Occam's Tool| 7.26.10 @ 9:56PM
Israel is considerably less Socialist---it leads the world in startups.
Long Ben| 7.25.10 @ 8:51PM
Were the Israelis using dum dums or bullets tipped with fulminate of mercury ? If so good on 'em . The Jews of 50 or 60 years ago had it right , NEVER AGAIN ! Any people that lob dumb rockets indiscriminately at civilians from civilian locals should be marked as terrorist . All people of common sense and good will should embrace the beauty of the one bullet one kill idea , especially as it pertains to terrorist.
Oh , and by the way , FI on Berwick , his nominator and all their dictating cabal
Sheri| 7.26.10 @ 10:30PM
I think it is absolutely disgusting that this evil man has managed to get lifetime health care for himself, yet he will have no problem cutting off health care for our disabled child.
Syd Chaden| 7.27.10 @ 11:56PM
It's no surprise that Obama has brought another anti-Israel man into his anti-Israel administration. What is a surprise is that the Jews on the Obama staff continue to identify with this administration. Is it simply that they don't care if Israel survives? Or are they planning on converting to Islam?
Al Neuman| 5.18.11 @ 10:23PM
I am just so sick and tired of these "fashionably" anti-Israel leftists, who distort the truth and bash the midEast's only democracy, and the only country there which truly seeks peace.
It's particularly offensive when coming from a Jew, which gives Berwick the doubly dubious distinction of not just embracing p.c. nonsens about Israel, but fully qualifying as a self-hating Jew.