Student incident

During a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause, a citizen of the Kingdom of Norway carried a poster targeting the State of Israel. As luck would have it, this Citizen of the Kingdom of Norway is in Poland as a student at the Warsaw Medical University (as are many of her compatriots). In connection with this, there have been a number of appeals to the University authorities, including a suggestion that the Rector resign. I am not aware of similar in tone and content demands being made to the Ambassador of the country of which the student is a citizen. And this is the proper addressee of these speeches.

There is a question, in this situation, what is the responsibility of the authorities of the University and its individual academics, of which I am one? Well, there is none! The incident took place outside the University and outside of class time and was in no way related to the study of medicine. There are people from a wide variety of countries studying at WUM, including Israel and Arab countries, and their political views are not verified in any way and cannot be verified. Outside of classes and the University premises, students are subject to the same laws as all people in these locations. The teaching of medicine (in my case limited to oncology and hematology) is in no way concerned with the Middle East conflict or, for that matter, any political conflict.

Well, my ( and other academics') responsibility comes down to teaching these people well - medicine. Leukemia and lung cancer run their course and require identical treatment in both an Israeli and a Palestinian. What we teach students is that if someone is already sick or injured it doesn't matter his nationality: it is the doctor's duty to help him in a similar way: to the enemy as well as to his own.

Regardless of sympathies on one side or another, Poland or the Poles will not solve the Middle East conflict. Nor will it be solved by Warsaw Medical University or the undersigned. Whatever Israel does it will have to live with it and so will the Palestinians. A doctor, on the other hand... a doctor always wants there to be as few casualties as possible.

Wieslaw Wiktor Jedrzejczak