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Screenshot of Discord channel ADMISSION-MED-QC-2024, revived after the racist Med serveur channel was taken down Montreal Gazette |
"I was shocked by the individuals, the 20 to 30 people who were posting this antisemitic stuff. They were so blatant about it."
"What they were talking about had nothing to do with medicine, except where they were saying that Jews are controlling the applications process at McGill and you get bonus points if you're Black or Indigenous or you should dress up like a Jew for the interview."
McGill University medical student, anonymous for fear of backlash
"If these accounts are really from future physicians, we need an immediate investigation to identify those responsible and ensure they are not admitted to our medical schools or allowed to practice medicine."
"It is essential that the institutions involved act swiftly, transparently and decisively to restore public trust. Hate has no place in medicine. These reported comments are not only unacceptable -- they are dangerous."
"Admitting individuals who hold such views into the medical profession poses a real risk to Quebec patients, especially those from vulnerable communities. Medicine must be grounded in ethics, respect and inclusion."
"Those who do not uphold these values should not be entrusted with the care of our population."
Dr. Lior Bibas, president, Association de medecins Juifs du Quebec
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Screen capture of antisemitic content posted to a Canadian medical
student social media server Comment reads 'If you mute me karma will
make you choke during the MEM [medical
interviews]'. (Doctors Against Racism and Antisemitism) |
The popular social media platform Discord hosts a group chat on its channel for medical school applicants in Quebec, called Med serveur. There are over 1,400 members signed on to the Med serveur site. It has recently been identified as a misogynistic, racist, homophobic and antisemitic site that has gathered slurs that would be denounced anywhere, on any public-facing platform. The purpose of the platform was meant to give a voice to students grappling with frustration in their studies, finding a sympathetic audience of others in a like situation.
Some among the group's members have been posting anonymous epithets targeting vulnerable groups. Many of the posts amount to expressions of hate, and degenerate into threats posited against identifiable groups in society. Knowledge of the situation has led to widespread condemnation by Jewish doctors' groups countrywide. Jewish Clinicians Against Antisemitism for one, has filed a criminal complaint with Montreal police against an identified Discord user, a student at Dawson College.
"The McGill faculty of medicine and health sciences does not tolerate hate speech."
"Our university has equity, diversity and inclusion policies that state that hateful and divisive language will not be tolerated in our community under any circumstances."
"As for the unacceptable comments made on the platform referenced, to our knowledge no students admitted to our faculty were among the authors. Our policies and regulations allow us to act accordingly if this was to be the case."
McGill University
The presence of the anonymous slanders and slights date back to February with threats against Jews and the LGBTQ2S+ community. B'nai Brith Canada, the Jewish advocacy group, posted a few of the slurs and images, following which most have been removed from the Discord channel. A Discord spokesperson stated that the app, based in San Francisco plans to take action against the offending posters. "Discord has a zero-tolerance policy for hate speech which does not have a place on our platform or anywhere in society", its spokesperson Jillian Susi said.
Some of he antisemitic and misogynistic posts on the channel used by students in discussion of applications process in the province's four medical schools were of particular note, including: "Imagine a woman under antidepressant[s] and f---ing Ritalin who [performs] surgery on you. She'll vomit mid-surgery because it's too stressful and she needs a mental health break".
The anonymous student expressed personal dismay that no individual in the group chat had denounced any of the offensive posts; all the more puzzling since that could have been done without revealing the identity of the dissenter, posting anonymously. The same student expressed his dismay and an intention to complain to Montreal police. Noting that some three-quarters of the offensive posts targeted Jews, Black people and women in equal proportions, with the others targeted against Indigenous and LGBTQ2S+ groups.
Amidst the heightened security and anxiety percolating within the Jewish community in Montreal, since October 7, 2023 where synagogue entrances were firebombed, and shots fired at Jewish parochial schools marking an acceleration of the threats against Canadian Jews.
"There are hundreds of these posts, and we couldn't find a single objection by anybody in the group chat]."
"I thought I'd seen everything. I've seen many vile posts all over the place since October 7 [the massacre of Jews in Israel by Hamas in 2023], but this is beyond my imagination."
"I mean, slurs against people who are Black or Indigenous, transgender, women, Jews."
"I despise platitudes, but this one rings true: It starts with the Jews but it doesn't end with the Jews, and this is evidence of that."
Dr. Philip Berger, Doctors Against Racism and Anti-semitism (DARA)
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These aren’t anonymous trolls. They are future doctors. And this kind of hate doesn’t stay online. It follows them into classrooms, clinics, and operating rooms. B'nai Brith |