An Arab Israeli doctor at a Jerusalem hospital who was falsely accused of praising a Palestinian terror suspect urged the hospital on Sunday to apologize to him and end the dismissal process that was initiated in response to the allegations.
Hadassah Hospital Ein Kerem wrote to the Israel Medical Association in November that it intended to fire resident Dr. Ahmad Mahajneh, erroneously claiming that on October 26, he gave patient Muhammad Abu Qatish, 16, a plate of sweets, congratulated him and called him a “shahid,” or martyr.
The hospital also accused Mahajneh of “insulting a police officer.”
The false accusations were first publicized by the right-wing group Betsalmo and were widely picked up by Hebrew media outlets, sparking outrage on social media, with some users threatening the doctor. However, despite retractions by Betsalmo and the media over the past week, the hospital has yet to allow Mahajneh to return to work, he said.
“They have to apologize,” Mahajneh told the Walla news site. “They have to. But instead, Hadassah continues to persecute me, keeps my suspension from work in force and harms my livelihood, my profession. All the people that were involved and lied in this affair are working as usual, while I sit at home.”
He added: “I’m afraid. I’ve received many threats since November 4, when the...
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