One in ten of the motions at the British Medical Association's annual three day conference related to Palestine, Israel and Zionism.
The BMA's annual representative meeting brings together representatives of different constituency bodies of the BMA to debate motions on medical ethics, health and NHS structure.
This year's conference, which began on Monday, features a total of 43 motions relating to Israel, the majority of which urge the BMA to cut ties with Israel and to declare that criticism of Israel is not antisemitic. Only 5 of the international relations motions relate to other issues.
The UK's Jewish Medical Association told the Telegraph that its members feel "intimidated, unsafe and excluded" at the conference. Many also sort support and protection from the Community Security Trust (CST) to ensure their safety.
The motions are split into priority and non priority motions.
The prioritized motions are heard at the ARM across the three days of the conference. Among the prioritized motions were five explicitly relating to Gaza, Palestine and Israel, and all were heard on Tuesday. These five were the only motions prioritised for debate today.
Motion 41 reads "criticism of the actions of the state of Israel is not per se antisemitic."
Motion 42 asks for the BMA to affirm "the right of healthcare professionals and medical students to criticise states, governments, or institutions for actions that contravene international law."
Within this motion was a subclause that asked for "acknowledgment that medical students advocating for Palestine have been the subject of disciplinary action by their medical schools" and which calls on the "BMA to lobby medical schools to not penalise and censor Palestinian advocacy."
It also contained a slightly more subtle subtext calling for "any punitive measures taken against healthcare workers or medical students [for "raising awareness of humanitarian crises"] to be immediately revoked."
42 contained an acknowledgement of "the rise of antisemitism on campus and the need to protect Jewish students," while simultaneously asking for this to be differentiated from "rightful advocacy for Palestine."
Motion 43, proposed by the Lothian Division, asked that the meeting reaffirm the position statements of June 2024 and January 2025 on the Israel-Gaza conflict, which "underscore the imperative of upholding international humanitarian law and the protection of healthcare workers and infrastructure in conflict zones."
43 additionally called for condemnation of the "systematic destruction of hospitals in Gaza and the killing of over 1,000 healthcare workers since October 7, 2023" and the "immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained healthcare workers in Israel as political prisoners and calls for an end to the targeting and criminalisation of medical personnel providing care in conflict zones."
It also urged the UK Government to "actively support the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in their investigations and prosecutions of war crimes." Motion 43 made no mention of the Israeli victims or Israeli hostages in Gaza.
The JMA told the Telegraph that zero motions prioritised discussion for other international issues such as the famine in Sudan.
JMA also criticized a Health Workers 4 Palestine protest planned for outside the conference which was held as a "visual protest against Israel's genocide." The protest group asked for "old shoes to be brought" for the visual protest, something that JMA said was "synonymous with the Holocaust."
It cited the IHRA definition of antisemitism which declares usage of such symbolism to be antisemitic as it undermines Holocaust memory.
Non prioritized motions
On Part 2 of the motion agenda are motions which were not prioritized for debate at the conference, so may not be discussed due to time constraints.
Motion 187 and Motion 190 are almost identical, calling on the BMA to defend the actions of doctors undertaking peaceful protest such as "to oppose attacks on health workers and hospitals in Gaza" and ensure they are "not subject to a Medical Practitioner Tribunal Service hearings and possible sanctions."
188 specifically states that "criticism of Israel (a country) or of Zionism (a political ideology) is not antisemitic" and draws on the Equality Act to back up its claim that such expressions and "Expressing support for Palestine or the Palestinian people is not antisemitic" and claims that "many Jews do not support the actions of the Israeli state."
Motions 238 and 239 relate to strategic divestment from Israel and asks for the ending of investment of UK medical schools in companies associated with weapons manufacturing, military research, and defence industries, which have direct links to supporting regimes with documented human rights violations.
It cites the International Court of Justice advisory opinion in July 2024 which observed that “Israel’s legislation and measures constitute a breach of article 3 of [the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination]” and is therefore guilty of establishing a system of apartheid.
Motion 239 then urges the BMA to "lobby for the exclusion of Israel from the World Medical Association" and "boycott Israeli medical institutions such as the Israeli Medical Association."
Motion 245 asks the BMA to recognise that the "State of Israel is guilty of crimes against humanity, including the crime of apartheid."
Motion 252 claims that British doctors/students have been targeted within their workplace for speaking out "against atrocities in Palestine and have faced suspension, disciplinary action and smears against their reputation including Antisemitism."
Notably, most of the most extreme motions were brought by London Regional Council.
Every motion from 238-278 is all about Palestine, Israel or Gaza, with the exception of 244. The motion content range from asking the BMA to support the notion that Israel is committing genocide, asking it to divest, to call for reinstation of UNWRA funding, calling for ceasefire, calling to cut ties with Israeli institutions, and calling for the UK to cease arms exports.
Motions 419 and 420 specifically targets the IHRA definition of antisemitism calling it "unnecessary" with "no legal basis" and calling for it not to be adopted by the BMA.
421 asks that doctors from Palestinian backgrounds be allowed to wear Palestinian heritage and culture in clothing, attire and symbols.
Several others allude to the topic, but not with the exact wording.
The BMA told the Telegraph that "antisemitism is completely unacceptable" and that there is no place for it in either the body or the NHS.
Nevertheless, it said that the BMA has a "long and proud history of advocating for human rights and access to healthcare around the world" and that this year's motions reflect "the grave concerns doctors in the UK have about the Gaza conflict."