Upstate New York’s Siena College is coming under fire for inviting a medical professor to speak on campus — despite her claiming that Zionist doctors could pose a threat to US medicine and public health.
“The presence of Zionism in US medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity,” Dr. Rupa Marya, associate professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, posted on X last week.
“Zionism is a supremacist; racist ideology and we see Zionist doctors justifying the genocide of Palestinians,” she continued.
“How does their outlook/position impact priorities in US medicine?”
Local lawmakers and Jewish civil rights groups slammed the comments as antisemitic and questioned Siena College’s selection of Marya as speaker in a March lecture series.
“Portraying Zionists as a threat to US medicine is unmistakably antisemitic,” Bronx Rep. Ritchie Torres told The Post on Wednesday.
“Professor Rupa Mary has no business being in academia, let alone speaking at Siena College. She is an embarrassment to the academic enterprise,” he said.
A spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League said it was “deeply troubling” that Siena College had invited “invited someone who has shared horrific and hateful antisemitic conspiracy theories” to be part of its Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King Lecture Series on Race and Nonviolent Social Change.
“While there’s room for criticism of Israel on campus, there is simply no room for those who promote antisemitic conspiracy theories,” the ADL rep said.
“We strongly condemn Dr. Marya’s hateful rhetoric and are in direct contact with university leaders and have urged them to reconsider this choice.”
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former longtime trustee of the City University of New York’s governing board added that, “Saying Zionism has no place is the same as saying the Jews have no place in medicine.”
“Zionism means Judaism. You’re saying Jews shouldn’t be in medicine. Without Jewish doctors you could close half the hospitals in New York,” he said.
He noted that Israeli doctors have treated enemies in the leadership of Hamas and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“Israeli doctors save the lives of many Palestinians. She knows it,” Wiesenfeld said.
On its website, the college, located in Loudonville just outside of Albany, said it was “proud to welcome” Marya to speak March 13 on the topic of “Decolonizing Medicine: Transforming our World Through Medicine, Activism, and Music.”
Marya supports the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel.
She has accused Israel of committing war crimes in Gaza that have been “sanctioned by every medical institution in the US who refused to speak up and demand a ceasefire as Israel bombed hospital and hospital after hospital.”
Siena, contacted by The Post, said it is reconsidering its invitation after hearing of Marya’s comments and noted she had been invited to speak last summer.
“Siena has become aware in the past 48 hours of troubling public statements made by Dr. Marya. The College is currently evaluating these statements in accordance with our policies and procedures to determine whether Dr. Marya will remain as this year’s featured speaker,” the Franciscan-founded liberal arts college said in a statement.
“Siena is committed to free speech and academic freedom, which underscores the importance of diverse perspectives and open dialogue while respecting the rights and dignity of all individuals. We are also committed to the safety of all members of our campus community, and will not tolerate or condone any speech that espouses bigotry or calls for discrimination or violence of any kind, in accordance with the values and mission of the MLK and CSK Lecture Series and the College’s Franciscan tradition,” the college said.
Marya, through U. Cal, had no immediate comment.
Marya founded the Deep Medicine Circle, described as a women of color-led organization committed to healing the wounds of colonialism through food, medicine, story, restoration and learning.