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University of California fires Indian-origin doc for calling Zionism racist ideology affecting healthcare

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University of California fires Indian-origin doc for calling Zionism racist ideology affecting healthcare
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Dr. Rupa Marya, an Indian-origin physician, was sacked after 23 years of employment at the University of California, San Francisco, following a lengthy suspension for her vocal condemnation of Israel's genocidal attack on Gaza and its devastating impact on Palestinian healthcare.

Marya was placed on leave in September 2024, and her clinical credentials were temporarily suspended.

Later in May, she was sacked by the UCSF executive medical board for statements she made on X that questioned the role of Zionism as "a supremacist, racist ideology" in healthcare.

“The presence of Zionism in US medicine should be examined as a structural impediment to health equity. Zionism is a supremacist, racist ideology and we see Zionist doctors justifying the genocide of Palestinians. How does their outlook/position impact priorities in US medicine?” reads one of her posts.

She asks, “How can we have health equity if people with deeply rooted racist philosophies (supremacist ideologies are racist) are in charge of setting funding priorities and shaping the structures of medicine?”

Dr Marya shared the article titled “Who Is Funding Canary Mission? Inside the Doxxing Operation Targeting Anti-Zionist Students and Professors” from The Nation, and wrote, “This is a critical article to read (and it reads like a spy novella) to understand the reaches of Zionism in US academic medicine. My own institution, UCSF, is involved through the Helen Diller Foundation’s funding.”

The university issued a statement on social media condemning what it described as a recurring racist conspiracy theory being shared online.

Although Dr Rupa Marya was not named, the statement addressed allegations suggesting that doctors who identify as Zionists pose a danger to certain racial and ethnic groups, including Arabs, Palestinians, South Asians, Muslims, and Black patients, as well as to the U.S. healthcare system.

The university characterized these claims as unfounded, harmful, and broadly discriminatory, asserting that such rhetoric is widely viewed as antisemitic by both Jewish and non-Jewish individuals, Maktoob Media reported.

As part of disciplinary action, university officials decided to place a letter of censure in Dr Marya’s professional file for a decade—a step she believes could significantly impact her future career prospects in medicine.

In response, Dr. Marya filed two formal complaints. One is a First Amendment lawsuit in which she argues that the university violated her constitutional right to free speech.

The other is a civil rights complaint, claiming she faced discrimination due to her vocal support for Palestinian rights and her broader advocacy for healthcare equity for marginalized groups.

In a previous interview with Democracy Now, Dr Rupa Marya reflected on the circumstances surrounding her dismissal, stating that she hadn’t anticipated that calling for an end to the bombing of hospitals—part of her broader support for Palestinian liberation and criticism of what she described as U.S.-backed atrocities in Gaza—would be the action that jeopardized her medical career.

She claimed her termination followed what she described as months of targeted repression, including harassment, intimidation, and defamation. According to Dr. Marya, this campaign was carried out with involvement from California State Senator Scott Wiener and was part of a broader pattern of UCSF leadership cracking down on healthcare professionals. She alleged that the university had been engaging in retaliatory actions such as firings, suspensions, and harassment over a period of nearly two years.

Dr. Marya also stated that once UCSF, in collaboration with Senator Wiener, began spreading defamatory content about her on social media, she began receiving violent threats. These included racist, sexualized, and explicitly threatening messages.

She also revealed that some faculty members told her they were being pressured to file false reports about her clinical performance, even though she had a 23-year record with no patient safety incidents.

Marya had also reported racism, including anti-Arab, anti-Palestinian, and Islamophobic remarks—some of which were made by colleagues in school email threads—to the university’s anti-harassment and discrimination office. However, those complaints were dismissed without a thorough investigation.

In an opinion piece published on Mondoweiss, Dr Rupa Marya wrote, “As healthcare workers were being targeted, tortured, and killed in Gaza by Israel’s US-backed genocide, I could not remain quiet.”

“I brought everything I had as a physician dedicated to building a world of health for all… and as a mother who cares for my own children and, by extension, all children,” she said.

She claimed that her protected speech, which was critical of Israel and supportive of Palestinian humanity, was "maligned, attacked, and ultimately fired."

But the hatred, she said, began well before October 7, recounting, “When I advocated for poor, Black, or unhoused patients who were not receiving proper care, UCSF leadership would call me in to reprimand me. University lawyers even tried to silence me when I stood up for victims of police violence in San Francisco.”

Marya reiterated that her questions and concerns were not antisemitism as some people claimed but rather, it was grounded in medical ethics and human rights.

She spoke about the hypocrisy of her university and its donors, stating, “The stories I share challenge the powers that be. I am attacked because my worldview insists that all beings deserve health, including Palestinians.”

Dr Marya stated that the university used harassment allegations against her in connection with an Israeli student she never actually named—someone who, she suggests, may not have even existed. This issue has become a central element in free speech lawsuits now unfolding in both state and federal courts.

The controversy began in September 2024 when Dr. Marya posted on social media questioning whether an Israeli student participated in the “genocide of Palestinians”. Her comments drew criticism from State Senator Scott Wiener, who accused her of antisemitism and of fostering a hostile academic environment.

Dr. Marya has characterized her experience as part of a broader, troubling pattern. She argues that powerful interests—including wealthy donors, certain political figures, and institutions—are working together to suppress voices critical of settler colonialism or opposed to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Dr. Rupa Marya received her M.D. from Georgetown University School of Medicine in 2002 and completed her residency in Internal Medicine at UCSF in 2007. Alongside her medical training, she pursued Documentary Radio, studying at the SALT Institute for Documentary Studies in 2003.

Her career reflects a deep commitment to blending disciplines. She has participated in creative residencies, including the Artist Residency at EDELO in 2009 and the Writers Residency at Mesa Refuge in 2020, experiences that highlight her integration of medicine, art, and activism.

Dr. Marya’s work focuses on the interconnected struggles of climate, health, and racial justice.

She founded the Deep Medicine Circle, an organization led by women of colour that seeks to heal the wounds of colonialism through initiatives rooted in food, medicine, story, restoration, and learning.

Additionally, she co-founded the Do No Harm Coalition, a group of health professionals dedicated to addressing health disparities through structural and systemic change.

Dr Marya has been recognized for her contributions to medical education and justice, receiving the 2021 Women Leaders in Medicine Award from the American Medical Student Association.

She contributed as a reviewer to the American Medical Association’s Organizational Strategic Plan to Embed Racial Justice and Advance Health Equity and was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to the Healthy California for All Commission, where she helped shape proposals for universal healthcare.

Outside the clinical realm, Dr. Marya has also toured 29 countries with her band, Rupa and the April Fishes, whose genre-defying sound has been described by Gil Scott-Heron as “Liberation Music.”

Her work includes co-authoring the bestselling book Inflamed: Deep Medicine and the Anatomy of Injustice with Raj Patel, which examines the impact of colonialism on human and planetary health.

The University of California system, especially UCSF, has faced ongoing criticism for suppressing pro-Palestinian voices.

Reports indicate that UCSF officials have cancelled or censored talks by medical professionals who discussed the health consequences of Israel’s apartheid policies and assault in Gaza.

Some physicians were subjected to internal probes merely for mentioning Palestine during their presentations.

Earlier this year, a nurse practitioner who had volunteered in Gaza was dismissed for wearing a watermelon pin—a widely recognized symbol of solidarity with Palestine.

In April, UCSF also terminated Denise Caramagno, a therapist and early leader in violence prevention at the university, after she publicly supported Dr. Marya.

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TAGS:PalestineZionismUniversity of California
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