It’s not like Lior Bibas is signing as many petitions as he is medical reports—but it certainly seems like the prescriptions need writing.

The Montreal cardiologist and president of the Quebec Jewish Physician Association (AMJQ) added his voice to the Global Jewish Health Alliance (GJHA) condemning the Jan. 2 call by UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese for the global medical community to cut ties with Israel.

1/Nearly a quarter million people have united to condemn remarks by @UN Special Rapporteur @FranceskAlbs, suggesting severing medical ties with @Israel.

As President of the Québec Jewish Physician Association, I am proud to be a cosignator of the Global Jewish Health Alliance… pic.twitter.com/lG5ZLwMdUv

— Lior Bibas🎗️ (@LiorBibasMD) January 27, 2025

Albanese’s proposal is dangerous and endangers global healthcare progress, Bibas posted on social media. “Cutting ties with Israel, a leader in medical R&D, would delay or derail life-saving treatments,” he wrote. “Open science and global collaboration are the bedrock of progress in healthcare. This affects everyone.” Calls for academic and medical boycotts erode decades of trust, delay innovation, and disrupt care worldwide he said, urging the UN, World Health Organization and other professionals to condemn Albanese’s appeal. “Medical boycotts harm everyone—they don’t build a path to peace and certainly do not build a better world.”

Bibas co-founded the AMJQ in the weeks following the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel. “We heard that trainees were having a hard time, and we’ve lived it every time there’s a war, like in 2021” he told The CJN. “We saw a worsening of the situation and were hearing stories of trainees removed from study groups, others put on the defensive about what’s happening, very uncomfortable situations,” and some saw relationships with residents deteriorating very quickly.

“I myself did eight years of residency,” said Bibas, an assistant professor of medicine at Université de Montréal. “Medical training is very hierarchical. You are getting evaluated constantly, it’s really hard and you don’t want to ruffle feathers, which can really have a negative impact on your career.” The AMJQ counts some 400 physicians and 150 medical students and residents as members.

The group participated in the national survey of some 1,000 Jewish Canadian medical professionals, and while it hasn’t released specific results yet, Bibas says there are similarities with Ontario counterparts. “Trainees are getting the brunt of all this. Their entire training ecosystem—relationships with peers and physicians—has changed.”

Whether anti-Zionist remarks, blaming Jews for Israel’s actions, or other behaviour, it can be debilitating in a grueling academic/career setting. “I’m not saying there’s systemic antisemitism in Quebec’s medical system. There are incidents that are dealt with, but issues of trust remain… One of the biggest problems is getting trainees to testify. They don’t trust the system.” The fear of retaliation is so strong, that some students are unwilling to report incidents, even anonymously.

“Even though I think people need to be a bit more outspoken, I understand their hesitation because I once faced an issue with an attending that could have set back my career severely due to power dynamics in academia.”  

2/ Albanese’s mad call to break all medical ties with Israel would put Israeli lives at risk, Jews & Arabs; deprive patients worldwide from life-saving treatments from leading Israeli R&D, including patients in developing nations, explains @LiorBibasMD 🧵https://t.co/sJJMVU8lMc

— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) January 27, 2025

One first-year Jewish Montreal medical student, who spoke to The CJN anonymously for fear of reprisal, saying within two months of beginning studies he was confronted by two students demanding he explain why Israel “withholds vaccines” from Gazans.

“I was terrified and felt trapped and laughed, asking them if they thought child hostages should be vaccinated. One laughed back and shouted that ‘You can’t stop lying!’. It completely changed my trajectory here. It’s head down and ignore. I’ll speak out when I have the energy to.”

Speaking out is what Bibas is doing, by pushing back on French radio, television, and social media, against unrest on streets and campuses, and calls for medical boycotts.

Peut-on aspirer à une société où ceux qui dénoncent la haine et la violence sont soutenus et encouragés, plutôt que réduits au silence ou diffamés?🤔

Hier, j’ai condamné sur X une image appelant à la violence armée contre des étudiants juifs.

Le résultat? Une attaque sur… pic.twitter.com/oXvdCEIqG3

— Lior Bibas🎗️ (@LiorBibasMD) January 15, 2025

Bibas also says while some colleagues talk of leaving Canada, “I don’t interpret that as people packing their suitcases. I haven’t heard of anyone from Quebec leaving. They may feel they may have no choice, but not because of what’s happening now in hospitals. More because of our future. I have a great practice, I love my work, but I see my kids and I don’t know… Do they have a long life here? With the way things are going, is there a future for our children?”

Elie Haddad knows the feeling. The pediatric immunologist came to Montreal 20 years ago for professional opportunities, “but also because my wife and I thought that France did not have a good future for Jews. So we wanted to leave.” He was often confronted with antisemitism, “of course, in the street, in the hospital, everywhere. It has become banal in France.”

Quebec was “a peaceful haven. We were incredibly surprised, at almost every level we found a beautiful community life, a respectful, multicultural society where people respect laws. It was going so well, but over the years, especially the last five years, we’ve noticed a dramatic abrupt change with regard to antisemitism.”

He himself experienced only one serious incident in the Quebec workplace which marked him significantly but praised his institution’s response as “incredible support which was very reassuring.”

Haddad doubts people really want to leave. “We know as Jews we may have to leave at anytime from any country, so this is saying ‘I feel I’m ready if it’s necessary’. On the contrary, we must not say we’re going to leave, we must fight. We share a vision as Quebecers: separation of religion and state, individual rights, respect for religions, respect for others. It’s a beautiful society and I don’t think we should let it be ruined by dark individuals.”

Bibas agrees. “I’m an optimist. People are saying we should leave but I personally don’t like that kind of talk. If things are not going the way we want, then we need to be empowered. It’s time to show strength and unity. Let’s stay. We belong here. It’s not time to leave because the going is a bit tough. We have it pretty good here and have to fight for that.”

He regularly makes the case that the Jewish and wider Québécois communities share common values that reject hate, fundamentalist and anti-western sentiment recently and regularly articulated in Montreal streets. “We want to live in peace. We respect other people but want people to respect us. And I think what’s happening in Quebec, specifically in Montreal, where people see 15 months of riots, disorder and chaos, is an international embarrassment that will likely affect the standing and investment in Canada and Montreal.”

He deplored the “complete indifference and inaction of Mayor (Valérie) Plante. Really, it’s embarrassing, the fact she just tweets meaningless things. What is she waiting for, more bullets?”

A clinician researcher in a Montreal hospital, Haddad concurs and points out that in France “the situation continues to worsen in a horrible downward spiral for Jews. In Quebec, it’s a multicultural society, it’s beautiful and it can work, but you have to respect the laws and enforce the laws. It’s hard when you have a mayor who does nothing, and people see that and continue with hateful speech, calling for people’s deaths, and we see how our youth, particularly in English-speaking universities, are stigmatized.”

Bibas is a child of Bill 101, raised in the French school system and integrated into Quebec society, and says there’s much to share, and the Jewish doctors group presents itself proudly in French. “We’re a Quebec organization. We want to continue building, contributing to Quebec. We work with patients from all backgrounds, we understand Quebec society, politics, and culture. We want to bridge that gap and show we’re part of the community. We’ve been here for over 250 years and aren’t asking for special treatment—we’re not causing disruptions or protests. We’re not the ones destroying the streets.”

The AMJQ came out prominently in April, responding to a March letter published by a doctors’ collective denouncing Israel’s military campaign. In a written response in French-language media, the AMJQ slammed the letter as a “militant pamphlet conveying mendacious rhetoric” which in addition “to expressing a humanism with variable geometry, spreads erroneous information with impunity, without concern for the accuracy of the facts, with the result of misinforming Quebecers and stigmatizing Israel.”

Un collectif de medecins a publié une déclaration manquant de nuances et de recherches, la rendant de ce fait trompeuse. Voici un article d’une grande importance, qui apporte de la substance à ce sujet.@LP_LaPresse @IsraelenFrance https://t.co/4TNNkHQUYt

— Consulat général d’Israël (@IsraelaMTL) April 1, 2024

War is always monstrous, they wrote, regardless of who it affects. “For us, AMJQ doctors, a Palestinian mother who has lost her child constitutes the same calamity as the Israeli mother who mourns hers. Our compassion has no double standards.”

On Jan. 6, a group of Montreal-area medical professionals walked off the job to protest outside Radio-Canada offices, calling for an arms embargo, ceasefire and medical boycotts. Those who could not attend were encouraged to wear pins and keffiyehs to work. Demonstrators insisted they only abandoned administrative and other tasks, not medical duties.

The CJN asked Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé’s office if such a walkout should be sanctioned, given the waiting lists and backlogs in the province’s healthcare system.

Spokesperson Marie-Claude Lacasse told The CJN the ministry had no comment. “It’s the Collège des médecins (CDM) ethics code that governs professional responsibilities and not the ministry.” The CDM was similarly mum, referring queries to individual establishments. Only one institution responded, the CHU Sainte-Justine children’s hospital stating, “in Quebec, doctors work in the health network as self-employed workers. This means that they have autonomy in the management of their activities and their professional commitments.”

Bibas was unimpressed. “As physicians, our foremost duty is to provide care and preserve life,” guided by ethical principles that prioritize patients. “It is deeply concerning to witness a call for boycotting Israeli medical institutions and universities—actions ultimately jeopardizing patient care locally and beyond.” He said the group was ignorant of vital contributions by Israeli medical institutions, “including an unwavering commitment to humanitarian aid such as Israel facilitating the polio vaccination of over 1 million children in Gaza over the past year.”

A Jewish staffer at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal also speaking on condition of anonymity saw the protest on her way to work, telling The CJN she was “disgusted. We’re working endless hours to keep the system going, dealing with all kinds of shit, and our schedules are locked down. These people claim to do something noble? Why not on a day off? I haven’t heard a single word from any of these types after Oct. 7 other than about Israel’s ‘so-called ‘genocide’. That tells you what they are really all about.”

Haddad says it’s too late for France “and Quebec could get worse if we don’t act.” He has a prescription for that: “Get involved in politics at provincial, federal and municipal levels, explain our situation, make sure laws are enforced. We’re not asking to reinvent the wheel. Multiculturalism can be beautiful but if it’s not working, remake it. I won’t tear my shirt over the model,” he said, in regard to the province’s Jan. 30 announcement that it will completely revamp its model of integrating newcomers to Quebec, with increasing focus on secularism, equality between sexes, and adherence to common values.

In a parliamentary brief last year, the Canadian Federation of Jewish Medical Associations (CFJMA) with more than 2,000 members, said there are non-Jews in Canadian medical faculties “who do not hate Jews and who do not want harm to come to Jews, and there are even a few who are actively working to learn more about antisemitism in order to be better allies to Jews.”

CFJMA’s provincial member organizations however, report increasing numbers of people working in faculties and institutions that govern and accredit medical training “who do not believe that Jews are worthy of equity, equality, or even basic human rights. It is also our experience that the most vocal of those faculty members are active in promoting equity and human rights for other groups, sometimes as individual advocates but often as leaders or as educators in the EDI space.” They added, “this issue of open antisemitism in anti-oppression circles” has grown steadily in North America over the past 10 to 20 years.

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