Medecines sans Frontieres "Totally Biased"

"To be frank, I was very, very surprised because it's not the MSF I knew."

We used to make statements, you know, in Bosnia and Rwanda, but not taking sides like this. We always took into account the political context, but not to take sides from one group to another. In the Gaza War, I really got the feeling that MSF was totally biased."

"[Their failure to admit] health facilities [are] being used by Hamas and by soldiers [left me] really sad, and then I became angry." 

Alain Destexhe, secretary-general of MSF 1991 to 1995 

"Our decision to speak out about these grave realities as an impartial and independent humanitarian organization has sometimes prompted questions from the public about our neutrality in the conflict itself."

"We unequivocally disagree with the notion that MSF's communications on Gaza have been 'politicized' or represent an 'abandonment of our neutrality'." 

"We do not stand for discrimination of any kind, consistent with our MSF charter to provide assistance based on need, regardless of ethnicity, gender, religion or political affiliation."

"It is always regrettable when, and if, any donor, supporter, or team member chooses to depart MSF because of a disagreement with our public communications or advocacy positions."

Claudia Blume, spokesperson, MSF Canada

"I will be honest, the more I review MSF public communications [Instagram specifically], the evidence is overwhelming that the MSF stance has a pronounced bias. There is still not one single mention of the 200+ civilian hostages; not one mention of Hamas' indiscriminate rocket fire into civilian centres, both of which are war crimes and violations of the Geneva conventions."

"Before we made our donation, I was extremely skeptical that this exact situation might arise. So, my late mother and I came into your offices and met with your representatives for peace of mind. They sat us down and reaffirmed your mission statement. I specifically brought up my concerns of neutrality in a future Israel-Gaza conflict, and they stood firm by their mission statement."

"These powerful words had eased my skepticism and ultimately these words convinced me to move ahead with the generous gift of $2,000,000 in memory of my mother."

Anonymous philanthropist

"That article [forwarded by MSF Canada's president on board of directors] made me uncomfortable enough to leave the organization. If MSF's position is do we provide support or not, then whether Israel has a right to exist is irrelevant to the argument."

"I agree that there's a humanitarian need in Gaza. There's no doubt about that."

"Am I supportive of MSF being in Gaza and playing a humanitarian role? Absolutely. My concern is when their view in Gaza goes beyond it."

"When I asked about MSF's silence about the October 7 Hamas attacks, I was told that MSF only comments on what it witnesses; as MSF did not witness the attacks or their effects, they could not comment on them."

Byron Sonberg, former treasurer, MSF Canada

"I think it was perceptible [tone shift] around the beginning of the '80s. [Antisemitism within MSF] began under the cover of anti-Zionism."

Richard Rossin, former (1970s) MSF sec.-gen.; co-founder Medecins du Monde

 

Some of Doctors Without Borders' employees were seen to celebrate the October 7 atrocities, and, similar to the UN's special division in Gaza, UNRWA which also employed Palestinians in its vast workforce, gave aid to the Ministry of Health run by Hamas and circulated articles that accused Israel of creating Palestinian "death worlds". MSF's charter mandates that it be neutral and impartial while delivering medical aid. Its failure to honour its own principles has caused it to be criticized by former supporters as well as former MSF executives.

In Canada, MSF derives revenues from private donations, along with financial support from Global Affairs Canada. Close to a fifth of its annual budget of $22.5 million is represented by federal financial support through taxpayer resources. When a philanthropic family that happened to be Jewish criticized MSF, sending the leadership a letter of disappointment, the response was "We do not equate neutrality with silence. We speak out as a moral imperative, and we do so from the perspective of humanity, not one side in a conflict or the other."

"MSF also repeatedly denied that Hamas was present in Gaza hospitals, claiming that 'we have seen no evidence that the hospital buildings or the compounds are being used by Hamas as a military base.' Instead, the NGO alleged that Israel was 'attack[ing] health care'."

"Based on the extensive evidence produced by Israel to Hamas’ systematic exploitation of Al-Shifa Hospital and other medical facilities, it is impossible that MSF staff and volunteers were unaware of the reality."

"MSF’s silence is a betrayal of medical ethics, the hostages, and Palestinian civilians; any medical staff involved in covering up these activities could face civil and criminal liability in both domestic and international courts'."

NGO Monitor

In 2023 some employees at the elite level of MSF Canada were disturbed after they were sent an article: "Israeli necropolitics and the pursuit of health justice in Palestine", forwarded by Ruby Gill, president of MSF Canada's board of directors -- for the purpose of providing "more insight" into the conflict. Arguing that "framing Palestinian violence on October 7 as provocation and Israeli violence as response is ahistoric and indicates indifference to the everyday violence experienced by Palestinians".

Richard Rossin, formerly serving as secretary general of MSF in the 1970s claims the shift in MSF's perspective was decades old. He cited a 2010 mission to Uganda when an MSF Holland Contingent refused interaction with a medical NGO team from Israel which had been dispatched to give assistance. Prejudice, he stated, poisoned the MSF team's ability to cooperate with Israel despite their shared goal of giving aid to civilians.

In May 2024, MSF spoke of the "near impossible task of getting lifesaving supplies into Gaza", while making no reference to Hamas hijacking aid trucks and supplies -- focusing on blaming Israel singularly for the deteriorating situation of aid deliverance. MSF social media accounts also reflect its response to the Israel-Hamas war, contradicting its neutral standard. 

 

When the al-Ahli Hospital blast occurred in October 2023, MSF wrote: "We are horrified by the recent Israeli bombing of Ahli Arab Hospital in #Gaza City, which was treating patients and hosting displaced Gazans. Hundred of people have reportedly been killed. This is a massacre. It is absolutely unacceptable." When the blast was found to have been from a misfired rocket from Gaza aimed at Israel, MSF made no correction of its instant assumption of blame.

Not one single post from MSF addressed the Hamas invasion and killing of over a thousand Israelis. However it did issue a moral equivalence between Hamas and Israel when it wrote: "We are horrified by the brutal mass killing of civilians perpetrated by Hamas, and by the massive attacks on #Gaza now being pursued by Israel"...denouncing Israel for "indiscriminate violence and the collective punishment of Gaza."

 

A vehicle belonging to Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) outside the gate of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt in the southern Gaza Strip on November 1, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Abed/AFP via Getty Images)

"MSF is both a humanitarian and advocacy organization, and on Israel and the Palestinians, the partisan dimension is dominant and destructive."

"Then, as now, their responses echoed the Palestinian narrative of victimhood and displayed a willful blindness to the systematic abuse of hospitals in Gaza for terror. They erased Israeli victims and the way the general population in Gaza is used as a massive human shield to protect the Hamas terror tunnels below."

Gerald Steinberg, founder/leader, NGO Monitor