Dr. Benjamin Neel, who led New York University Langone’s Perlmutter Cancer Center, has filed a lawsuit against the university for firing him in order to appear impartial on the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict.
According to Benjamin, he was “unceremoniously dumped” from the institution for his social media posts supporting Israel in the wake of the October 17, Hamas terrorist attack.
In the civil suit filed in New York State Supreme Court, Benjamin, 67, claimed he was fired from his job leading the Perlmutter Cancer Center as the medical centre aimed to appear impartial in how it sanctioned employees who made social media posts related to the conflict.
Reportedly, the doctor shared a series of posts on X (Formerly Twitter), including one that compared Hamas to Hitler.
A post re-shared by him read: “You don’t have a ceasefire with Hitler. You wipe out Hitler. Think people.”
Another was a repost of a cartoon that showed “an image of well-known environmental advocate Greta Thunberg, chasing a man who is holding a butcher’s knife in one hand and a plastic garbage bag labeled ‘Israeli babies’ in the other,” the suit states.
“Thunberg is shown yelling: “HOW DARE YOU…USE PLASTIC BAGS?? WE NEED TO SAVE THE WORLD!'”
Since then, Benjamin’s account has been set to private.
As per the lawsuit filed on Thursday, November 16, 2023, the issue began when the university removed Dr. Zaki Masoud from Winthrop Hospital in Mineola, Long Island. This was because he shared pro-Palestinian content on his Instagram account on October 31, 2023.
Dr Zaki called for Palestine supporters to encourage “Palestinian resistance” in an Instagram post made by him, where he wrote, “It’s time to be bold with you words. Don’t hesitate to openly state your support of Palestinian resistance. Be loud & proud you’re on the side of justice.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the university took issue with Benjamin’s post as it feared backlash for firing Masoud. The doctor alleged that NYU terminated his directorship in an effort “to appear impartial.”
A petition has been launched to support reinstating Dr. Zaki on change.org which has been signed by 88,000 since it’s launch on October 31.
In his defence, Benjamin states in the suit that he re-shred the posts as he sought to satirize “people who appeared to be celebrating or marginalizing the Israeli and Jewish suffering.” He also added that he has taken balanced positions about the conflict on social media.
He is suing for breach of contract and discrimination and is seeking $500,000 in damages and a jury trial.
An attorney of the doctor said in a statement: “It is a travesty that after a stellar career fighting the battle against cancer, a long-tenured and world-renowned research scientist can be unceremoniously dumped.”
