A physician at New York City’s prestigious Mount Sinai Hospital has been fired following the emergence of social media posts in which she expressed support for Hamas and Hezbollah and denied the atrocities committed by these groups. Lila Abassi, a 46-year-old assistant professor of medicine, was let go earlier this month after an internal investigation into her online activity, a spokesperson for the hospital confirmed.
Controversial statements supporting Hamas spark outrage
Abassi, who had been employed at the Upper East Side hospital, came under fire for making inflammatory statements about the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. According to a report by The New York Post, Abassi referred to Hamas as “noble resistance and freedom fighters,” while describing the Israeli army as a “plague.”
She also made accusations against Israel, claiming it was responsible for “slaughtering babies” and dismissing reports of sexual violence carried out by Hamas during the deadly October 7, 2023, attacks.
One of the most shocking remarks came in a post to a Facebook group for doctors, where she reportedly wrote, “Please show me actual rape video,” using the pseudonym “Kluver Bucy,” named after a rare neurological disorder. Additionally, Abassi falsely claimed that Israel had killed more people on that day than Hamas had during their attack.
A swift response from city officials
Abassi’s dismissal was largely influenced by growing pressure from public officials. New York City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov, a Republican from Brooklyn, called for stronger action, arguing that merely removing Abassi’s social media accounts was insufficient. “Our most basic expectation of doctors is that they will perform their duties in an unbiased manner—especially a doctor serving a city as ethnically and religiously diverse as ours,” Vernikov told The New York Post.
Vernikov’s comments reflect the deep concerns raised by the community over Abassi’s conduct, given the prominent role that healthcare professionals play in ensuring impartial care for patients of all backgrounds.
Medical community reacts
Abassi, who graduated from St. George’s University School of Medicine in 2011 and completed her residency at SUNY Downstate, had already been known for her controversial views within medical circles. According to one fellow physician at Mount Sinai, Abassi had developed a reputation as “one of the more outspoken and egregiously antisemitic physicians in the community.”
Physicians Against Antisemitism, a prominent watchdog group, condemned her posts, stating, “No longer will any Jewish patient feel confident that they will receive safe care from that individual and, by extension, at the facility that employs them.”
Abassi’s dismissal underscores the increasing scrutiny of healthcare professionals in the age of social media, where personal opinions can swiftly cross into the public domain and spark widespread backlash. The incident raises questions about doctors’ responsibilities to maintain professional conduct, particularly when expressing controversial or politically charged views online.
