Stand with Dr. Darren Klugman!
Doctor and Professor Darren Klugman, of Johns Hopkins University (JHU) School of Medicine, is experiencing serious punitive retaliation for the crime of having condemned Hamas’s October 7 atrocities. This acclaimed physician and teacher has been suspended by Hopkins with possible termination, and the American Board of Pediatrics has begun revoking his board certifications, which would render him unemployable. On top of this he and his family are receiving death threats, requiring round-the-clock security.
These actions against him are outrageous and must be overturned. (See ACTION ITEMS at the end!)
Dr. Klugman posted several strongly-worded tweets on Oct 7 and 8. The Hamas massacre was still ongoing, he was unable to reach his elderly mother in Israel, campuses were exploding for Jewish blood, and emotions were naturally running high. In these tweets he wrote: “Palestinians showing the world exactly who they are and what they want—dead Jews and no more Israel,” “Palestinians are bloodthirsty morally depraved animals who want every inch of Israel and all Jews dead,” and “Israel has no peace partner with the Palestinians, barbaric animals with no concern for life,” and he expressed support for the complete victory of Israel over Hamas and its terrorism. In context it was clear these tweets were referring to Hamas, whose genocidal actions were still ongoing at the time of writing, and front and center in the news.
These tweets sat unnoticed for a month, and nothing else Dr. Klugman subsequently posted came close in heatedness.
On Nov. 12 an antisemitic Twitter site called “Stop Zionist Hate” began a defamatory hate campaign against Dr. Klugman by willfully twisting his words out of their context and giving them a meaning he in no way intended. In a widely circulated post they claimed that he “advocates genocide, calls people of certain ethnicities ‘depraved animals,’ and glorifies/promotes violence.” In fact Dr. Klugman was protesting Hamas’s attempted genocide of Jews, was referring to Hamas in those terms, and advocated for Israel’s victory over the terrorist group that actually glorifies and promotes violence. The hateful post included the email addresses of JHU administrators, and generated a massive hate mail and death threat campaign directed at Dr. Klugman and his family.
Despite having done nothing wrong and being the victim of a misinformation hate campaign, Dr. Klugman immediately deleted his tweets and emailed a heartfelt apology to his academic colleagues on Nov. 13: “I wrote a series of regrettable, hurtful messages on Twitter. These messages in no way reflect my beliefs, me as a person, a physician, a friend, or colleague. I cannot undo the harm and hurt that those messages have caused, and I am devastated by the impact it has had on my Hopkins family and others.”
Dr. Klugman was apologizing for the perhaps inartful expression of his original tweets about Hamas, which out of context allowed for their willful misinterpretation. But within hours of sending this internal apology it was illicitly leaked to Stop Zionist Hate, which posted it publicly and twisted it as his admitting the false charges they had levied against him. At the same time the Hamas-affiliated hate group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), used the leaked apology to file a complaint with the Maryland Board of Medicine against him, a complaint also widely circulated by Stop Zionist Hate.
But instead of defending Dr. Klugman from the antisemitic defamatory hate campaign against him that had willfully misrepresented his tweets, JHU informed him on Nov. 15 that he was suspended and no longer permitted direct contact with long-time colleagues, pending further investigation. On Nov. 16 JHU sent a humiliating hospital and university-wide email alerting all to his suspension—an email that too was leaked to and then circulated by Stop Zionist Hate, which demanded Dr. Klugman’s termination. On Nov. 21 Dr. Klugman was notified that the American Board of Pediatrics had begun the process of revoking his board certifications.
Meanwhile, on Nov. 22, Zainab Chaudry, the Director of the Maryland chapter of CAIR who filed the complaint with the Maryland Board of Medicine, was suspended from the state’s Hate Commission for a history of antisemitic social media posts!
That last fact alone reveals the nature of this entire case. This is an antisemitic defamatory hate campaign directed at a respected Jewish Zionist aiming to remove him from his position. They found some inartfully worded social media posts generated in a very heated moment, twisted the words to falsely make him out as a bigot, then launched a massive social media, letter-writing, death-threat-issuing campaign to have him removed—with which JHU then complied.
This CANNOT STAND.
Dr. Klugman is the victim here, and Johns Hopkins University must support him, not persecute him.
Click here to sign the Change.org petition
ACTION ITEMS
(1) Please send the following email to Johns Hopkins:
Dr.. Ted Deweese ([email protected])
Interim Dean of Medical Faculty and CEO, Johns Hopkins Medicine
Ron Daniels ([email protected])
President, Johns Hopkins University
Dear Dr. Deweese and President Daniels,
I support Dr. Darren Klugman and am outraged at the action you have taken against him, which only brings great shame upon your institution.
Dr. Klugman was exercising his free speech right on social media in condemning the widely proscribed genocidal terrorist group Hamas. In context, on Oct 7 and 8 when the massacres were still ongoing, it was indisputably clear that he was referring to Hamas and calling for its complete defeat. Antisemitic bigots including an anonymous Twitter user and the Hamas-affiliated CAIR then twisted those words and gave them an interpretation he did not intend as part of a defamatory hate-and-death-threat campaign against him—and you sided with them. (Note: the CAIR employee who led the way was subsequently removed from the Maryland State Hate Commission for her history of antisemitic activity!)
Dr. Klugman is the victim here, and you sided with the antisemitic attackers.
Nevertheless, Dr. Klugman apologized for his inartful expression and deleted his social media. You then humiliated him by publicly suspending him, including leaking that information to the antisemitic hate-campaigners. His family has been targeted with weeks of death threats. He has been punished enough, even though no punishment is warranted for expressing one’s views about a genocidal terrorist group that just perpetrated the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Dr. Klugman should be celebrated, not stigmatized. He has a legacy of exceptional care, integrity, leadership and mentoring. He has dedicated his life to saving the lives of children of all ethnicities. In 15 years of practice he has treated all patients – including many Muslim, Arab and Palestinian patients – with care and respect. Children and families with congenital heart disease will have better lives with Dr. Klugman at the bedside. Your punishment of Dr. Klugman will harm many hundreds of future patients.
Do the right thing. Reinstate Dr. Klugman immediately and rectify this injustice—if only for the welfare of the many future patients whose lives will be saved and transformed by this exceptional physician.
Sincerely,
…..
(2) Please send the following email to the Maryland Board of Medicine ([email protected]).
To Whom It May Concern,
I support Dr. Darren Klugman and urge you to dismiss the frivolous complaint against him, lest you bring great shame upon your important organization.
Dr. Klugman was exercising his free speech right on social media in condemning the widely proscribed genocidal terrorist group Hamas. In context, on Oct 7 and 8 when the massacres were still ongoing, it was indisputably clear that he was referring to Hamas and calling for its complete defeat. Antisemitic bigots including an anonymous Twitter user and the Hamas-affiliated CAIR then twisted those words and gave them an interpretation he did not intend as part of a defamatory hate-and-death-threat campaign against him—and you sided with them. (Note: the CAIR employee who led the way was subsequently removed from the Maryland State Hate Commission for her history of antisemitic activity!)
Dr. Klugman is the victim here, and you must not side with the antisemitic attackers.
Nevertheless, Dr. Klugman apologized for his inartful expression and deleted his social media. He was then humiliated by Johns Hopkins, which publicly suspended him, including leaking that information to the antisemitic hate-campaigners. His family has been targeted with weeks of death threats. He has been punished enough, even though no punishment is warranted for expressing one’s views about a genocidal terrorist group that just perpetrated the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Dr. Klugman should be celebrated, not stigmatized. He has a legacy of exceptional care, integrity, leadership and mentoring the next generation of providers. He has dedicated his life to saving the lives of children of all ethnicities. In 15 years of practice he has treated all patients – including many Muslim, Arab and Palestinian patients –with care and respect. Children and families with congenital heart disease will have better lives with Dr.. Klugman at the bedside. Your punishment of Dr. Klugman will harm many hundreds of future patients.
Do the right thing. Dismiss the complaint against Dr. Klugman immediately and rectify this injustice—if only for the welfare of the many future patients whose lives will be saved and transformed by this exceptional physician.
Sincerely,
…..
(3) Please send the following email to the American Board of Pediatrics:
John A. Barnard, MD (Interim President and CEO)
Suzanne K. Woods, MD (Executive Vice President, Credentialing and Initial Certification)
Dear Drs. Barnard and Woods,
I support Dr. Darren Klugman and am outraged at the action of suspending his certifications that you have taken against him, which brings great shame upon your organization.
Dr. Klugman was exercising his free speech right on social media in condemning the widely proscribed genocidal terrorist group Hamas. In context, on Oct 7 and 8 when the massacres were still ongoing, it was indisputably clear that he was referring to Hamas and calling for its complete defeat. Antisemitic bigots including an anonymous Twitter user and the Hamas-affiliated CAIR then twisted those words and gave them an interpretation he did not intend as part of a defamatory hate-and-death-threat campaign against him—and you sided with them. (Note: the CAIR employee who led the way was subsequently removed from the Maryland State Hate Commission for her history of antisemitic activity!)
Dr. Klugman is the victim here, and you are siding with the antisemitic attackers.
Nevertheless, Dr. Klugman apologized for his inartful expression and deleted his social media. He was then humiliated by Johns Hopkins, which publicly suspended him, including leaking that information to the antisemitic hate-campaigners. His family has been targeted with weeks of death threats. He has been punished enough, even though no punishment is warranted for expressing one’s views about a genocidal terrorist group that just perpetrated the worst mass slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust.
Dr. Klugman should be celebrated, not stigmatized. He has a legacy of exceptional care, integrity, leadership and mentoring. He has dedicated his life to saving the lives of children of all ethnicities. In 15 years of practice he has treated all patients – including many Muslim, Arab and Palestinian patients – with care and respect. Children and families with congenital heart disease will have better lives with Dr. Klugman at the bedside. Your punishment of Dr. Klugman will harm many hundreds of future patients.
Do the right thing. Terminate your actions against Dr. Klugman immediately and rectify this injustice—if only for the welfare of the many future patients whose lives will be saved and transformed by this exceptional physician.
Sincerely,
…..
Zainab Chaudry was reinstated.
I added on-
as per the president of Harvard, calling for the genocide of a people is still within free speech, so long as no such conduct was carried out, but condemning genocide that already happened is an issue??
This is radicalos if this was Arab wood be ok now it’s like in1938 macOS did the same
He is a racist, and made vile remarks regarding an entire ethnic group. Even in anger one needs to conduct themselves with respect and integrity especially as a physician. He should not be trusted in caring for any children.
No, he is not.
Sara,
Palestinians are not an ethnic group. They are a large homeless shelter of displaced Arabs who are occupying Israeli territory and whose ancesteral surrounding Arab countries won’t allow them back into their countries of origin. Someone who makes idiotic comments which demonstrate that she has no moral compass, nor a basic knowledge of history is perhaps the one who should not be trusted to care for children…
He spokke the exact worxds that Hamas themselves say and nothing different. They sag they want to wipe Israel and Jews off the map.