Demonstrators gathered in front of Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx on July 30 to call for the firing of an openly white supremacist medical doctor who works there.
Dov Bechover, a resident radiologist at the center, was exposed on-line to have organized a white supremacist gathering called American Renaissance. He is known on-line to post vile racist commentary advocating the deportation of all Muslims, execution of undocumented immigrants at the border, and other racist comments about Black and Jewish people.
Bechover later admitted to making the comments and “apologized.” He was placed “off-duty” by the medical center while Montefiore “investigates.” Activists, however, feel that is not enough.
At a speak-out, demonstrators pointed out how dangerous it was for a racist to be practicing medicine on the mostly people of color in the hospital, and how this was tantamount to medical genocide. They said Montefiore was wrong for not terminating the doctor immediately and for trying to hide the situation from the public. Speakers demanded the revocation of the doctor’s medical license.
Another speaker brought up the murder of Nia Wilson, a Black teenager killed in Oakland two days before. Demonstrators read facts about her murder and connected it politically to white supremacy in U.S. institutions.
Most of the protesters were community activists from the Black Lives Matter struggle. There were several Montefiore workers on the line, and many others who worked at the medical center were supportive of the action. A delegation from the Party for Social and Liberation was there as well.
