Ex-Imperial lecturer calls Jews 'circumcised vermin' in antisemitic tirade
Sen has since apologised for his remarks in an interview with Felix.
Warning: This article reports on highly antisemitic language.
Mr Manoj Sen, former Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer in Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine, has apologised for making a series of antisemitic comments on Facebook, including calling Jewish people 'circumcised vermin'.
‘Hope they hound you out from wherever you are Jewboy,’ he told a Dr Benjamin Zachariah.
Sen also used the phrase, ‘Die Juden sind unser Unglück’ (‘The Jews are our misfortune’), popularised by the Nazi publication Der Stürmer, which adopted it as its motto. During World War II, Der Stürmer regularly published articles calling for the genocide of the ‘Jewish race’.
Sen told Felix that he was very sorry for his remarks, calling them “a lapse for which I sincerely apologise and regret.” He said he had retired from clinical practice and relinquished his GMC registration in the wake of his comments. His honorary role at Imperial ended in 2020.
“I sincerely regret bringing the medical profession, Imperial and the NHS into disrepute.”
The comments, published publicly on the morning of 10th October, three days after Hamas attacked Israel, came in response to a Facebook post by Dr Zachariah criticising those ‘calling for blood from the safety of their American Ivy League university offices.’
Sen initially criticised the Israeli Defence Minister for calling Hamas, the proscribed terrorist group, ‘human animals.’
But after Zachariah asked, ‘Were you not a doctor once?’, and questioned his sobriety, he wrote: ‘Die Juden sind unsere Unglück’ (‘the Jews are our misfortune’).
‘I happened to operate on your wretched father,’ Sen continued. ‘Hope they hound you out from wherever you are Jewboy.’
‘Such rats do not beling ti [sic] human society,’ he said, referring to Jewish people as ‘circumcised vermin’.
In a now-deleted post sent this morning on his own Facebook page, Mr Sen said: ‘I sincerely apologise to everyone for my unforgivable comments. I have since retired as a clinical doctor… I once treated this person’s father.’
Talking to Felix this afternoon, Sen apologised profusely for his comments, saying they were made “in the heat of the moment’, and calling them “a lapse for which I sincerely apologise.”
He said he knew Dr Zachariah’s family from his hometown in India. “His father is still a good friend of mine.”
Mr Sen said his comments were published on a private Facebook group of “around 30 people”, and later made public by Dr Zachariah – allegations which Dr Zachariah denies.
He said that he had made the antisemitic remarks in response to “provocation” from Dr Zachariah. “Ben Zachariah called me an alcoholic… a very cruel thing. I then lost my cool – actually, I don’t drink or smoke.”
“He enraged me, just blew my fuse. That’s no excuse, but I don’t want this to go any further, as I’ve apologised. I am no antisemite.” Dr Zachariah said he had not received a personal apology.
Before his retirement, Sen worked as a colorectal surgeon at Northwick Park Hospital.
‘We do not tolerate hate speech or discrimination of any kind and take immediate action when such behaviour is brought to our attention,’ wrote a spokesperson for London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust, which operates Northwick Park Hospital.
‘We continue to work closely with our teams to make sure that all our people feel comfortable in reporting unacceptable language or behaviour.’
Dr Zachariah said: ‘I shouldn't comment on a case that might come before the courts. My Facebook post and the comments of the gentleman concerned are public.’
Imperial referred Felix to a message sent to College members earlier this week, that said: ‘Any form of racist or hateful behaviour, including antisemitism and Islamophobia, will not be tolerated and all incidents will be taken extremely seriously’.
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