Macdonald Witch Hunt. Melbourne Uni cancels surgeon – Israel lobby pressure

The University of Melbourne canceled a prestigious lecture by renowned Australian cardiologist Professor Peter McDonald following Zionist pressure. Wendy Bacon reports.

Distinguished Australian cardiologist Professor Peter McDonald, who was scheduled to give a prestigious lecture at the University of Melbourne in July, has been ‘cancelled’ due to behind-the-scenes pressure from the Zionists.

In April, Macdonald, a pioneer and innovator in heart transplant medicine, was invited by the University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital to deliver the annual Memorial lecture in honor of surgeon John Clarebrough.

The lecture is being delivered at the Surgical Forum, the flagship event of the partnership between the University of Melbourne and St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.

Canceled for the second time

This was the second time Macdonald, who supported Palestinian rights and attended rallies, was canceled under pressure from Zionists.

Last year, he was placed on compulsory leave from St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for seven weeks until a complaint against him by doctors affiliated with the Australian Zionist Health Alliance (AZHA) was dismissed following an independent investigation.

Macdonald was contacted but declined to comment for this story.

St Vincent’s crisis triage: heart doctor Macdonald returns to wards after witch hunt

In early May, a staff member at the University of Melbourne posted a promotion for the Surgical Forum on Facebook; Here Macdonald’s name remained on the program until yesterday, when it was removed and replaced by St Vincent’s surgeon Dr. Elizabeth Paretz was brought in.

A promotional brochure has been prepared and is currently in circulation.

“Anonymous accusers” – invitation withdrawn

On 12 June, more than a month after the lecture was first introduced, Professor Justin Yeung, Acting Head of Surgery at the University of Melbourne, and Adjunct Professor Matthew Read, a St Vincent surgeon and chair of the Surgical Forum, sent a letter withdrawing the invitation.

“Concerns” were expressed regarding the statements

They informed Macdonald that “concerns” had been raised about statements attributed to you that were “widely interpreted as antisemitic”.

After “careful” consideration, organizers concluded that the remarks could distract from the forum event. This suggests that those making the decision understood that if they did not withdraw their invitation, Macdonald’s anonymous accusers would launch a public campaign against him.

The accusers were referring to a 30-second question Macdonald asked at a Palestine Justice community forum last year in which he said he thought the Mossad might be behind some anti-Semitic incidents, before being informed by the Australian government that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) was responsible.

(The Mossad itself admits to conducting extensive covert operations, including planting agents in other countries, including Iran.)

No right of reply

Unusually, given the vague and anonymous nature of the allegations and the fact that St Vincent’s knew his 2025 claims had been rejected, organizers did not give MacDonald the opportunity to respond to his critics before making the decision.

Following the withdrawal of the invitation and before it was made public, MWM learned that Forum organizers had been informed that the allegations had been denied in 2025 and that St Vincents had removed negative and defamatory statements about it from its website.

Antisemitism? St Vincent’s heartless treatment of questioning cardiologist

They were also aware that Macdonald had recently offered an ‘Introductory Tour’ of his monthly visits to Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital for two decades to run a heart health clinic for the Aboriginal community of Condobolin in NSW.

This conference was attended by Chris Blake, CEO of St Vincents Health, and was well received before anyone publicized last year’s event.

Despite the facts

Even though I know all these facts The University of Melbourne and St Vincent refused to reverse their decisions.

Their decision prevents conference attendees from benefiting from Macdonald’s first-hand and up-to-date report on his research findings and applications that have saved thousands of lives.

The incident would have gone smoothly had it not been for the determination of the unnamed Zionists or those influenced by them to silence and punish Macdonald.

Uni’s lukewarm response

MWM Ask questions to the St Vincent Foundation, which is responsible for the bequest supporting the course. It was said that no questions would be answered.

MWM Professor Jason Yeung was also asked detailed questions but did not receive a response.

We also asked Interim Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis whether he or other members of senior management were informed of these incidents and whether he would investigate once notified.

We received the following response from a Uni spokesperson:

“After careful consideration, the conference organizers have decided to withdraw the invitation to the guest speaker. This will ensure that the lecture runs smoothly so that students, researchers and the wider medical community can focus on the important issues to be discussed.”

“Every year, faculties, schools and our partner institutes organize hundreds of events like this. “The University supports and encourages organizers to make appropriate decisions to ensure these events take place without any disruption.”

As a result of the decision, those attending the lecture will not be informed about the “important issues” that will be “discussed”.

“Anti-Semitic” or anti-Israel?

So the situation goes like this: A person is invited to attend a state university event. Some anonymous people claim that the guest had previously made a statement that some pro-Israel people described as ‘antisemitic’.

These complainants are sending the message that they will create a public fuss if the incident continues. The invited person is not given the right to reply and is ‘cancelled’.

This is a laissez-faire attitude towards political censorship and potential tyranny, if any.

MWM Additionally, Interim VC Davis asked: Do you agree that canceling such a prestigious and highly publicized lecture without even giving Professor Macdonald a chance to respond, based on anonymous allegations, does not comply with the values ​​of integrity, fairness and transparency by which the University of Melbourne claims to conduct its affairs?

We didn’t get an answer, but the answer is clear. Not.

Macdonald attacks AHPRA concern

This second attack sends a troubling message to Australian healthcare professionals, who were already alarmed by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency’s (AHPRA) Special Envoy on Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, and the regulator’s joint statement that the regulator would apply the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when dealing with complaints.

More than 1,400 healthcare professionals and 60 medical organizations have signed an open letter calling on AHPRA to reverse its decision. They warned that AHPRA’s new position would have a “chilling effect” on practitioners defending Palestine and called on the regulator to reverse its decision.

Their concerns are similar to those of the British Medical Association, which this week voted to remove the IHRA definition due to growing concerns: “healthcare workers are punished for his views on international conflicts.”

Chasing Macdonald

This second ‘cancellation’ of Macdonald proves that some of the people who called for his removal from St Vincent last year do not accept the incident being resolved in his favour. It was not enough for Macdonald to stay away from his patients at St Vincents for seven weeks because he had done nothing wrong.

An organization called the Australian Zionist Health Alliance (AZHA) was a key player in both the attack on Macdonald last year and the campaign to get APHRA to adopt the IHRA definition.

After years of frustrating complaints, collective action by the Zionist lobby

The alliance was founded in August 2025 and has been active since the beginning of last year. Attacks APHRA for failing to take action against antisemitism.

Dr Jeremy Goldin is a member of AZHA. He is a sleep specialist at St Vincents Private Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

Goldin was one of three named members of the Alliance Against Antisemitism in Healthcare (AAAHC). Signed a letter calling for Macdonald’s immediate suspension An investigation was launched following his comment at the Palestine Justice Forum.

Goldin welcomed APHRA’s decision on her LinkedIn account, where she regularly reshares items supporting Israel, including describing findings that Israel is committing genocide as a ‘fantasy’.

MWM AZHA’s PR Officer Sharon asked Stolier and Goldin if they had played any part in raising concerns about Macdonald’s planned lecture at the University of Melbourne. We did not receive any response from Stolier, whose participation in a well-financed project. far-right political organizations Astro grass group included Minority Impact Coalition It emerged in last year’s Federal election.

Goldin replied: “You should consult the University of Melbourne about this.”

Children and War event canceled

Last September, another member of AZHA, Dr. Doran Samuell was also involved. Stopping the Children and War Grand Tour at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. In light of this week’s shocking UN Commission of Inquiry report, we found that: Israel deliberately kills childrenThis cancellation is a glaring example of a poor cancellation decision.

AZHA went into overdrive, according to Australian Jewish News Collecting material for the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

It developed an AI tool that uses prompts to help healthcare professionals prepare applications and evaluate them against the IHRA definition. AZHA thinks Encouraging boycotts against Israel, chanting ‘From river to sea, Palestine will be free’ or ‘lack of Zionist voices in senior or diversity leadership roles’ as examples of antisemitism or anti-Zionism.

This week, the Medical Association for the Prevention of War (MAPW) Wrote to AHPRA It called for it to abandon its adoption of the IHRA definition, which it described as “inappropriate, ill-conceived and divisive”. The IHRA definition … introduces an element of risk for healthcare professionals who speak openly about Israel’s actions, despite widespread condemnation of the same actions worldwide, including by governments,” MAPW wrote.

This sneak attack on Macdonald highlights these risks.

If a senior and highly respected professor can be silenced in this way, what chance does a Palestinian or Lebanese assistant healthcare worker or student have?

What is the fraud involved in Victor Chang’s suspension, bagging and promotion of Peter Macdonald?

Wendy Bacon is an investigative journalist who is Professor of Journalism at UTS. He has worked for Fairfax, Channel Nine and SBS and has written in The Guardian, New Matilda, City Hub and Overland. It has a long history of promoting independent and alternative journalism.

He is a long-term supporter of peaceful BDS and the Greens.