Several new anti-Semitic tweets from Lara Kollab, the recently fired Cleveland Clinic doctor, have been uncovered by the Canary Mission watchdog group.
Kollab tweeted out a photo in May 2013 of a sticky note that read, “People who support Israel should have their immune cells killed so they can see how it feels to not be able to defend themselves from foreign invaders.”
Other Kollab tweets unearthed by Canary Mission include two 2012 tweets that read, “You know you’re Palestinian when you somehow find a way to mention Palestine + evils of Israel [sic] in every assignment, from biology to speech” and “israel [sic], I’m making it my goal in life to expose you to everyone I meet. If I can twist a biology paper to include your crimes, I will do it.”
When Canary Mission first exposed Kollab’s tweets, most notably one that said she would prescribe the wrong medication to Jews, Kollab initially denied that she was the author of those tweets and insisted that it was a fake account. She eventually posted an apology on her personal website.
“I wish sincerely and unequivocally to apologize for the offensive and hurtful language contained in those posts,” Kollab said. “This statement is not intended to excuse the content of the posts, but rather to demonstrate that those words do not represent who I am and the principles I stand for today.”
Kollab explained that after visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories she “became incensed at the suffering of the Palestinians under the Israeli occupation.”
“As a girl in my teens and early twenties, I had difficulty constructively expressing my intense feelings about what I witnessed in my ancestral land,” Kollab wrote. “Like many young people lacking life experience, I expressed myself by making insensitive remarks and statements of passion devoid of thought, not realizing the harm and offense these words would cause.”
She added that her tweets were made “when I was a naïve, and impressionable girl barely out of high school” and that she has since “matured.”
“As a physician, I will always strive to give the best medical treatment to all people, regardless of their race, religion, ethnicity, or culture,” Kollab wrote. “I have learned from this experience and am sorry for the pain I have caused. I pray that the Jewish community will understand and forgive me. I hope to make amends so that we can move forward and work together towards a better future for us all.”
However, Canary Mission said in a blog post that the new tweets they found from Kollab suggest that her apology “isn’t genuine.”
The Cleveland Clinic announced in a statement on Dec. 31 that Kollab was no longer employed at the clinic. Simon Wiesenthal Center Founder and Dean Rabbi Marvin Hier and Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper called on Kollab’s medical license to be revoked. The Ohio State Medical Board told NBC News Kollab’s medical training certificate is only valid if she is involved in a medical program.
