Religion > Antisemitism

Antisemitism in the Medical World

In health care, vile hatred and threats against Israelis and Jews are patently ignored and even celebrated.

Eileen F. Toplansky | May 30, 2026

Historically, antisemitism was endemic in American medicine in the early to mid-20th century, with quotas on Jewish students and residency trainees until the 1960s.

But in 2023, antisemitic incidents dramatically increased, with a 140% increase from 2022 and the highest since data collection began in 1979.

A short sampling of antisemitic acts include:

Antisemitic slogans at the UCLA Geffen School of Medicine,

Antisemitic graffiti at the UCSF Cancer Center,

Jewish medical students’ exposure to demonization of Israel diatribes and rationalizing terrorism;

Faculty, including a professor of medicine at UCSF, posting antisemitic tropes and derogatory comments about Jewish health-care professionals.

In Combating the Shocking Rise of Antisemitism in Health Care, the Hadassah organization notes that “[i]nstead of the support they expected from peers, Jewish practitioners in hospitals, clinics and health care facilities have found themselves marginalized for perceived Zionist sympathies, attacked on social media and shunned in professional forums.”

In fact, the AJMA (American Jewish Medical Association) was formed in 2023 to address “…rising incidents of antisemitism and anti-Zionism that impact the workplace and patient care,” i.e., American medical school graduation ceremonies depicting antisemitic themes (keffiyehs, a Palestinian flag, and a blank map of Israel).

At Canary Mission one can peruse the list of medical practitioners who have made antisemitic remarks on social media while they were in pre-med and during medical school. It is truly frightening that they hold the well-being of Jews in their hands, e.g., there are women undergoing fertility treatment who are worried about putting their Jewish names on test tubes lest antisemitic staff interfere.

In 2019, Lara Kollab, a Cleveland Clinic residency doctor, was apparently fired after posting antisemitic remarks on social media. In 2012, Kollab said she would “purposely give the wrong medication to Jewish people.”

Walid Khass is a physician who physically attacked an Israeli and called for the death of Jews and Israelis. He has also shown support for Hamas and is registered with the American Board of Pediatrics.

Lest you think these are aberrations, scroll through page after page of these medical professionals who promote incitement and spread hatred of Israel, glorify terrorists, and call for the death of Jewish people.

In fact, antisemitism is now “ubiquitous in the medical field, “according to the American Jewish cardiologist Dr. Jacob Agronin, who recently testified that his union, the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), publicly supports terror sympathizers and formally endorses the exclusion of Israeli colleagues based on national origin.”

Agronin did not choose this union. It was voted in at his institution in May 2024. Yet, he will soon be compelled by law to fund........

© American Thinker