NHS antisemitism

[sebagmontifiorefan]

Hi, glad to have found this section. Am a jewish (liberal/secular) mum and work in the NHS. Have been struggling with the amount of NHS anti semitism. Not sure why I'm posting but just finding it difficult to handle - I have a lot of family in Israel and I'm finding it all overwhelming....

That’s awful! Is it coming from staff or patients/families? I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for you. I hope your manager is being supportive.

I'm sorry you're struggling. Everyone should feel safe at work. I don't want to ask any probing questions, but if you want to talk more detail I'm always happy to listen

Thank you for posting this- I’m also NHS and was very distressed to see an email from my trust’s overall Exec stating ‘colleagues affect by the conflict in Gaza’. Why in Gaza? What about the largest loss of Jewish life since the Shoah, which occurred within the borders of the world’s only Jewish state and 8 years into a ceasefire?
What about the Israelis who are internally displaced and the ongoing rocket fire on the borders?
I completely agree, it’s very disheartening. The same email also stated advice to ‘refrain from sharing political opinion or wearing any potentially political symbols’. I agree, we shouldn’t discuss political views with patients as such but I believe we have a right to defend the action’s of Israel with colleagues/where politics is being discussed. Discussing the underfunding of the nhs is also a political opinion, yet it seems to be one I hear grumbled about hourly… As for political symbols, I am planning to explore what is meant by this.

Thanks. It's not that it's directed at me. Just colleagues' personal twitter accounts which I suspect many would not consider antisemitic but I find some of the comments with respect to genocide, the stuff about the hospital that was a misfired Hamas rocket, which no one then went onto correct, and also a friend- unfortunately! - told me about the twitter NHS antisemitism account and it's so appalling reading things and wondering how jewish patients must feel.....

Oh yes I agree about colleagues’ personal
social media accounts. A colleague, whom I thought I got on with, shared a horrendous image which clearly perpetrates the idea of the blood libel. It’s really upsetting. Very difficult for Jewish patients right now

I work in a university and can well imagine this. Sorry you're experiencing it too - I know it's not nice. I've always been a bit sniffy about people claiming to feel "unsafe" when faced with opposing views to their own, but this is how I have felt on reading some of the social media posts I have seen at work. I think many of these antisemites have quickly learned how to phrase things in a way that makes antisemitism easy to deny, even when we all know it's there and staring us in the face. The problem is that many of the people concerned have little or no understanding of middle eastern politics and history (or even basic geography, to be frank).

Sending solidarity and I'm glad you've found this board.

@0palfruity Absolutely, they chant ‘from the river to the sea’ and don’t even know
which river they’re talking about!
I recently challenged a colleague’s view point (which I could see was simply modern, acceptable anti-semitism to the progressive left) as she said ‘I understand all of the nuances of the conflict’. I asked her how she explained the Intifadas following the Oslo accords and she didn’t know what I was asking her!
its absolutely ridiculous and the vast majority of these people do not know the history of the modern state/ treaties which have been signed and brought us to the modern borders as we know them.

I was at a recent conference and when I noticed someone from another Trust who I would usually have had a quick conversation with - not a friend but a previous colleague - and I avoided them because I didn't want to talk to them - I tend to check their twitter for updates in a specialist area that's related to my area- and had noticed on their twitter that although they had posted nothing on Oct 7th ( although there was the imo justifying "this did not happen in a vacuum" posts )and then lots of stuff with respect to news stories where they'd tweeted above the news story " murder" or "actively targeting hospitals - murder".

Also , because I haven't experienced anti semitism directly in my life, I now find I'm feeling somewhat paranoid in that I'm thinking was antisemitism simmering under the surface in lots of "mainstream - much like myself! - type of people"?

I've always been a bit sniffy about people claiming to feel "unsafe" when faced with opposing views to their own, but this is how I have felt on reading some of the social media posts I have seen at work.

We have 2000 years' experience of the consequences of people voicing opposing views to others. First they voice them, then others join them, then they feel validated in taking action...

Also , because I haven't experienced anti semitism directly in my life, I now find I'm feeling somewhat paranoid in that I'm thinking was antisemitism simmering under the surface in lots of "mainstream - much like myself! - type of people"?

Unfortunately that is the conclusion I am reaching. Bit of a rude awakening for a half-Jewish atheist like me.

Oh also OP there's a twitter account called NHS antisemitism in case that's of interest to you. I don't follow it but have seen it shared by other people occasionally.

Unfortunately that is the conclusion I am reaching. Bit of a rude awakening for a half-Jewish atheist like me.

0palfruity - yes, as someone left of centre, I'm finding it difficult to come to terms with everything that's out there currently. Also struggling with Israel having been taken up as a right wing cause etc, particularly as our family in Israel all despise Netanyahu....

Re the NHS antisemitism twitter account, I keep telling myself not to look at it then can't stop and then can't quite believe what I'm reading and how openly antisemitic my "colleagues" are being.

Hi, there is an NHS Jewish network, are you a member of that? They should be a safe place to take your concerns. If it helps I can connect you to them as I run another public sector Jewish Network and we are on their mailing list. Pm me if you need help finding them.

I fully agree that it has been awful and there is a relationship sense that the veneer of society has been peeled away and we are seeing what people really think, and losing trust in the people around us. It is overwhelming and feels very unsafe.

That should have said sense, not relationship sense. Cannot edit on the app!

@sebagmontifiorefan Do you think it's more prevalent among certain healthcare groups like consultants, nurses, or non-clinical, etc? It's bad enough you have to work with antisemitic colleagues, but do you think it might be having an impact on patient care (i.e. Jewish patients)? Sorry you're having to deal with this.

So sorry to hear this, @sebagmontifiorefan.

I have long suspected an undercurrent of anti-semitism within the NHS. After DS's birth earlier this year, a midwife reported me as a safeguarding risk because I informed her that DS would be being circumcised at 8 days old. Horrified, I asked why. She said she had been trained to flag up instances of FGM. I said male circumcision is not comparable - it is a well-established medical (and ritual) procedure practised all over the world for millennia. She said she just "thought" it was comparable because she herself is against it. From the sneer on her face, it was pretty clear it was the Jewish element she was against. The maternity hospital is in a predominantly Muslim area, so I would be astonished if she hadn't come across male circumcision before.

I am planning to report her to PALS.

etmoiandme - hard to say. I've not experienced anything directly , am just upset by colleagues' personal social media posts and the people being identified on NHS antisemitism whose comments are often abhorrent so although in my hospital I don't think it's had any effect on jewish patients, I can't help but wonder how jewish patients who might be seeing what is out there might be feeling.

Towerofsong - There is the JMA which I was a member of although that might have slipped during Covid when the annual dinners were put on hold - they don't have a twitter but have information on their website which they update on but think it would be helpful to have a NHS jewish network if the one you are referring to is addition to the JMA?

Hi, the one I am thinking of was only set up in the last year or two, I'll check the contact details, and is it ok to pm them to you?

Towerofsong "Hi, the one I am thinking of was only set up in the last year or two, I'll check the contact details, and is it ok to pm them to you?"
Many thanks, very appreciated

I hope that Twitter account is reported and taken down!