University College London Hospital. Photo: Tagishsimon via Wikimedia Commons

Two recent incidents at hospitals in the UK fit a troubling pattern of Jews feeling unsafe due to medical professionals expressing antisemitism or even outright threats of death against Israelis.

The University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (UCLH Trust) has issued an apology following a patient’s complaints about the placement of anti-Israel posters at a facility.

“I’m an outpatient but God forbid in other circumstances to feel so vulnerable already and be surrounded by hostility would be so scary,” the unnamed female patient told the group UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI), fearful of receiving subpar treatment if the hospital staff discovered she was Jewish. “I shouldn’t have to remove my Star of David necklace to go to a hospital visit.”

The poster read:

Israel is starving and killing Palestinians in Gaza.

Children are being slaughtered beyond measure.

We have a voice, they don’t.

We are the generation that can influence the system & government.

Please do your own research and come to your own conclusions.  Do not let the mainstream media influence you. It is poison. Zionism is Poison.

People are being killed, just to show the world what is happening, see for yourself:

Instagram

@eye.on.palestine

@lowkeyonline @Wearethepeace

@hossam_shbat @anasjamal44

If you can’t lift the injustice, at least tell everyone about it.

Free Palestine.

End Zionism.

David Probert, chief executive of UCLH Trust, released a statement on Sunday to UKLFI.

“Firstly, I would like to apologize on behalf of UCLH for the distress and upset caused by these posters. At UCLH, we value diversity and inclusivity, and we are committed to providing a fair and non-discriminatory service to all individuals, regardless of background,” Probert stated. “Following receipt of your letter, I promptly made internal enquiries and was informed that the posters were initially noticed last week. This matter was immediately treated as an incident, and all the posters were removed without delay.”

Probert added, “Senior members of staff conducted a walk-around to ensure no further posters remained. Additionally, the department’s newsletter addressed the incident, reminding staff of the Trust’s policy against displaying political messages and encouraging vigilance in identifying and removing any similar materials. Security personnel have also been instructed to remain alert.”

Caroline Turner, director of UKLFI, said that her organization welcomed the hospital’s taking down of the posters.

“We welcome UCLH’s prompt, proactive, and constructive engagement with this issue. UCLH’s actions will help preserve dignity, equality, neutrality, and respect within NHS spaces, particularly for Jewish patients seeking medical care,” she said in a statement.

Another instance of anti-Israel rhetoric at UK hospitals involves midwife Fatimah Mohamied, who resigned from her position after UKLFI highlighted her anti-Israel social media posts. Mohamied has now filed a claim against Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, alleging a violation of her rights.

“I have been subjected to a concerted and targeted effort to intimidate, harass, and punish me into silence for my Palestinian advocacy and criticism of Zionism,” Mohamied said. “I am taking legal action against my former employer to finally seek accountability for a campaign of harassment against me in the midst of a live genocide perpetrated by the Israeli state — I will not accept the attempts to silence me and those like me.”

Mohamied added, “Health=care workers in the NHS have the right to critique a colonial political ideology that has upheld an illegal occupation for decades and is responsible for violating universal values of health.”

Examples of Mohamied’s posts include her declaration “hell yeah!!!” on Oct. 8, 2023, one day after the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel, as she reshared the statement “Palestinians have a right to resist their occupation-we have a right to support them. It’s that simple.”

She also wrote on Oct. 7, 2023, that “Palestinian women have birthed under blockade and seige [sic] This is apartheid and like all apartheid, no justice or dignity can be found.” The post was in response to another social media user defending Hamas’s atrocities as a justified response to Israeli actions.

In another online comment, Mohamied wrote, “The problem lies in using Jewish cultural safety as a smokescreen to propagate colonialism, occupation, apartheid, and genocide as somehow acceptable. The problem here are the Zionist speakers you hold no qualm or shame to platform. There is no neutrality in degradation, there is no balance in ignoring opposition to Zionists, there is no innocence in hosting Zionists.”

Liana Wood, a partner at the legal firm Leigh Day representing Mohamied, said that the trust’s “referrals against Fatimah, made a year after she had stopped working for them, were an entirely disproportionate response to her lawful expressions of belief on her personal blog and social media accounts.” She added that “Fatimah’s case, which has parallels with other cases we have seen recently in the NHS, highlights the need for employers to resist pressure from lobby groups in such cases, and to carefully consider any potential infringement on an individual’s rights before taking action against them.”

These instances in the UK track with other reports from Jews around the world expressing discomfort with health-care providers’ antipathy toward Israel manifesting as violent threats.

In the Netherlands, for example, police opened an investigation into Batisma Chayat Sa’id, a nurse who allegedly stated she would administer lethal injections to Israeli patients.

Sa’id denied making the comments. “It seems someone is pretending to be me, posting false and defamatory statements,” she said. “I want to make it clear — I hold no hatred toward Jews or any people, race, religion, or identity.”

Last year, however, an account under her name also posted threatening messages aimed at Jewish people, including “Your time will come — don’t spare anyone,” and another in which she described the burial of Israelis in Gaza as “a dream come true.”

The nurse’s alleged threat mirrors a similar incident in Australia, in which video showed two nurses — Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh — posing as doctors and making inflammatory statements.

The widely circulated footage showed Abu Lebdeh declaring she would refuse to treat Israeli patients and instead kill them, while Nadir made a throat-slitting gesture and claimed he had already killed many.

Following the incident, New South Wales authorities in Australia suspended their nursing registrations and banned them from working as nurses nationwide. They were also charged with federal offenses, including threatening violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten, menace, and harass. If convicted, they face up to 22 years in prison.

A December 2024 study by the Data & Analytics Department of StandWithUs, a Jewish civil rights group, found that 40 percent of 645 Jewish American health-care professionals surveyed reported experiencing antisemitism in the workplace. A similar study of Canadian Jewish health workers conducted last year reached 80 percent.

New olim disembark at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport on the first charter aliyah flight since the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks, arriving to begin new lives in Israel. Photo: The Algemeiner

NEW YORK/TEL AVIV — Defying the uncertainty of war, 225 Jews arrived in Tel Aviv on the first charter aliyah flight since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, determined to start new lives and contribute to the country they now call home.

On Wednesday morning, Nefesh B’Nefesh — a nonprofit that promotes and facilitates aliyah from the United States and Canada — brought its 65th charter flight from New York to Tel Aviv.

Aliyah refers to the process of Jews immigrating to Israel.

With the most children yet on a single flight, this historic aliyah brought 45 families to their new homeland — 125 children among them, ranging from the youngest at 9 months to the oldest at 72.

Migrating from across the US and Canada, these newcomers and families are settling throughout Israel to build communities and begin new lives of service to the Jewish state. Among them are professionals in fields such as medicine, journalism, education, law, accounting, engineering, and many others.

During a farewell ceremony in New York, Nefesh B’Nefesh chairman and co-founder Tony Gelbart commended those on the flight, holding them up as examples of Jewish resilience and unity in the face of adversity

“You’re fulfilling your dream, but I believe you’re doing something even more important at this time,” Gelbart said in his speech.

“Not only are you helping Israel; you’re showing the world that Jews everywhere stand together and care for one another,” he continued.

Israeli Minister of Aliyah and Integration Ofir Sofer, who traveled to the US to see off the new olim (immigrants who moved to Israel) on their historic flight, also praised them for embarking on this new chapter in Israel.

“I want to thank each and every person who made the decision to make aliyah during the war. It strengthens our resilience and our solidarity, and I am truly proud of them,” Sofer told The Algemeiner.

“Since Oct. 7, we’ve seen that most people want to support Israel … but the highest form of solidarity is choosing to make aliyah,” the Israeli official said. “These individuals want to be part of what’s happening in Israel, make a meaningful difference, and stand with their people.”

Founded in 2002, Nefesh B’Nefesh is dedicated to “strengthening the State of Israel by facilitating aliyah, advancing national service and development, and promoting Zionist education.”

Nefesh B’Nefesh, working alongside Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, the Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth, and the Jewish National Fund-USA, helps olim become fully integrated members of Israeli society.

To this day, they have assisted nearly 100,000 olim in establishing thriving lives in Israel, guiding them through the aliyah process.

Those who decide to make aliyah receive comprehensive support to help them transition smoothly into their new life, including guidance through the immigration process, access to community programs, health-care assistance, and employment resources.

The Israeli government also provides a range of support and resources to ease the transition and adaptation for those taking this significant step, including housing subsidies and higher education incentives for young olim and professionals pursuing studies in Israel.

“I believe we’ll see an increase in the number of people making aliyah in the coming years. It won’t happen overnight, but it will be a gradual process,” Sofer told The Algemeiner. “The trend is clear, and there is growing interest among many in taking this step.”

“We’re seeing numbers rise year by year, especially from Western countries like the UK, France, and North America, and I expect that trend to continue,” the Israeli minister said.

“Show Your Jewish Pride” rally at George Washington University G Street Park on May 2, 2024. Photo: Dion J. Pierre

To the Jewish students stepping onto campus — especially those who carry Zionism close to your heart — this moment is exciting, but it can also feel daunting.

College promises discovery, freedom, and growth. You’ll meet professors who open doors to ideas you’ve never considered, and you’ll form friendships that might stay with you for life. You’ll learn to see the world differently by encountering people whose backgrounds and perspectives are not your own. And along the way, you’ll also come to notice the small, grounding joys: a sunset after a tough day, an amazing meal shared far from home, or laughter echoing down the dorm hallway late at night.

But let me be clear: the campus you are entering is also filled with hostility and hate. You already know this. Israel has become a lightning rod for rage. And rarely is it spoken of with fairness or depth. Too often, slogans replace understanding. Israel is caricatured as a monolith of oppression. Zionism is dismissed as a moral failing. Posters, petitions, and protests make sweeping charges that ignore Jewish history and complexity. A word spoken in class can invite suspicion. Even silence is treated as guilt.

And the deepest pain may come from within. Some of your fellow Jews, often the loudest in Jewish campus spaces, will reject you for being a Zionist. That betrayal cuts more sharply than insults from strangers. To be pushed aside by your own people for loving Israel is not just isolating — it feels like exile within exile.

I want you to know: I see this clearly. I will not minimize it. The ugliness is real. You are not imagining it.

And yet — this is not the whole story. You are not as alone as you may feel in those moments. There are professors who still believe in open inquiry. Who will hear you out, even when they disagree. There are peers — Jewish and not — who understand the unfairness of singling out one people for relentless condemnation. There are vibrant organizations and communities nearby: Hillel chapters, Chabad houses, student Jewish unions, local synagogues, alumni mentors, and informal networks of supportive students. There are rabbis, chaplains, and laypeople ready to listen, guide, and champion you. Reach out. You will find others who will stand with you. The strength of Jewish life is that we never face our challenges in isolation.

You will also find anchors — moments that remind you who you are. The laughter of friends around a Sabbath table. The stirring words of Hatikvah sung in unison far from Israel’s shores. Festival foods, a prayer, the soft glow of candlelight, a melody from home. A professor praising the nuance of your argument. A peer defending you quietly in conversation. A campus lecture that expands your mind rather than trying to silence it. These moments are not trivial. They are reminders of why your convictions matter. Why your people endures.

Jewish history itself offers the deepest well of resilience. For centuries, our ancestors lived in exile yet clung to memory and hope. “If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its skill,” cries Psalm 137 — a verse whispered in Babylon, sung in Spain, wept over in Eastern Europe, recited in every corner of exile. That was not nostalgia. It was a vow. A vow of continuity. Of resilience. Of return. That vow carried our people through pogroms, expulsions, and even the Shoah. And it is because of that vow that you walk onto campus today as a free Jew. Able to claim your identity openly. Zionism is not a political slogan. It is the lived continuation of that vow.

The Torah urges courage in the face of fear. “Be strong and have courage, do not fear and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9). That promise was true when Joshua marched across the Jordan River. And it remains true when you step into a seminar room where suspicion surrounds you. God’s presence and your history does not end at the synagogue door. It follows you into lecture halls, dining commons, dorm rooms, and late-night debates. To remember that is to reclaim your footing when the ground feels shaky.

And never forget this: your particular love for Israel is not a betrayal of universal ideals. To stand with your people is not to stand against others. To care for Israel is not to deny Palestinian dignity. To carry your heritage with conviction is not an act of exclusion — it is an act of integrity.

You will break down in tears at times; I certainly have done so more often than I can count since the October 7th massacre. Certainly, there will be moments of exhaustion, loneliness, and doubt. But as noted in Jeremiah 31, (15- 17), even in tears, your labor has meaning; your steadfastness carries hope forward. Every time you hold fast and every time you refuse to hide who you are, you plant seeds for a future you may not see, but that others will harvest.

Our people have always carried this burden and this gift. In Babylon, Jews hung their harps on the willows and still sang of Jerusalem. In Spain, amid expulsion, families clung to Torah scrolls as they crossed into exile. In the Warsaw Ghetto, with nothing left to lose, Jews lit candles and whispered blessings into the darkness. In the Soviet Union, refuseniks risked everything just to teach Hebrew in secret. At every turn, the Jewish story has proclaimed the same truth: we endure. We carry forward. We do not let go.

You are part of that story now. You stand in their line. On their shoulders. With their strength.

You are not alone. You never have been. And you never will be.

Samuel J. Abrams is a professor of politics at Sarah Lawrence College and a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute.