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The NHS has been accused of 'anti-Semitic rot' after Jewish patients said they had experienced abuse while working and receiving treatment in British hospitals.
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they → see → hospitals
Jewish advocacy group, Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), has shared interviews with British Jews who have recounted alleged incidents of abuse at the NHS.
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who → share → NHS
One nurse said her colleague performed a Nazi salute in front of her, while a patient said his surgeon told him mid-surgery, 'the Jews shoot children in the head or the legs for fun'.
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Jews → say → fun
The charity further shared results of a poll which showed British Jews feared they would not receive equal care in the NHS thanks to their religion.
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they → share → religion
Nearly half of those polled said they had taken steps since the October 7 attack in Israel to hide their Jewish identity.
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they → poll → identity
Stephen Silverman, director of Investigations and Enforcement at CAA said: 'At the very moment when they need the NHS the most, instead of being able to trust our national healthcare provider, Jewish people are having to hide their identity for fear of unequal treatment or abuse.
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people → say → treatment
'As long as that is the case, the NHS cannot be said to be for everyone.'
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NHS → say → everyone
In the CAA documentary, Malignant: Anti-Semitism in the NHS, nurse Shelly Lipman, who works at a hospital in Cambridge, said a healthcare assistant she worked with asked what the Hebrew calligraphy on her arm meant, and she explained her Jewish heritage in response.
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she → work → response
Later, when she came back from taking her lunch, she saw the nurse 'literally holding a Nazi salute…
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nurse → come → salute
I just felt like my jaw dropped for what felt like an hour'.
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what → feel → hour
Shelly Lipman, a nurse working at a hospital in Cambridge, said her colleague performed a Nazi salute in front of her
They had earlier been discussing the meaning of her tattoo of Hebrew calligraphy
Patient Saul Freeman was told by his surgeon that Jews 'shoot children in the head or legs for fun' as he was undergoing a procedure
'
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he → work → procedure
,' she added.
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she → add → ?
Saul Freeman was undergoing surgery to remove potential skin cancer from his forehead, for which he remained awake, when the conversation with his surgeon moved from the price of oil to the war in the Middle East.
'
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conversation → undergo → East
He went on to say, "and the wars still going on in Gaza, they are still killing children in Gaza".
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they → go → Gaza
And he said "you would think they would know better given what happened to them in Europe",' to which he clarified 'them' as Jewish people, according to Mr Freeman.
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he → say → Freeman
The surgeon allegedly went on to say: 'The Jews should know better…The Jews do it just for fun…
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Jews → go → fun
They shoot children in the head or the legs for fun, and they do it differently for their own amusement each day.
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they → shoot → amusement
Mr Freeman said he felt 'vulnerable' while the surgeon was performing the incisions and slipped his star of David under his T-shirt as he 'didn't know if he was going to intentionally cause me harm'.
'I was really aware that he probably had seen that and therefore he knew exactly who he was talking to,' he added.
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he → say → who
Mr Freeman made a complaint of the incident to Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which said it would be 'unable to provide details of any employment investigations, decision, or outcomes relating to individual members of staff'.
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it → make → staff
Jane McNicholas, chief medical officer at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told Daily Mail: 'Mr Freeman has raised his concerns with us and we are reviewing these as a matter of urgency.
'
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we → tell → urgency
We take any allegations of this nature very seriously and will respond accordingly based on the findings of the review.'
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We → take → review
One senior Jewish medical professor said he received antisemitic death threats, while other Jewish doctors told CAA they have stopped wearing their name badges when possible to limit the amount of abuse.
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they → say → abuse
Some said they had been 'aggressively interrogated' for wearing their stars of David – a religious necklace often worn by Jewish people - while other Jewish doctors have even quit the NHS to become private doctors, which they claim is safer.
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they → say → NHS
'Most can't come forward because of the risk to their careers and their livelihoods, and in some cases, even to their safety,' Mr Silverman explained.
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Silverman → come → safety
Adam, a dentist, said many members 'with Jewish sounding names' were removed from a professional online chatroom to discuss patients' problems, following comments from other members to kick 'Zionists' out for 'spying'.
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members → say → spying
'We saw discrimination, hate bias, accusations, stereotypes, conspiracy theories all to do with Jews,' Adam said.
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Adam → see → Jews
Some members were said to have written, 'I will never treat a Zionist and I'm glad I don't treat Jews'.
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I → say → Jews
A spokesperson for the GDC said: 'Discrimination has no place in dentistry.
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Discrimination → say → dentistry
Everyone should be treated equally and with respect, whether a patient, member of the public or part of the dental team.
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Everyone → treat → team
'All forms of discrimination are inherently serious, and any allegations of this type that are reported to us, will be treated as such.
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that → report → us
'We continue to work with colleagues across healthcare to embed the Mann review recommendations to address antisemitism and other forms of discrimination so that everyone can feel safe at work and when accessing care.'
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everyone → continue → care
Another NHS staff member said they had planned to bring in donuts to celebrate Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday, in a similar way as to other religious holidays they had celebrated throughout the year.
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they → say → year
She said she was told it was 'inappropriate to do so due to the current climate', which the interviewee interpreted as meaning 'we are going to delete our Jews here'.
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we → say → Jews
She was told by a staff member at a separate event that 'all Jewish people are racist and because we were Jews, didn't understand what racism was'.
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racism → tell → event
When the interviewee tried to correct the woman making this statement and argued that Jewish people would understand racism, she said she was called ignorant and the woman 'lunged across the table at me and tried to grab me'.
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woman → try → me
Mr Silverman said a Jewish patient was threatened with having his dialysis treatment stopped after he complained about a staff member for wearing a free Palestine T-shirt 'that erased Israel as a Jewish homeland'.
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that → say → homeland
Another patient said he had boycott Israel stickers placed around his room, according to the CAA.
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he → say → CAA
'I don't think people want to report because we're very scared of intimidation, retribution and repercussions.
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we → think → intimidation
I think if they are reported there is a feeling they won't go anywhere and it will just be rejected because it is not taken seriously,' one interviewee said.
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interviewee → think → ?
Consultant plastic surgeon Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah faces a High Court hearing after the GMC appealed against a decision to clear him of claims of support for terrorism
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan was arrested several times and charged with four counts of inviting support for Hamas earlier this year
The documentary highlighted suspended NHS doctor Rahmeh Aladwan, who frequently posted about the conflict in Gaza and wrote online 'the Jews love stealing Palestinian bodies and harvesting their organs as well as tormenting the family'.
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Jews → face → family
…and 40 more, not listed.
The Aporia
