Hide your Jewish identity at the doctor’s office. Anti-Israel sentiment could sabotage your health.
We had to blink twice. Really? The return of Nazism to Europe? The invidious isolation of Jews to the detriment of their health?
Remember? Under Nazism, Jews could not seek treatment from a non-Jewish doctor (nor could Jewish doctors treat non-Jews). Remember, the absolute division of society by race — the so-called Jewish race?
It’s come close to that in Norway today, according to a letter written by the chair of the Jewish community in Oslo, Norway to the country’s health authorities. The essence, according to the letter, is this:
“Shortly after Oct. 7, 2023, alongside growing anti-Israel mobilization among segments of healthcare workers, health institutions and medical experts, several members of the Jewish community expressed concern that they would feel uncomfortable seeking medical treatment and fear they wouldn’t receive optimal care if they revealed they were Jewish.”
Alarmist? Over-the-top? Paranoia?
Listen to Dr. Rolf Kirschner. He is a Jewish physician in Norway with 45 years of experience in the country’s public health system. That’s a long time to get to know the system. He is also a member of the Norwegian Medical Assn. He knows the scene. He says:
“People don’t dare wear Jewish symbols like the Star of David when going for examinations, and Jewish patients fear having their names called aloud in waiting rooms out of concern that caregivers or others will discover they are Jewish.”
Healthcare is supposed to be neutral. That is why Israeli doctors treat Arabs, and why Israeli Arab doctors treat Jews; and why Israeli doctors even treat captured Arab terrorists.
Neutrality: the ethical standard in medical settings.
Why, then, in Norway’s medical establishments, are overtly political, pro-Palestinian posters on wide display? Professional medical organizations in Norway call for boycotts of Israel.
Jewish hypersensitivity here? In Australia, two nurses were arrested for deliberately mistreating Israeli patients — and, a video of the nurses describing how they mistreated the Israeli patients went viral and reached Norway. The idea is out there: One set of medical standards for Jewish patients, another set for everybody else.
Nazism was long ago. Or was it? An Israeli-Norwegian resident of more than 30 years notes:
“The Norwegian health system has a problematic past and present which is undoubtedly tainted by political influence. Norway assisted the Nazis in deporting Jews to extermination camps, and today it is the only Western country that refuses to recognize the murderous organization Hamas as a terrorist organization.”
If Hamas is not deemed a terrorist organization by Norway, then it makes sense that the bias in Norway’s medical system went into high gear right after Hamas committed mass murder, rape, beheading and kidnapping on Oct. 7, 2023. The ethical reaction would have been the opposite: shock and denunciation of Hamas’ inhumanity.
Norway’s healthcare minister, Jan Christian, has responded to this recrudescence of Nazi-like sentiment and behavior by saying all the right things. So has the head of the Nurses Assn. All patients should feel safe; no one should feel uncomfortable, etc. etc.
Will these good words make a difference. Can they? Is the hatred already so ingrained that it won’t matter what the officials say? Is Europe too far gone, with Norway leading the way?
Does anybody still believe that being anti-Israel is not being anti-Semitic?
© IJN 2025
