Imagine this scenario: A Jewish patient undergoing chemotherapy hears his doctor and the medical staff shouting "Intifada," "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," and "End the Israeli occupation" outside his window. Jewish patients at UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) and Jewish doctors working there describe instances of antisemitism on the renowned medical campus.
Unlike other campuses in California, UCSF doesn’t have undergraduate students, focusing solely on health sciences. For decades, the institution built a reputation for treating a wide range of patients, from fentanyl addicts to tech billionaires seeking world-class services. However, a recent New York Times article casts a heavy shadow over this reputation.
Dr. Jonathan Terdiman, a Jewish gastroenterologist, shared in an interview that behavior that might be tolerable on a college campus takes on a different meaning in a hospital. "People come here for chemotherapy. They have serious illnesses," Dr. Terdiman said. "When these chants are heard in treatment rooms, it's clearly a violation of our professional obligations as healthcare providers."
Dr. Gil Rabinovici, an Israeli-American neurologist who heads the Alzheimer’s Research Center at UCSF, expressed shock over what he has experienced since October 7. "There’s a lot of intimidation aimed at silencing Jewish and Zionist voices," he told Ynet. He spoke of overt hostility toward Israelis and Jews. "All Jews are being blamed for the actions of the Israeli government in Gaza. There’s clear antisemitism."
Rabinovici, who has worked at UCSF for 20 years and lived in the US for 30, now faces a toxic atmosphere. Complaints he and his colleagues filed were dismissed under the guise of free speech. "But in reality, these are hate speech," he said. Rabinovici described a significant change in the institution: "It was always an exceptional workplace that valued inclusivity for everyone. I assumed that included Israelis, but I was shocked to find that when we complained about this very hostile environment, our complaints to the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination were summarily dismissed."
The New York Times investigative piece highlighted the story of Dr. Avraham (Avrumi) Kanel, a hospital physician and assistant professor of medicine, who expressed in an internal email that a ceasefire would embolden Hamas and encourage kidnappings for ransom. Dr. Kanel has dozens of relatives in Israel, including one who hid for hours from Hamas at the Nova festival and another who works in forensic identification and had to identify children’s bodies. His grandfather survived Auschwitz, with his arm marked by the Nazis.
Shortly after sending the email questioning the ceasefire decision, Dr. Kanel learned that someone had forwarded it to another UCSF doctor, Dr. Rupa Maria, who practices internal medicine. She criticized his email on X several times over months without naming him but eventually revealed his name. Dr. Kanel complained to the university administration, but no action was taken against her. Dr. Maria frequently shares harsh accusations against Israel on social media, including charges of "genocide" in Gaza.
"It’s not my colleague’s words that make me feel unwelcome and frankly unsafe at work," Dr. Kanel said. "It’s my managers' ongoing refusal to clearly denounce her and ensure my inclusion in this broader community at UCSF."
Dr. Rabinovici echoed similar sentiments, saying he has heard colleagues claim that Hamas's horrific crimes were justified based on their belief that Zionism is a colonialist, white supremacist ideology. "They quickly declare that Zionist doctors are dangerous and should be removed from American medicine, claiming they can’t treat non-white patients," Rabinovici said. "They’ve stated that the IDF trains American police to beat Black people in the US. What they’re doing is fostering racial hatred and pitting everyone against those who dare to believe in Zionism as it’s defined – the Jewish people's right to self-determination and a homeland."
Have you tried complaining to the administration?
"We’ve been complaining for nine months. It amazes us to see what’s happening, but here’s something even more shocking. Despite our objections being dismissed, we were referred to a counselor if we needed additional support. It turned out that the counselor we were referred to had posted some of the most vile antisemitic remarks. This is the person to whom Jews and the Israeli community were referred for further support. When we complained about this to the administration, their response was to refer us to another counselor, one who wasn’t openly antisemitic."
What have you started to see in the hospital that wasn’t there before?
"We started seeing political symbols in clinical spaces, with doctors and medical staff wearing watermelon pins (a symbol of the conflict), Free Palestine pins, and other political expressions. Jewish patients, some with relatives murdered, kidnapped, or missing since October 7, were treated by these doctors in their most vulnerable moments. Antisemitic content has infiltrated our educational programs. Faculty members have presented slides about what they call ‘genocide in Gaza’ during UCSF continuing medical education courses."
Dr. Gil RabinoviciPhoto: Private album According to Rabinovici, staff members have displayed antisemitic images and conspiracy theories, such as claims that the IDF is responsible for racism against Black people in the US. In May, UCSF decided for the first time to honor Jewish American Heritage Month.
"We were very happy until we realized there wasn’t a single Jew or anyone knowledgeable about Judaism on the planning team, so they asked us, as members of the Jewish community, to help create content and plan the events. We created content for the website that talked about the history of Judaism. Just before it was published, we discovered that someone we didn’t know at UCSF had edited the content we carefully crafted and vetted with two rabbis, attempting to erase any connection between Judaism and Israel. They actually removed Israel from the content. We had to complain to the university heads to get this content restored. They even removed the Star of David symbol we used as a background."
What have you heard from patients at the hospital?
"We’ve heard chilling stories from patients in their most vulnerable states, receiving treatment for life-threatening diseases, who were exposed to antisemitic hatred, political symbols, and negative comments. I’ve heard of people worried about being assigned certain doctors who are very vocal and antisemitic on social media. I can’t say we have evidence of anyone receiving discriminatory treatment, and I pray to God that’s not the case, but we have certainly heard from patients who were exposed to this. They were very concerned about receiving their treatment at UCSF.
"I think it’s a great tragedy for the hospital. Many patients, due to their vulnerable condition, are afraid to speak out publicly, and I can’t share clinical details for privacy reasons, but I can say that some of the stories are truly chilling and unfortunately evoke very traumatic memories from other times in history when Jewish patients were subject to horrific breaches of medical ethics."
Are Jewish doctors afraid to speak up?
"Absolutely. It’s an environment of intimidation. If you don’t believe that Zionism is a colonialist, white supremacist ideology, they’ll try to cancel you on social media. This view is very prevalent among some of the younger generation of our learners, who are naive and don’t know the history. There’s a great deal of fear among my colleagues to speak out because the environment is one of intimidation. I think the administration may feel threatened by some of their vocal peers. It took many months for some of us, including myself, to be willing to come out and speak publicly about what’s happening at our hospital."
What are you asking the university administration to do?
"We’re not asking for any special treatment. All we’re asking is that they enforce the codes of conduct that are part of university policy to ensure an inclusive environment for Jews. Unfortunately, what we’re witnessing is a double standard in the enforcement of university policies and tolerance of what is clearly hate speech against Jews."