Doctor in Belgium lists ‘Jewish’ as medical problem on 9-year-old’s record

A Belgian hospital has suspended one of its doctors after reports that he listed “Jewish (Israeli)” as a medical problem in a 9-year old patient’s notes.

Late last week, Belgium’s JID (Jewish Information and Documentation Centre) reported that a Jewish girl had been brought to the AZ Zeno Campus Hospital in the Knokke-Heist municipality. The radiologist who examined her reportedly wrote in the “current problem” section of the girl’s notes that she had “Pain in the left forearm, fell from the climbing structure to the ground; a man fell on top of her”. After noting that she had no allergies, the doctor wrote “Jewish (Israeli).

An investigation into the social media accounts of the doctor in question, who is understood to be of Arabic origin, is believed to have uncovered multiple examples of antisemitism, including an image showing Chassidic Jews as vampires preparing to eat a sleeping baby.

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On Tuesday afternoon, the AZ Zeno Campus Hospital confirmed that the doctor had been “suspended with immediate effect”, while investigations were undertaken into the doctor’s social media posts. With regards to the medical notes, the hospital said that the patient’s ethnicity had been “included for medical reasons”, but acknowledged how the positioning of that information under the ‘medical problems’ section of the notes “could be seen as offensive”. The hospital confirmed it had “changed the digital patient file”.

The European Jewish Council (EJC) said: “We are outraged by the report of a doctor in Belgium who listed “Jewish (Israeli)” as a medical problem in a child’s emergency file. This is blatant antisemitism: dehumanizing, discriminatory and utterly unacceptable.

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“This is not just unethical, it’s dangerous. No parent should fear that their child’s care might be compromised because of their Jewish identity. We call on Belgian authorities to take immediate disciplinary action and make clear: antisemitism has no place in healthcare—or anywhere.”

Last year, a Belgian author, Herman Brusselmans, was taken to court after he wrote an article for the country’s Humo magazine, in which he said that when he saw an image of a Palestinian child crying for his mother beneath the rubble of a building, he “became so enraged that I want to ram a pointed knife straight down the throat of every Jew I meet.” Earlier this year, a Belgian court said that while “certain members of the Jewish community may have been offended by some sentences…the texts do not show that the defendant wanted to incite hatred and violence against members of the Jewish community”. It ruled that “the author’s expressions of opinion are protected by the right to freedom of expression” as set out by the Belgian constitution.

Last month, Belgium’s oldest Jewish newspaper, The Centrale, expressed astonishment after Matthias Diependaele Minister‑President of the Flemish region of Belgium, refused to send the Jewish community a Rosh Hashana message. Diependaele’s staff originally told the paper that they “did not deem it opportune”, because of “the current situation and sensitivities concerning the tensions in the Middle East”. Diependaele subsequently wrote to the paper claiming that the reason was not Gaza, but his determination throughout his political career to avoid supporting any religious activities. The Jewish paper rejected the second rationale, saying: “From ‘too sensitive right now’ to ‘timeless principle.’ Same destination, new costume. The first letter admits the truth — fear of optics. The second attempts to launder that fear into lofty secularism.”

Today, Belgium’s Foreign Minister, Maxime Prevot, said that Belgium would recognise a Palestinian state at a UN meeting next month, in line with a number of other Western countries. Prevot also said that Belgium would move to sanction extremist Israeli politicians, ban the import of Israeli settlement products and review public procurement contracts involving Israeli companies.