Yonat Weinberger, a Jew living in the Netherlands, needed urgent medical treatment and was taken to one of the hospitals in her area by ambulance. Upon her arrival, she noticed that a nurse who was supposed to treat her was wearing a large pin in the colors of the Palestinian flag on her chest. “As soon as I saw the symbol with the fist – I immediately felt threatened,” she tells Mako Health.
Weinberger describes a large and prominent symbol, one that could not be missed. According to her, recently she followed videos on the Internet, including videos from Tiktok in which nurses from Australia explicitly say that if they recognize Israelis or Zionists – they will hurt them. “When this is what you see on the Internet and then suddenly you see a fist in the colors of the Palestinian flag on the chest of a nurse in a hospital, it is very frightening,” she said.
“There is quite a bit of hatred here, and when you come to a place like a hospital you expect it to be a neutral space”
“I am originally from Belgium. I lived there for 18 years, and immigrated to Israel at the age of 18 and lived there for five years out of Zionism.” Not every place should become a political discussion, and certainly not a hospital. I don’t want to sit there and feel hurt. As soon as they recognize you, they immediately want to know what your opinion is about Israel. And if you hear a name like mine, the questions immediately come. There is quite a bit of hatred here, and when you come to a place like a hospital you expect it to be a neutral space, without political messages and charged symbols. It simply instilled fear, especially at a time when hatred towards Jews and Israelis is felt more and more.”
Due to the feeling of insecurity, Weinberger whispered to one of the ambulance crew members who accompanied her that she did not feel safe. According to her, he turned to the nurse and gently asked her to remove the symbol. “She answered, ‘Then I’m leaving’ and just left. She left me alone with the doctor and the ambulance man, while I needed urgent help.”
Weinberger adds that she recently decided to officially go to the hospital. “I sent the complaint yesterday,” she said. “I wrote about what happened even before that, when I was still debating what to do. But following all the responses I received from people, I realized that it was very important to submit the complaint in an official manner.” Meanwhile, so far she has not received a response.