Social Media, Survey, and Medical Literature Data Reveal Escalating Antisemitism Within the United States Healthcare Community

Daniella M Schwartz; Rotem Lieba; Cassondra L Feldman; Nicole Z Spence; Ruth Oratz; Hedy S Wald; Steven Roth

doi:10.1007/s10943-024-02191-5

Social Media, Survey, and Medical Literature Data Reveal Escalating Antisemitism Within the United States Healthcare Community

J Relig Health. 2024 Dec 1. doi: 10.1007/s10943-024-02191-5. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Daniella M Schwartz¹, Rotem Lieba², Cassondra L Feldman³, Nicole Z Spence⁴, Ruth Oratz⁵, Hedy S Wald⁶, Steven Roth^{7

8}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medicine (Rheumatology), University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, 200 Lothrop St., Pittsburgh, PA, 15213, USA. [email protected].
² Foundation to Combat Antisemitism, Foxboro, MA, USA.
³ College of Psychology, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, USA.
⁴ Department of Anesthesiology, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Boston, MA, USA.
⁵ Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA.
⁶ Department of Family Medicine, Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, USA.
⁷ Department of Anesthesiology, University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
⁸ Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA.

PMID: 39616591
DOI: 10.1007/s10943-024-02191-5

Abstract

Antisemitism has been rising for decades and worsened following the events of Oct 7, 2023. Although anecdotal evidence suggests that these trends extend into the US medical community, quantitative data have been lacking. To address this gap, we quantitated publications about antisemitism, analyzed social media posts from the accounts of 220,405 healthcare professionals, and disseminated a survey to members of Jewish medical associations. Publications and social media posts about antisemitism rose > fivefold, while posts promoting antisemitic stereotypes increased 2-fourfold. Most Jewish-identifying medical students and professionals (75.4%) reported exposure to antisemitism. Together, our results suggest that antisemitism is escalating within the US healthcare community.

Keywords: Antisemitism; Israel; Israel–Hamas war; Jew-hatred; Medicine; Social media.