Belgian Doctor Denies Refusing Treatment to Jewish Patient in Spat Over Israel War
The Belgian physician who refused to treat a Jewish woman and suggested she go to Gaza apologized for doing “something stupid” but denied knowing that the woman was a Jew.
The Flemish doctor’s refusal to treat Bertha Klein earlier this week was reported Thursday by Joods Actueel, a Belgian Jewish monthly based in the city of Antwerp, which has approximately 20,000 Orthodox Jews.
According to the daily online edition of the newspaper, the physician, who was not named, was manning a medical hotline in the Antwerp region earlier this week when he refused to treat 90-year-old Klein for pain from a fractured rib.
Speaking to her son, Hershy Taffel, the doctor reportedly said: “Send her to Gaza for a few hours, then she’ll get rid of the pain.”
Taffel said he believed the physician knew he and his mother are Jewis,h but the doctor in question told the De Morgen daily: “I did something stupid, but I did not know the patient was Jewish or I would have never mentioned Gaza.”
He had been watching footage of Gaza before Taffel called, he said, and was “feeling emotional.”
The report did not say how the doctor’s emotional reaction to the Gaza fighting would otherwise explain his refusal to treat Klein.
The incident, which is the subject of a criminal investigation for discrimination and a medical ethics committee review, came on the heels of two other incidents in Belgium involving denial of service to Jews since the July 8 launch of the latest Israel-Hamas conflict.
In one incident, the owner of a clothing store in Antwerp informed an Orthodox Jewish woman he would not sell her or any other Jew any merchandise, because of the Gaza war.
In another, the owners of a café near Liege placed a sign in Turkish and French that said that dogs were allowed into the café but Jews and Zionists were not.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
