UPDATED: 6:23PM EST (06/09/2025)

A Palestinian-American ER doctor has come under fire by the nation’s largest watchdog group for antisemitism in healthcare after he circulated a number of anti-Zionist and anti-Israel statements on his Instagram.

The physician — Dr. Mohammad Subeh — treats patients at the El Camino Health Mountainview Hospital near San Francisco and appears to be running as a Democrat for local election in California’s 23rd district, which is anchored in San Bernardino county.

Dr. Subeh caught the attention of Physicians Against Antisemitism (PAA) with one of his recent Instagram posts, where he shared a post saying “don’t let Zionists in your spaces. Don’t make Zionists feel comfortable. Don’t continue business as usual.”

“Unless stated otherwise, reposts on social media should be taken as agreement with the sentiment of the post” said the PAA in an interview Monday.

With over 90% of Jews endorsing the “Zionist” belief that Israel has a right to exist, Dr. Subeh’s statement is seemingly incompatible with a doctor’s duty to treat people regardless of their race or religion.

We must ask: Dr. Subeh does not want “Zionists in [his] spaces”, what is he really saying? Do those spaces include hospitals, where likely spends most of his work week? What would happen if Dr. Subeh was able to infer that a patient was Zionist, such as if they wore a pendant necklace of Israel, a Magen David, or perhaps had an Israeli themed tattoo?

“Imagine if he takes this attitude with a patient wearing a Star of David comes in having a heart attack?” asked Physicians Against Antisemitism in their first post they created about him.

“This is discriminatory. People could die,” the PAA said.

“Does this moron not know that a great many American Christians also identify as Zionists. This is so UN-American!!” one netizen remarked on the post.

“Does he say the same for Arab patients because of Yemen, Syria, Sudan? How about Asian patients, after all Uighurs, Myanmar. Russian patients because of Ukraine?” another said.

In an interview with the PAA, a spokesperson condemned Dr. Subeh’s posts.

“The repost that encourages making Zionists feel uncomfortable and unwelcome is very concerning. Dr. Subeh hasn’t explicitly stated any exceptions, such as when dealing with patients, so we can only assume that this is his general outlook in every aspect of his life,” they alleged.

“As physicians, it’s our job to treat all our patients with the very best we have to offer, regardless of their race, religion, sex or other defining characteristics. No exceptions. To designate Zionists as excluded from standard human interaction is a dog whistle for Jews as well as our allies.”

Dr. Subeh has established himself as a media personality, having spoken to news outlets including CNN, ABC News and CBS News about his recent medical mission trip to Gaza.

Dr. Subeh grew up in Gaza and has participated in anti-Israel protests while wearing a keffiyeh draped around his body, and has also recently shared false information about Israel on his feed, claiming that Israel blocks donations and cash transfers into Gaza because “Israel controls every shekel.”

This is simply not true. There are multiple ways money can be transferred to people in Gaza, mainly by wire transfer, otherwise, one has to think, where’s all that GoFundMe money headed? There are multiple banking apps one can use, notably, XE.

Dr. Subeh did not respond to an inquiry on how he would treat Jewish and Zionist patients. El Camino Health, his employer sent us a statement saying that his hospital is committed to providing compassionate care, high-quality care for all patients. They did not condemn nor endorse his views and did not state they would be investigating.

“Dr. Subeh's personal views are his own and do not reflect the values or practices of El Camino Health.”

This piece was brought to you by Toni Airaksinen, Senior Editor of Liberty Affair and an independent journalist based in New Jersey and South Florida. Her work has appeared in the Times of Israel, USA TODAY, Quillette, and more. Follow her on X @Toni_Airaksinen and on Instagram.