Rosalia Shikhverg notes that her ID read “Karen Jones” to protect her from the media; she says they did it to protect her from antisemitic staff.
An Australian state health minister has offered to apologize to one of the victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack after her Jewish-sounding name was changed by hospital staff and her religion was erased from her hospital identification.
Rosalia Shikhverg was taken to Liverpool Hospital in Sydney’s suburbs for a head injury caused by shrapnel as a result of the mass shooting during a “Chanukah by the Sea” event on Dec. 14.
She said she was admitted under her name, with her Jewish identity recorded, something fairly routine in the country. But without her consent, hospital staff told her before an operation that they were providing her with a new band and were changing her name to “Karen Jones,” with no religious identity, to keep prying media away.