Jewish Netflix star Dr Sheila Nazarian opens up about antisemitism, Jewish students, and escaping Iran as a child
Dr Sheila Nazarian, an award-winning Jewish Iranian-American plastic surgeon and the star of the Emmy-nominated Netflix Series, ‘Skin Decision: Before and After’, appeared on the most recent episode of Podcast Against Antisemitism where she expressed her concerns about the way antisemitism is affecting Jewish students on university campuses in the United States.
The Beverly Hills doctor said that one of her primary concerns right now lies with those “in a position of power to change the curriculum to take out Holocaust education…that’s where the real threat to me is coming from, is the antisemitism cloaked in progressivism, because I’ve smelled that before in Iran.”
Dr Nazarian, now rising in Los Angeles, revealed on the podcast how she and her family fled Iran, in no small part due to fears for their safety as Jews.
“We left towards the tail-end of the Iran–Iraq War. There were bombs flying everywhere. My parents could see that there was really no future as Jews and as women in Iran for their two daughters,” she said, “so my father actually said he was going on a medical conference in the US, went to Vienna, and stayed there with a friend, a colleague, and worked on getting visas for my mother, my sister and I.
“Meanwhile, about a week later, my mum, my sister, and I went to the bazaar. We got into the back of a truck in the foetal position with strangers, just fitting in however we can. They put burlap on top of us, and corn, and took us close to the border. I remember there was a pole at the bottom of the truck that they used to tie crops to that was sticking into my ribs. I kept telling my mum ‘That hurts’, and she’s like ‘Shh, just be quiet.’
“So, we got close to the Pakistani border, and that’s when she told me in a makeshift hut of a bathroom that was basically made of clay, just a big hole in the ground, that we were going to America…we slept one night in the desert and the next day we were seen by border police. They started shooting at us and we were, thank God, able to get away, and we made it into Pakistan. We were in Pakistan for a few months with other people who escaped, and eventually, we were able to make it to America.”
Dr Nazarian has since become an award-winning plastic surgeon and has guest-starred on numerous television series, including ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’, ‘Basketball Wives’, and ‘Revenge Body with Khloe Kardashian’, but still ensures that she has time to speak out against antisemitism, both online and in-person.
The plastic surgeon said that she feels that “antisemitism is always there,” describing it as “underlying everything” and noting “the comfort with which it bubbles to the surface”.
She told Podcast Against Antisemitism: “I speak on a lot of college campuses to encourage the Jewish students to not hide, to speak up, to educate, to go to administration, and so I think the messaging there is ‘Don’t hide, don’t change who you are, or suppress parts of who you are in order to feel accepted’. What we have to do is empower people to fight for the right thing, to fight for justice, and to speak up.”
Dr Nazarian, who in 2016 was named the “Iranian Jewish Women’s Organization Woman of the Year”, said that her activism began when she realised that her daughter, who was then four years away from enrolling in a university, might not feel able to safely speak on certain aspects of her identity, particularly in relation to Zionism.
“I was like, ‘Wait, if I don’t start speaking up about Judaism and being a proud Jew, how is my daughter going to go bring that message to people in college who maybe have never met a Jewish person before?’”
The award-winning doctor called on people to take action against antisemitism, encouraging everyone to do what they can.
“You can always start in your own capacity and I think speaking up when you witness it is very powerful…supporting activists, or people on social media, even if it’s just a message,” she said. “Being an ally, speaking up for the Jewish people, sharing posts…everyone has the capacity to do something.”
This podcast can be listened to here, or watched here.
Podcast Against Antisemitism, produced by Campaign Against Antisemitism, talks to a different guest about antisemitism each week. It streams every Thursday and is available through all major podcast apps and YouTube. You can also subscribe to have new episodes sent straight to your inbox.
Previous guests have included comedian David Baddiel, television personality Robert Rinder, writer Eve Barlow, Grammy-Award-winning singer-songwriter Autumn Rowe, and actor Eddie Marsan.
