Viewpoint with a Valence: Framing Muslim Victimhood, Ignoring Israeli Trauma

Editor’s note: This comment originally appeared as a response to the Viewpoint, “Mental Health Challenges of Muslim Populations Exposed to War and Discrimination,” published in JAMA Psychiatry.

In publishing the Viewpoint, “Mental Health Challenges of Muslim Populations Exposed to War and Discrimination,” JAMA Psychiatry has been swept into a treacherous stream of thought flowing from the Gaza war: Muslim-as-victim. The piece asserts that media coverage of the war, anti-Muslim discrimination, ‘Islamophobia,’ and racism exacerbated an “increased prevalence of anxiety and depression, and an overall deterioration in Muslim individuals’ mental health.” The implication is that ‘Islamophobia’ and Israel’s military actions are to blame.

Read the full comment at JAMA Psychiatry.

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Additionally, Do No Harm members Howard Fenn, MD, and Mark Schiller, MD, offered additional insight into this Viewpoint:

Dr. Miceli’s Comment on November 6, 2025, prompted us to review the references offered to support the Viewpoint “Mental Health Challenges of Muslim Populations Exposed to War and Discrimination” published on October 1, 2025. Two examples follow:

One reference analyzed 53 peer-reviewed articles on Islamophobia, discrimination, or racism affecting Muslim populations. It found “consistent relationships” between experiences of discrimination and poor mental health among Muslims and “Muslim-like” populations across the globe, with nearly half focused on mental health of Muslims in the United States. Yet the authors note “important methodological and conceptual shortcomings” with their findings.  Definitions of ‘Islamophobia’ and/or discrimination were inconsistent across studies, without specific measures to identify these phenomena. The literature review acknowledged it did not account for confounding variables which may have influenced mental health such as loss of status, age at immigration, educational attainment, skin color, refugee status, citizenship, or gender. Even if an association between discrimination and mental distress was found, causation was not demonstrated (Samari G, et al., 2018).

Another reference described a cross-sectional on-line survey of 2635 adults in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, or Tunisia, conducted two weeks after the October 7, 2023, massacre of Israeli civilians documented in videos by Hamas itself. The survey reported, “higher war media exposure was significantly associated with higher depression” concluding that “symptoms of stress and depression were present as early as two weeks following the beginning of the war”  (Fekih-Romdhane F, et al., 2024). No mention was made of the specific media consumed by those who completed the survey nor of any bias contained therein. In fact, on or after October 7^th Arabic language coverage focused primarily on Muslims as victims. Al Jazeera, a global source of Arabic language news coverage, headlined the massacre in this way: Israel retaliation kills 230 Palestinians after Hamas operation. Al Arabiya, another widely viewed Arabic language outlet, reported upon danger to Muslims without mention of any Israeli civilians killed; its headline on Oct 10^th read: “Israeli retaliation strategies post-Hamas attack heightens concerns of Gaza invasion.”

These aforementioned references exemplify a feat of journalist jiu jitsu; they reverse a horrific massacre by a terrorist group and present it as a one-sided assault by Israel on the Palestinian population. The Viewpoint published on October 1, 2025, reframes the October 7th murder of Israeli civilians into a story of global Muslim victimhood, implying Israeli responsibility. Its selective focus on a single group’s trauma reflects a deeply biased framing—a distorted approach that undermines balanced discourse and is unfit for a medical journal.