Hawaii DR: ‘There’s No Wrong Way To ‘Delete’ Zionists’

A doctor in Hawaii has come under fire after posting dozens of shocking comments about wanting Zionists to die on Monday and praising the deaths of Israelis on his public social media over the last week.

Ryan Christopher Rao — who is also a urology surgery specialist and hospitalist at the Queen’s Medical Center Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii — has posted numerous missives against Zionists on his public Facebook page, making statements such as “I Hope All The Zionists Are Deleted” on Monday, June 16. 

The doctor has not responded to numerous inquiries from the Times Of Israel. 

These are not one-off posts — they reflects sentiments Dr. Rao has expressed for months, as he has also posted: “Hope Tel Aviv is leveled. There’s no wrong way to delete Zionists” and “Zionism must be destroyed, [I’m] grateful for all the resistance fighters.”

He has also said it’s “refreshing to watch missiles landing” on people responsible for the war against Gaza, which began on October 7, 2023, after Hamas militants invaded Israel, killed and injured hundreds of Israelis, and took over 100 people hostage.

Many of those hostages are still in captivity. It has been 621 days since the war began, and Israel is still fighting to rescue the remaining hostages, with about 50 remaining in Gaza, according to previous reporting from the Times of Israel.

These posts were exposed by the top watchdog group for Jew hate and antisemitism in healthcare, Physicians Against Antisemitism (PAA), in a post they made Monday morning about the doctor’s extramural conduct.

“Dr. Ryan Rao thinks he’s clever, but it’s obvious what ‘delete Zionists’ means. Openly calling for torture and death of human beings is not compatible with the oath we take as physicians,” said the PAA spokesperson Wednesday morning.

In an interview with the PAA, the spokesperson expressed concern over this doctor’s ability to take care of Jewish and Zionist patients. To be clear, it is not only Jews who are Zionists; many Christians and Catholics also support Zionism, partly a religiously-rooted ideology.

“It is obvious to us that the term ‘deleted’ is a very thinly veiled way of saying killed, murdered, or erased from existence.”

This doctor should no longer be allowed to practice medicine, they said.

“Any person who could make such remarks cannot be considered a safe practitioner for Jewish patients. Or for any patients really. To hold views that there are some people who do not deserve to live is incompatible with the practice of medicine.”

“Sharing these views publicly and repeatedly projects arrogance, poor judgement, and an undue sense of infallibility,” said the PAA spokesperson.

“Making these statements without consequences empowers Dr. Rao and others like him continue practicing medicine without a clear moral and ethical foundation, which is dangerous to all patients,” the PAA added.

Dr. Rao did not reply to media inquiries despite actively continuing to post on his social media accounts about Israel and Zionists since the PAA broke the news on Monday. He and his employer have had 48 hours to respond to a request for comment, but have remained silent. 

Dr. Rao is certified in Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, and before he moved to Hawaii, he worked in Rhode Island, where he trained at the Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence. He is listed on many websites as one of the top urologist surgeons in Hawaii, and he has been practicing medicine for over 17 years. 

In the past few years, he has also publicly posted about his time in medicine. In one Facebook post, he speaks of a patient who was wounded by a fish, and avowed that he indeed works for the Queens Health System in Honolulu.

“I have worked as a physician in Honolulu (hospitalist at Queens) for over 10 years & can tell you from experience that travel nurses are a poor substitute for the nurses from our community,” he once wrote, making it clear that this Facebook page is that of a doctor’s.

As of the time of publication, it is unclear if his hospital is investigating or if Dr. Rao is still practicing medicine. This article will be updated if we receive any further information from the hospital after publication.