Some hospitals in Israel separate Jewish and Arab new mothers in maternity wards. Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, a northern coastal city, maintains that they are doing this because the mothers want to be in rooms with women who speak their language. Meanwhile, the Rebecca Sieff Hospital in Safed, in northern Galilee, admits that such separation is policy and extends even to separating religious and secular Jews. Western Galilee Hospital Director Shaul Sasa said there was no policy of separating Arab and Jewish women. “We treat all patients equally. If there are special requests, we try to accommodate them.” The hospital said while they don’t have a policy of separation, “separation is mostly at the request of the patient.”