The social media posts bear all the hallmarks of an anti-Semite. ‘Calling me a ‘terrorist’ doesn’t scare me,’ says one, which is overlaid on a picture of a masked man making an upside down triangle with his hands, a symbol used by the Palestinian terror group Hamas in propaganda videos to denote a target.
‘Non violence is a privilege that Palestinians cannot afford,’ the author claims in another post, alongside messages praising the ‘armed struggle’ and scores of pictures featuring gun-toting Hamas militants.
So who is behind these shocking messages? A social media troll? A violent prisoner? A member of a terror group?
No. Shockingly, these posts are all being shared by an NHS doctor who is supposedly dedicated to protecting the most vulnerable in our society.
And that doctor is not alone. More than a dozen NHS doctors, nurses and dentists have taken to social media in the last year to praise terror groups, spread dangerous lies, and incite racial hatred.
Jewish patients and doctors have also reported incidents of NHS staff putting up anti-Israel posters in operating theatres, wearing pro-Palestine badges in front of patients and holding pro-Palestine meetings on wards in the middle of the day.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he would take a ‘zero tolerance approach’ to anti-Semitism in the NHS but since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, there has been a sharp rise in anti-Jewish sentiment among NHS staff and a disturbing increase in support for violent, proscribed organisations.
Between October 7, 2023, and November 19, 2024, there were 402 anti-Semitism-related complaints made to the General Medical Council (GMC) – the independent regulator for doctors. These related to 98 doctors the GMC was able to identify and a further 26 it was not. According to GMC data, no doctors were struck off in that time period.
Trauma and orthopaedics doctor, Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, wears Palestine flag pins on her uniform at work
Jewish healthcare professionals, as well as lawyers campaigning on the issue, claim that many of their concerns have not been properly investigated or fairly handled by the GMC, which refuses to adopt the definition of anti-Semitism framed by the International Human Rights Commission that is used by the Government.
Some have accused the regulator of ‘abandoning’ Jews and making the NHS a ‘hostile’ environment.
Prompted by these concerns, the Mail launched an investigation into the extent to which anti-Semitism has gained a foothold in our health service.
What we discovered was shocking – both in terms of the content of what was being shared online and the sheer volume of it.
One of the worst offenders is trauma and orthopaedics doctor, Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, the author of the comments cited at the beginning of this piece. The doctor, who is of Palestinian descent, has the words ‘Free Palestine’ tattooed on her left bicep.
Her social media posts are littered with repugnant praise for Hamas, an organisation which has butchered, beaten, tortured and mutilated both Israeli and Palestinian civilians.
In a reel entitled ‘Resist’, alongside an upside down red triangle icon, she wrote: ‘We never condemn the Palestinians. We back their struggle, including armed struggle.’
Among her posts are pictures of masked men holding rifles alongside fire emojis and a photo of a masked toddler wearing the trademark fluorescent green Hamas headband.
She also shared a picture of a masked militant holding a large gun with the words: ‘A picture of AlQasem a day keeps the Zs [Zionists] locked away’, an apparent reference to the Al-Qassam brigade, the military wing of Hamas.
Dr Aladwan, who is of Palestinian descent, has the words ‘Free Palestine’ tattooed on her left bicep as she’s pictured at a protest
Dr Aladwan also appears to refer to a disturbing incident that took place in Amsterdam last November, when Jewish Maccabi Tel Aviv football team supporters were chased and beaten in a series of disturbing ‘hit and run’ attacks, which were likened to a pogrom.
The violence – which came on the eve of commemorations marking Kristallnacht, the night in November, 1938, when Nazi paramilitaries attacked of Jewish businesses and synagogues – was condemned by European leaders, including the Dutch King.
Yet Dr Aladwan, who wears Palestine flag pins on her uniform at work, posted a photograph of the green, red, white and black flag hanging in a room alongside the word ‘Amsterdam’ and a hand-drawn graph with the words ‘f*** around’ along one axis, and ‘find out’ along the other.Â
The caption reads: ‘You provoke. You pushed. You prodded. You play victim. You deserve to pay. You parasitic pariah. Settlers should feel welcome nowhere. And if they tried that crap in the UK, they’ll be met with resistance too. Seems justice is found on the streets.’
A Jewish colleague said: ‘From the moment I met her, her views were very obvious. She wore a keffiyeh [the Arabic scarf which has become synonymous with the Palestinian cause] and Palestine badge on her uniform.
‘I was scared whenever I was around her and felt like I needed to hide my identity – even at one point lying about the origin of my name. I felt like I couldn’t focus. It was very distracting.
‘Following a complaint [as a result of her activism], she stormed into the staff room and accused ‘some Zionist woman’ of making a complaint against her. It was aggressive. I was worried, imagining what would have happened if she had been treating a Jewish or Israeli patient. A hospital just shouldn’t be a political place.’
Dr Aladwan has been reported to counter-terror police but has not been suspended by the GMC. She has not responded to the Mail’s approach for comment.
Scores of medical practitioners have posted similarly concerning content on social media. Dr Rehiana Ali – a consultant neurologist of Palestinian descent – was suspended in December following a complaint from the UK Lawyers For Israel association.
The interim suspension does not constitute a definitive finding by the GMC of any misconduct and Dr Ali appears to consider it a badge of pride. Since the suspension, her biography on X reads: ‘Suspended by GMC UK for hurting Israeli feelings. I still say killing kids is demonic.’
In October 2024 she tweeted that Hamas, which was proscribed as a terror organisation by the UK in 2021, ‘are not terrorists and are legitimate Palestinian resistance’ and should be de-proscribed.
Dr Aladwan has been reported to counter-terror police but has not been suspended by the GMC
After Israel last October assassinated Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the criminal mastermind behind the October 7 attacks, Dr Ali tweeted: ‘Israel will lose. They’ve just turned Sinwar into a legend. A male role model.’
And regarding the BBC’s coverage of Holocaust Memorial Day on January 27, she wrote: ‘It would have been more fitting if BBC news had broadcast the current live Holocaust in Palestine.’
When approached for comment by the Mail, Dr Ali said: ‘The Palestinians are Semites and there is a live Holocaust in Palestine. My stance is that which every decent human being should take. Threats and harassment from extremists and terrorisation of UK citizens should be a concern to everyone.
‘I absolutely believe that Israeli lobbies have no place in the UK and it should be Britain First. Regarding the Talmud [the Jewish holy book], I’m afraid I oppose supremacist writings and do not think it acceptable that non-Jews are referred to as ‘beasts in human form’. If there are extremists believing that, they should be on the Prevent programme.’
And it goes on. Dr Wahid Shaida – a Harrow GP – has described Hamas as a ‘resistance’ group and called October 7 ‘a very welcome punch on the nose’.
Dr Shaida, who was once head of the UK branch of recently banned Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir, was briefly suspended by the NHS but the decision was overturned last July. So, he still has the GMC’s stamp of approval.
His legal representatives did not respond to the Mail’s request for comment.
Meanwhile, Dr Kamran Ahmed, a Wolverhampton GP, was given a formal warning by the GMC earlier this week for calling the Israeli flag the ‘modern day swastika’ and comparing Gaza to Auschwitz. He is, nevertheless, still permitted to practise.
He was contrite when approached by the Mail. ‘I have spent the past year deeply reflecting on my actions and the harm they may have caused, and I want to be clear that I stand firmly against all forms of discrimination,’ he said. ‘I sincerely apologise to anyone I have offended and am committed to learning, growing, and ensuring my actions align with these values.’
Dr Daniel Nava Rodrigues – who had previously worked as a pathologist at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead – tweeted last year that ‘dead and suffering Israelis… brightens the day’.Â
When contacted by the Mail he said: ‘I would like to unreservedly apologise for the use of inappropriate language on the X platform. My posts were not motivated by hostility towards Jewish people nor did they demonstrate hostility towards Jews.
‘I believe that it is wrong (and potentially anti-Semitic) to conflate Jews with the actions of the state of Israel or to hold Jewish people in general responsible for Israel’s actions.’
And Dr Ranjeet Brar, a consultant vascular surgeon at King’s College Hospital in London, was arrested for selling a pamphlet touting conspiracy theories about Jews, adorned with a Star of David blended with a swastika.
Dr Brar, who is a leading member of the Communist Party, was given a warning by the GMC but still has his licence. When approached by the Mail he said: ‘I have been exonerated of all charges. No wrongdoing was found. I am a lifelong anti-racist campaigner and I will deny in any way being labelled a racist or an anti-Semite.
‘But it is of concern to me that these false allegations are being used to attack our freedom of speech by our police and government in Britain today.’ Whatever the merits of individual cases, the Mail’s investigation has uncovered worrying evidence of widespread prejudice against Jewish people in the NHS. It’s easy to see why they would have concerns about using it.
A number of Jewish patients who have been treated at the Royal London Hospital, St Bartholomew’s Hospital, Whipps Cross Hospital, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and Royal Brompton Hospital – all in London –told UK Lawyers For Israel that they were made to feel ‘uncomfortable’ and even ‘distressed’ after receiving treatment from medical staff displaying pro-Palestine memorabilia, including badges and pins.
One parent claimed their child was left ‘traumatised’ after being treated by a health worker sporting a lanyard in the pattern of the Palestinian keffiyeh at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
And a Jewish doctor, speaking on the condition of anonymity, says: ‘Both staff and patients have experienced escalating levels of anti-Semitism in healthcare and there is growing fear as people feel unsafe and unprotected.’
It only takes a glance at a Facebook group entitled ‘The On Call Room’, which is used by more than 16,000 healthcare professionals, to understand what he is talking about. The private group – which can only be accessed by entering a GMC number – is littered with scores of racist remarks and conspiracy theories.
Take the meme shared by Dr Julia Ward, a GP based in Dundee, which describes Wes Streeting as an ‘Israel lobby asset’ and wrongly claims that he called for ‘pro-Palestinian doctors to be fired from the NHS’.
Member Shamroz Afghan, a GP based in the South East, posted claims Gaza was being used as a ‘military testing ground’ and ‘organ harvesting area’.
He added: ‘Zionism is an inherently racist apartheid system based on Jewish supremacy… You can’t have peace if one’s land is being occupied… justice means Zionism must be eradicated.’
Last night a Department of Health and Social Care spokesman told the Mail: ‘These kinds of posts are totally unacceptable – no Jewish people should feel unsafe or uncomfortable at work or during treatment. There is no room for racists in the National Health Service. We expect NHS employers and regulators to act against any staff who promote hatred towards Jewish people.’
But it is clear that more needs to be done if Jewish people are to feel comfortable on NHS premises. Alex Hearn from Labour Against Anti-Semitism says: ‘We are painfully aware that many Jews feel unsafe and try to hide their identity when receiving medical attention. Complaints by Jewish doctors subjected to racist abuse by colleagues have surged.
‘It is high time the GMC woke up to this issue and took concrete steps to address this on an institutional systemic level.’
For its part, the GMC says: ‘We are very clear that any form of anti-Semitism is completely unacceptable. We can and will investigate serious concerns that suggest patient safety or the public’s confidence in doctors may be at risk, and we are clear that the standards expected of doctors do not change when they are communicating online.
‘Our guidance is clear that discrimination is not compatible with the responsibilities and duties of a doctor.’
That’s all well and good but clearly no one – especially the GMC – is doing enough to tackle this enormous problem.
Unless a zero-tolerance approach is adopted against those in our health service who openly support terrorism, it will never be a safe place for the Jewish community – or any other community for that matter.
