An NHS doctor who praised the Hamas attacks and arrived at her tribunal wearing a ‘celebratory’ October 7 necklace has been suspended from practice for 15 months.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, 31, has been suspended over a series of alleged anti-Semitic and pro-terrorism comments she posted online.
The British-Palestinian doctor was investigated by the GMC after concerns were raised about her fitness to practise after a series of posts on X in which she talked of a ‘Jewish supremacy’, labelled Israelis ‘worse than Nazis’ and allegedly showed support for Hamas and the October 7 attacks on Israel.
The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service have now suspended Dr Aladwan, a trainee trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, for 15 months.
A spokesman for the General Medical Council, said: ‘The Interim Orders Tribunal’s (IOT) has agreed with our submission and have suspended Dr Rameh Aladwan’s registration while we continue our investigation into her fitness to practise.
‘Our focus now is to complete our investigation swiftly, fairly and proportionately.’
Dr Aladwan posted the following anti-Semitic statement on X in response: ‘The MPTS has ruled: an interim suspension order of 15 months.
‘Thank God for everything. Let this decision stand as the definitive proof that there is no independent British medical regulation.
‘The “israeli” and jewish lobby decide who can and cannot practise medicine in Britain.
‘This is not an end. It is the beginning of a far greater battle for the integrity of our institutions.
‘My faith remains steadfast. My gratitude to every single person who has supported our just cause is boundless. What an honour it is to sacrifice for our people. Free Palestine and Britain from jewish supremacy.’
The General Medical Council (GMC) referred her case to the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) after receiving more than 200 complaints from members of the public and Jewish bodies.
A three-day Interim Orders Tribunal (IOT) considered whether restrictions should be placed on the British-Palestinian doctor’s registration while an investigation takes place, but not on the allegations themselves.
Emma Gilsenan, for the GMC, called for Dr Aladwan to be handed a 15-month suspension, claiming the comments on her X account were ‘most certainly’ anti-Semitic and supportive of terrorism and/or supportive of violence.
October 7 was described as the day Israel was ‘humiliated’ while Hamas members were called ‘oppressed resistance fighters, not terrorists’ and ‘martyrs’, she said.
Other posts refused to ‘condemn’ Hamas, October 7, or the ‘armed resistance to occupation’.
‘I would join the Palestinian armed resistance now,’ one post said.
Ms Gilsenan described how a comment made a ‘mockery’ of female Israeli hostages by suggesting they were ‘falling in love’ with resistance fighters and it was the ‘first time they have seen real men’.
Others labelled Britain’s chief Rabbi Sir Ephraim Mirvis ‘Rabbi Genocide’ and claimed the media attention following the Manchester synagogue attack, in which two men died and others were injured, was an example of ‘Jewish supremacism’.
‘Apparently, the lives of 4 Jews in Manchester are more significant than 53 lives of Muslims in Gaza,’ the post read.
‘This is racism and Jewish supremacism. This is Western civilisation.’
Further posts claimed the Holocaust was a ‘fabricated victim narrative’, that ‘Zionism’ is compatible to ‘Nazism ‘ and that Jewish people are ‘the most despicable people on the planet’.
Ms Gilsenan also accused the doctor of making a ‘throat-cutting’ gesture to Jewish protestors during a counter-demonstration in June 2024.
A previous IOT in September ruled not to impose any restrictions on Dr Aladwan, saying it did not believe the complaints against her were ‘sufficient to establish that there may be a real risk to patients’.
But it prompted Health Secretary Wes Streeting to say that ‘sickening comments’ had no place in the NHS ‘and action needs to be taken to root the evil of racism out’.
He also promised to overhaul the way medical regulators investigate cases of anti-Semitism.
The General Medical Council (GMC) then re-referred Dr Aladwan’s case back to the MPTS for a second IOT hearing.
Ms Gilsenan said the doctor had continued to post online since the earlier hearing and there was an ‘increase in tone’ of alleged anti-Semitism, supporting violence and supporting terrorism.
Therefore, there was a risk her alleged comments would undermine public confidence in her and her profession, and it was ‘more likely than not’ that the doctor would later face a misconduct hearing.
While some of the doctor’s comments could be considered political speech, she added, there was no right under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects freedom of expression, to publish ‘racist or anti-Semitic’ statements.
The tribunal panel granted an application by the GMC to include information from the Metropolitan Police relating to the doctor’s arrest in October on suspicion of misusing a public communications network, sending malicious communications and stirring up racial hatred.
Kevin Saunders, counsel for Dr Aladwan, had earlier failed to get proceedings halted after claiming ‘an abuse of process’ by the GMC and ‘apparent bias’ by the tribunal panel.
He said the doctor had an ‘impeccable’ medical record and was herself a victim of genocide and dispossession.
Mr Saunders claimed Dr Aladwan had excercised her freedom of speech to speak out against genocide and crimes by Israel, including those identified by the United Nations.
He claimed ‘lobbyists’ had sought to bring the case against the doctor, describing it as ‘lawfare’ brought about by the ‘clamour and intrinsic pressure’ around it.
Dr Aladwan’s comments constituted ‘political speech not hate speech’, he added, and he accused the GMC of a ‘seismic shift’ by seeking a ‘draconian’ suspension rather just restrictions on her registration as they did at the first IOT.
But the panel decided to impose the 15-month suspension.
The GMC could eventually refer Dr Aladwan to a full medical practitioners tribunal if it concludes she has a case to answer over the complaints it has received.
