An NHS doctor who allegedly denied the Holocaust, calling it a ‘fabricated victim narrative’, has been allowed to keep her job.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, a trauma and orthopaedics doctor, faced criticism for referring to the two gunmen involved in a deadly mass shooting in Jerusalem as ‘two Palestinian martyrs’.
She has also allegedly refused to condemn the October 7 attacks by Hamas in 2023.
Following the ruling, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he has no faith in the medical regulator.
‘The racist language of “Jewish supremacy” reflects the values of Nazis, not the NHS,’ he wrote on X.
‘I cannot comprehend how medics using such terminology freely does not diminish trust in the medical profession. I have no faith in our regulatory system.’
The General Medical Council (GMC), responsible for overseeing doctors’ conduct, is investigating the social media comments. This week, they informed a medical tribunal that Jewish patients might feel unsafe under her care.
Nonetheless, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) decided on Thursday that Dr Aladwan could continue her practice, stating that the posts did not constitute ‘bullying or harassment’.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan leaves a medical tribunal in Manchester City Centre after it was ruled that she would be able to continue to practice after
Dr Aladwan sparked outrage after describing the two gunmen involved in a fatal mass shooting in Jerusalem as ‘two Palestinian martyrs’
Following the ruling, Health Secretary Wes Streeting has said he has no faith in the medical regulator
The Campaign Against Antisemitism said the MPTS had ‘failed spectacularly in its duty’, calling the ruling ‘inexplicable and disgraceful’.
The GMC had asked the had asked the tribunal to impose an 12-month interim order of conditions on Dr Aladwan while an investigation is carried out.
This would have placed restrictions on a doctor’s practice, including that they are supervised or requiring them to undergo further training.
Counsel for the GMC, Isobel Thomas described these conditions as necessary due the ‘nature and seriousness of the allegations’.
She told the hearing that Dr Aladwan’s posts ‘appear to demonise Israelis and Jews’ described the Holocaust ‘as a fabricated victim narrative’.
Shortly after the intense attack in Jerusalem earlier this month, Dr Aladwan, who has the phrase Free Palestine tattooed on her left arm, expressed her views on social media.
While Hamas commended the two Palestinian ‘resistance fighters’ for the attack—which resulted in six fatalities, including a pregnant woman, and injured more than a dozen others—they did not claim responsibility for it.
The group called it a ‘natural response to the occupation’s crimes against our people’.
Dr Aladwan then followed suit on her social media, referring to the terrorists as ‘martyrs’ and the killings as a ‘shooting operation’.
She wrote: ‘This morning, the two Palestinian martyrs Muthanna Amro and Muhammad Taha bypassed the occupation’s fortified checkpoints and carried out a shooting operation at a settlers’ bus in the ‘Ramot’ settlement and killed 6 settlers.
‘Palestine has never been safe for occupiers. Leave.’
Dr Aladwan’s post on X to her 33,000 followers has been accused of ‘justifying terrorism’
Harrowing footage from the bloodbath showed dozens of people fleeing from a bus stop as shots were fired at the Ramot Junction on Yigal Yadin Street in Jerusalem on Monday
In other social media posts believed to be written by Dr Aladwan, who is of British-Palestinian heritage, she described anti-Semitism and the Holocaust as ‘concepts’ used by Jewish people to ‘promote a narrative of victimhood’.
Another post reads: ‘I will never condemn the 7th of October’. The October 7 attacks took the lives of about 1,200 people.
She also denies that any rapes took place during the Hamas-led massacre in 2023.
Posts also suggested that US right-wing activist Charlie Kirk, who was shot dead at a college event in Utah earlier this month, was assassinated by Israel’s spy agency, Mossad.
Dr Aladwan told the hearing that all posts were ‘legitimate and can be defended and reasoned’.
Speaking through tears, she told the hearing that more than 50 of her friends had died during the conflict in Gaza which she described as a ‘genocide’ and a ‘holocaust’.
Representing Dr Aladwan, Tom Gillien said it was ‘astonishing’ that the GMC has ‘the temerity to ask this panel to tell a Palestinian doctor how she should be allowed to talk about the genocide of her own people’.
Mr Gillie said: ‘People may think it’s vulgar, they may be offended, that’s fine, but my client has a right to express things that shocks, or disturbs or offends.’
The tribunal ruled there was not sufficient evidence to show that Dr Aladwan posed a real risk to patients.
It added that allowing her to remain practicing would not undermine public confidence in the medical profession.
In a speech after she left the tribunal building, Dr Aladwan said she hoped the ruling would encourage other medical professionals to ‘speak up’.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism aid it would consult legal advisors ‘with regard to the options open to us’.
A spokesperson said: ‘This is an inexplicable and disgraceful decision – one that marks the UK’s continued descent into the abyss, as institutions that carry the responsibility for protecting people are seemingly bending over backwards to appease and turn a blind eye to them.
‘The MPTS has failed spectacularly in its duty.
‘We will be closely following the GMC’s investigation, which must now proceed apace.
‘In the meantime, we are in discussion with our legal advisors with regard to the options open to us.’
