NHS staff told to stop wearing uniforms at pro-Palestinian demonstrations

Well said!

The threads about them at demonstrations. Others may have derailed to wearing in the workplace, I’m not

Just to be extra clear, Palestinians did not start the war, history did not begin on October 7th, Israel as a state was created via ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.

Empathy should not be conditional. I don't think this is what you meant but it's how it comes across.

Yes community nurses obviously have to wear their uniforms outside and might have to nip into the supermarket ffs! I agree they shouldn’t be worn on political marches unless this is related to work.

Demos in support of terrorists! Have you been on a march? It's the systematic killing and bombing of children they are opposed to. Now the starvation. Israel is the occupier, has been oppressing and killing Palestinians for years.

There's a massive difference between wearing the uniform whilst working in public compared to specifically putting on a uniform on an otherwise non working day to attend a political rally or other demonstration/protest/event etc to "virtue signal" that you're a nurse or doctor. Likewise, attending such an event before or after a shift. Being in a uniform in a supermarket is completely different to being in a uniform on a political march.

Quite. I’m a community nurse that sometimes drives 100 miles in a day, occasionally I have to go to a supermarket, sport centre, cafe to use their loo or buy a drink/ food. I try and cover my uniform but not easy in the summer!
i certainly wouldn’t wear it on a protest though.

It's still bringing politics into a public funded workplace which needs to be stopped, regardless of the cause.

I understand why healthcare workers feel solidarity with those working in the same position as them losing their lives unnecessarily. Especially as even in war deliberate attacks on medics constitute a war crime.
As I have said before my teachers union has a committee for support for Palestinians especially concerning the children who have had no education for 18 months.
It's a common interest and empathy.

Once it is not within the work place or uniforms at protests and does not impact on patients and their families it is definitely understandable to have that solidarity with those in the profession losing their lives daily while carrying out their jobs and trying to help the most vulnerable.

I don't think it's up to those who want to wear these Palestinian flags to determine how they should be interpreted. It is not a flag of peace currently it is a flag of a portion of country at war and it is perfectly feasible the public will interpret the flags as support for the group that instigated this war Hamas. We all know that as well as having empathy for those killed in had the wearers of the badges in the main if questioned would probably support the demands of Gazans of the destruction of Israel. This is not a badge for NHS workers who should display political neutrality at all times.

I wonder also if Palestine in flag displayers have considered wearing poppies or indeed white poppies to commemorate British citizens that does during the second world war with German bombing? Nope.

I think the public might not be so alarmed by perhaps the union Jack being worn as a badge by NH S employees but the pro Palestinian supporters I would think probably would be aghast at the wearing of a symbol of a historical ally of Israel.

sorry but still no to these badges and I think in their heart of hearts the wearers know why.

It’s about health workers demonstrating about war crimes being committed in Gaza by the Israeli Government

Its about doctors being killed, hospitals bombed and access to medical aid being denied.

Does Streeting mean that it’s antisemitic to support the Palestinians in any way? Thats odd. So we should be neutral about the starvation then, even as it’s shown on the daily news??

Medical staff shouldn't wear their uniforms in public full stop. They're either taking "public" germs into work with them, or bringing "patient" germs home with them. They should change in/out of civvies at work.

Its not about some global solidarity of health workers is it though. It's not health workers concerned about the pregnant Israeli women in the West bank today. Its not health workers highlighting the horrors of October 7th. Its not healthcare workers protesting against attacks on embassies in British soil. It's not healthcare workers in support of minorities in Syria being killed.

It's about pro Palestinian cause supporters who happen to work in healthcare using their positions to somehow make a virtue of a resistance that has led to a mass terrorist event. I wonder how these health care workers were feeling on October 7th....they certainly weren't wearing the Israeli flags the next day were they?

How does a general member of the public differentiate between some sort of empathetic signal from the maximalist demands of Palestinians i.e. the destruction of Israel when they are these protests and symbols?

People want NH S professionals to be just that professional not display the colours of a group of people who want that flag to replace the Israeli one.

Good

You do realise many of the doctors wearing scrubs are wearing these to show they are healthcare workers at protests. They aren't actually in their uniform. Anyone who works in the NHS knows that doctors don't typically wear scrubs and when they do, they have mostly paid for them out of their own pocket for comfort. They are not classed as a specific uniform.

Agree with OP uniforms should not be worn to protests for a myriad of reason not least it is implying the employer is endorsing the protest. Same while working as patients are at their most vulnerable.
There are many other ways for healthcare workers to protest such as the 1400 pairs of white shoes laid out in Rotterdam last weekend to illustrate the 1400 health care workers Israel has murdered. A powerful visual of the lives lost .

People here really miss the point.

I recommend reading Avi Shlaim's memoir of an Arab Jew wrt to Jews in the Middle East and North Africa. It's about his life in Iraq, Israel and subsequently London. Really interesting read, he is a historian as well

Anti semitism, or more specifically anti jew hate exists and is real and must be addressed.

But it's NOT OK to genocide a whole population or paint a whole population of Palestinians as terrorists - who by the way are indigenous to the local area, and until the Zionists came, were living peacefully as Muslims, Jews and Christians.

It's not OK is to make sweeping generalisations and characterisation based on misinformation of the protests. They are peaceful and they have Jewish speakers and a massive Jewish bloc.

I just don't understand why it's OK to turn a blind eye to genocide based on whataboutery or sketchy knowledge of history and propaganda.

At the end of the day our country is an ally with that is providing Israel with bombs that are deliberately targeting health care workers as well as children. So our taxes are funding this.

Don't wear the uniforms on protests but don't spread lies about people who are at a loss for this horrifying tragedy unfolding in front of us.

The local Palestinians did welcome Jewish refugees as they should, but they were forced out of their land - they had no say in it to be given away.