Doctor who made throat-slit gestures to Jews ‘has right to free speech’
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, who was accused of antisemitism, escaped suspension in a case that has dismayed the health secretary
Kate Mansey
, Assistant Editor |
Jonathan Ames
, Legal Editor
Sunday October 05 2025, 7.30pm BST, The Times
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan speaking at a pro-Palestine demonstration in Leeds in August
MILO CHANDLER/ALAMY
A junior doctor who made a “slit your throat” gesture to Jewish protesters escaped suspension after a tribunal found that she had a “right to freedom of expression”.
Dr Rahmeh Aladwan, who is training to be a trauma and orthopaedic surgeon, has been allowed to continue working for the NHS after a panel of the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service said that its duty to protect members of the public “must be balanced with the doctor’s right to freedom of expression” under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The General Medical Council is investigating complaints from several members of the public about Aladwan over comments she made on social media.
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It launched a fitness to practice investigation into the doctor, which is ongoing, and referred her case to the tribunal, arguing a 12-month interim restriction order be placed on her ability to practise.
The tribunal refused an application for temporary restrictions, prompting Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to say he had “no confidence” in the medical regulation system.
A post on X from Dr Aladwan
The row over Aladwan’s behaviour has prompted a former attorney-general to call on Streeting to challenge the tribunal decision in the courts. Michael Ellis KC, who was the government’s top law officer under Liz Truss, said that “many will agree” with Streeting’s reaction.
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But he added: “If he as health secretary does not have confidence in the medical practitioners tribunal service, then why should anyone else? The health secretary should exhaust the full process of the law and if he really does not have confidence in the tribunal then he should bring judicial review proceedings over its ruling in this case.”
Aladwan at an anti-Israel protest outside the Houses of Parliament last year
Lawyers at the firm Rahman Lowe, which represented Aladwan, have written to Streeting to criticise his intervention, describing it as “extraordinary”.
The letter added that Streeting’s comments were “an egregious breach of your duties as a minister to uphold the rule of law and also the independence of both the GMC and of judicial proceedings”.
While the tribunal would normally give its ruling in private, Aladwan asked for her case to be made public.
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It included a complaint dated February 18, 2025, which stated that Aladwan’s social media activity suggested a “concerning bias against Jewish and Israeli individuals, which directly conflicts with the GMC’s guidance on treating patients fairly and without discrimination”.
The panel was chaired by Ali Sarwar, a solicitor who works for the Crown Prosecution Service, and two doctors — Nagarajah Theva and Joanne Topping. It heard that the allegation that Aladwan’s social media activity included “justification of terrorism, denial of sexual violence, spreading of antisemitic conspiracy theories, [and] misuse of Holocaust imagery”.
A complainant referred to several social media posts, including a video of Aladwan “at a pro- Palestinian concert (July 2024) where she does a ‘slit your throat’ hand gesture towards the counter- protesters (who are mainly Jewish)”.
The medic being detained by police in Bristol in May
ALAMY
The complainant added that Aladwan’s behaviour “as a doctor … is racist against Jews, shocking and violent. I, as a Jew, would not feel safe being treated by a doctor like this”.
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Aladwan told the hearing that there was a genocide in Gaza, stating that she had lost more than 50 friends. In light of that loss, the junior doctor said, she believed that all of her social media posts were legitimate and could be defended.
A lawyer representing the GMC told the tribunal that there was an “impairment” in Aladwan’s fitness to practise and that the imposition of an interim order restricting her ability to work was “necessary on the grounds of public protection and in the public interest”.
But the panel ruled that no interim restrictions should be placed on the doctor’s ability to practise during the GMC’s investigation.
The tribunal concluded that “a reasonable and fully informed member of the public would not be alarmed or concerned to learn that Dr Aladwan had been permitted to continue in unrestricted medical practice whilst the GMC investigation continues”.
The panel added that under its own guidelines, it had a” duty to protect members of the public and the wider public interest must be balanced with the doctor’s right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the ECHR”.
In addition to leading medical disciplinary tribunals, Sarwar also sits as a judge on the first-tier immigration and asylum tribunal.