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

[Twiglets1]

Article in The Telegraph yesterday (behind paywall):

NHS staff will be told to stop wearing their work uniforms on marches and displaying pro-Palestinian badges in the workplace as part of a crackdown on anti-Semitism in the health service.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, revealed the plans as he vowed to snuff out “the appalling experiences of anti-Semitism affecting Jewish staff and patients” in the NHS.

The Health Secretary has encouraged trusts to roll out wider anti-Semitism training in the workplace. Such training has already been provided to some NHS organisations by the Anti-Semitism Policy Trust.

Following concerns over anti-Semitic activities in medical schools, Mr Streeting has said they should be adhering to wider university sector guidance on stamping out such behaviour.

In December, he vowed in The Telegraph to have medics struck off the medical register if they brought “racist or extreme views” about the Gaza conflict into the workplace.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “Actions speak louder than words, which is why we are working with the NHS to put concrete measures in place to stamp out discrimination and protect Jewish staff and patients.”

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/05/10/nhs-streeting-staff-uniforms-protests/

I shouldn't think any business would want their staff wearing uniform at any protest so I'm not sure what your problem is.

There should be no link with pro-palestinian and anti semitism. You can say no badges, but don't say it's a crackdown on anti semitism. Pro Palestinian doesn't mean anti Jewish. There are Palestinian Jews and Palestinians are semitic.

An alternative view.

cleansing of indigenous Palestinians. - the ones who stayed when the surrounding Arab countries told them to leave so they could make the place judenfrei are still there, additionally the mizrahim were already there.

Britain gave away a land - the united nations at the time thought it was a solution to sectarian violence, (cf Pakistan & Bangladesh - should they also be re-absorbed into India?), the land was to be segregated but that was not accepted by those opposing Jewish self-determination. You may also want to look at the history of empires in that region and the land grabs that happened from surrounding countries at the time of the defeat of the incumbent Ottoman Empire.

Zionists who actually worked with the Nazis to bolster Israel. You could read up about Hitler's agreement with the grand mufti of Jerusalem about implementing his final solution in the middle east. Recollections vary of course but 'Mein Kampf' and 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' are popular books in the region.

the Palestinian flag, which all existed before Hamas, - before hamas but after the PLO.

because it will scare people who have just beleived years and years of lies. - leaving aside that you want certain sections of the community to be scared of accessing healthcare, your own view of the situation is somewhat less than nuanced.

@Comedycook Mediterranean & N.Africa??

Perhaps the @UsernamesAreTaken is not as well versed in history as they think.

If you'd been awake in the last 20+ years to groups of people targeting 'Jewish' areas in London whilst hiding behind palestinian flags you might be more aware of how it has been conflated with antisemitism by many people. Some of them drive a long way to do it.

Middle east/Mediterranean and north Africa yes.

I wonder if including the badges is also a way of slowly starting to clamp down on other politically motivated badges that are common as well.

Or conversely the Stern Gang who explored potential alliances with the Nazis to get the British out of Palestine or David Ben-Gurion that had IRA leader Michael Collins as his password - Jewish terrorists or freedom fighters - killed over 250 British offcials and army personnel -most notoriously hanging British soliders in an olive grove ;

The Hanging of British Soldiers by the Stern Gang (Lehi)

In 1947, in retaliation for the British execution of Jewish militants, the Stern Gang kidnapped and hanged two British sergeants, Sergeants Clifford Martin and Mervyn Paice, in what became known as the "Sergeants Affair."
This was in response to the British hanging of three Jewish Irgun fighters in Acre prison.
The British soldiers were found hanged in an olive grove near Netanya.
This act shocked both British and Jewish communities and escalated tensions dramaticall

The number of British personnel killed by Jewish militant groups (often labeled “terrorists” by the British authorities) during the British Mandate in Palestine (roughly 1920–1948) varies by source and depends on which groups and incidents are counted.

Here’s a rough overview:

• Jewish militant groups involved:
• Haganah (mainstream Jewish defense organization; mostly avoided direct attacks on British forces)
• Irgun (Etzel) — more militant and openly opposed British rule
• Lehi (Stern Gang) — even more radical, openly carried out attacks on British officials and soldiers
• Estimated numbers:
• According to historical research, the total number of British personnel killed by Jewish underground groups during the Mandate period is generally estimated to be around 200 to 250.
• For example, the Irgun was responsible for a number of bombings and attacks resulting in dozens of British deaths.
• Lehi’s assassinations, including the killing of British officials like Lord Moyne, also contributed to these figures.

Lehi split from the Irgun militant group in 1940 in order to continue fighting the British during World War II. It initially sought an alliance with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany.[22] Believing that Nazi Germany was a lesser enemy of the Jews than Britain, Lehi twice attempted to form an alliance with the Nazis, proposing a Jewish state based on "nationalist and totalitarian principles, and linked to the German Reich by an alliance".[22][23] After Stern's death in 1942, the new leadership of Lehi began to move towards support for Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union[17] and the ideology of National Bolshevism,

The Sergant's Affair - a grim read. Menachem Begun a leading member of Irgun went on to become Israeli PM.

"Toward evening a party of hangmen arrived. The officers went in and informed the condemned men they were to be executed between four and five in the morning. Their reply was to sing "Hatikvah" and other songs in powerful voices. They then shouted to us that the hangings would begin at four o'clock, in this order: Avshalom Haviv, Meir Nakar, Yaakov Weiss. They added: 'Avenge our blood! Avenge our blood!' We shouted back, 'Be strong! We are with you, and thousands of Jewish youth are with you in spirit.' They replied, 'Thanks,' and went on singing. At two a Sephardi rabbi whom we could not recognize from afar [Rabbi Nissim Ohana] was brought and stayed in the cell 15 minutes. At four in the morning Avshalom began singing "Hatikva," and we joined in loudly, pressing against the bars. At once armed police came up to the visitors' fence near our cell. At 4:03 Avshalom was hanged. At 4:25 we were shaken by the powerful singing of Meir. Hardly able to breathe, we nevertheless joined in. He was hanged at 4:28. At five o'clock the voice of Yaakov, this time alone, penetrated our cell, singing "Hatikva." Again we joined in. Two minutes later he was hanged.... At dawn we informed the prison officers through an Arab warder that we would not be responsible for the life of any Englishman who dared enter the jail yard. We declared a fast and prayed. Later in the morning we found the following inscription on the wall of the cell of the condemned: 'They will not frighten the Hebrew youth in the Homeland with their hangings. Thousands will follow in our footsteps.' Next to it was the Irgun insignia and their three names in the order they were executed."

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sergeants_affair#Background

"Palestinians are Semitic" oh dear not this argument.

"Antisemitism" was coined in late 19th century Germany as a more scientific sounding replacement for "Judenhass" -- Jew hate. It was always intended to refer to Jews alone and it has always meant ans been used to mean hate for Jews. Any arguments about the etymology of it are irrelevant and usually used to deflect discussion of antisemitism itself.

The distinctions between pro-Palestinian activism and antisemitism is complex and fraught. In any case, I think the rule is right. Either uniform has to be allowed at all political events or none, because the NHS can't be the arbiter of what's acceptable. If it were all political events, we'd quickly run into problems.

British mismanagement of the Mandate is often overlooked. We played both sides against each other and made them both promises that could not be kept. I don't excuse what Lehi or the Stern Gang did, but we also can't ignore the context. Arab Palestinian leaders did not want Jewish immigration into the mandate in significant numbers. Jewish leaders did (and were very angry about the 1939 White Paper, understandably so). The British promised the Zionists self government, which the Arabs did not want. This is why Arabs rioted in both 1929 and 1936. We were not neutral actors there.

Terrorism played a crucial role in establishing the modern state of Israel—used both against British authorities and Arab populations. Attempts to whitewash this history and impose a kind of “year zero,” where the past is conveniently erased, only serve one side. The Palestinian resistance, in its various forms, had skilled mentors in these dark arts—and here we are. Something has to give, one way or another.

The fact that Trump could shake hands with a head-chopper from Al-Qaeda and still try to present himself as a peacemaker fills me with a kind of deluded hope somthing has to give. Netnahyau going to prison would be a good start.

It is a complex and bloody history. Most people are familiar with the adage that history is written by the winners and within living memories we've seen attempted erasure of evidence by various groups. (photographic doctoring by the communists in Russia, destruction of historical artifacts by Daesh) and now we have the internet and social media.

Here and now Israel exists. Gaza existed and who knows what it's future is though there is a lot of speculation especially on here. Some people think that the several thousand Hamasniks that invaded Israel on 7/10 expected other Iranian proxies to join them and overrun Israel completely (if you see what was done in the brief uninterrupted time they had you can extrapolate those consequences) , but they didn't. Now the eyes of the world are on that part of the middle east and mostly turned away from all the other horror shows and injustices in the region. I would say for a change but it really isn't.

In some people's idea of an ideal world ....Israelis taken to Gaza on 7/10 would be returned (of the 58 remaining I think that 21 are still alive though I may be wrong), Israeli military would leave Gaza and so would hamas, Israel and Gaza would hold elections, elect moderates and try to forge peaceful, separate co-existence. Meanwhile in the UK sectarian divisions are being leveraged further apart....and Russia is massing troops on the borders of Finland.

Of course, they shouldn’t wear the uniform inappropriately—just as they shouldn’t when going shopping at Tesco. But Israel’s repeated bombing of hospitals, ambulances, and aid workers is, quite obviously, infinately more egregious.

No, but you protest and campaign in the right way. No workplace, especially a public funded workplace, is appropriate for ANY kind of politics nor campaigning, however serious the subject.

Let's hope so.

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.

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.

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 .

How are people missing the point @UsernamesAreTaken

The point of the thread is about NHS staff being told to stop wearing uniforms at pro-Palestinian demonstrations. And as the OP I am grateful to the people who have engaged in the discussion about whether or not they agree with Wes Streeting on that issue.

And also the issue about whether NHS workers should wear political badges or only (as the official guidance states) “one or two badges denoting professional qualifications or memberships."

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.

Good

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.

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.

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??

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.