Doctors should NOT be punished for airing pro-Palestinian views, British Islamic Medical Association says

• Group claims Muslim medics are being reported for Pro-Palestinian comments
• READ MORE:  Shani Louk, 22, who was kidnaped by Hamas is dead family reveals

Medics should not be disciplined solely for airing pro-Palestinian views, the British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) has said.

Multiple NHS doctors have this month been shamed for excusing, and celebrating, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. 

The BIMA said it was ‘gravely concerned’ regarding reports of Muslim doctors being threatened with a referral to the General Medical Council (GMC) for expressing any views that ‘advocate for Palestinians’.

In a letter to the UK’s medical regulator, BIMA said that medics who expressed such views have been accused of supporting terrorist groups like Hamas.

‘Reporting has suggested such doctors cannot be trusted, with more offensive commentators suggesting support for Palestine, criticism of occupation, and calling for ceasefire as being synonymous with supporting fringe or proscribed groups…’ it said.

Dr Mennah Elwan in her British Medical Association kit during NHS industrial action organised by the union 

‘This witch-hunting is an alarming development with threats of public GMC referral and pressuring employers with intimidating language.’

The BIMA’s letter added: ‘We are concerned accusations of such offences are being weaponised to silence critics without any basis or evidence.

‘There is ample space for civil, productive discourse with the opportunity to learn or freedom to passionately disagree. 

‘Doctors have rights to freedom of speech and the right to speak out in the pursuit of justice.’

The BIMA, a membership body of over 6,000 Muslim healthcare professionals in the UK, called for the GMC to issue a statement in support of medics who express such views. 

READ MORE: Kidnapped Shani Louk is dead, her family announces, after ‘bone from the base of her skull’ is found three weeks after she was abducted by Hamas terrorists and paraded on the back of a truck 

Shani Louk, 22, was kidnapped from Israel to Gaza by Hamas terrorists on October 7 from the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Reim. Hamas gunmen took at least 200 hostages and killed about 1,400 people during the dawn raid

Regulators can sanction medics for any behaviour which brings the profession into disrepute.

Punishments at the GMC’s disposal include suspending a doctor from work or even permanently banning them from the profession. 

The BIMA’s letter highlighted the plight of civilians in Hamas-run Gaza who’ve been subjected to repeated bombardment from Israel over the past few weeks.

Israel launched retaliatory strikes in the aftermath of Hamas’s devastating slaughtering sprees, which saw hundreds of civilians gunned down, executed, or kidnapped.

The health ministry in Gaza claims some 8,000 civilians have since been killed.  

Further fears for the more than 2million living in the small territory are also rising rapidly as Israel presses on with the ‘second stage’ of its war to eliminate Hamas.

The BIMA letter said: ‘There is an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Gaza that has cost many civilian lives including those of over 2,000 children and wiped out entire families.

‘Places of sanctuary and medical facilities have not been spared. 

‘Hundreds of healthcare workers have been killed including a number of doctors as they valiantly stayed with their critically sick patients despite repeated aerial bombardment.

‘Graphic images and heart-rending videos of grief stricken children and parents are constantly being shared from the region, often whilst colleagues are working in the NHS.

‘Basic medical supplies in Gaza have run out in hospitals with a near month-long siege.’

The BIMA letter, however, made no mention of the brutal attacks that sparked the current escalation of the conflict.  

Fears for the more than 2.2 million living in the small territory are rapidly rising as Israel presses on with the ‘second stage’ of its war to eliminate Hamas. Pictured: Women carry children as others check the damage in the aftermath of Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on October 29

Gaza is on the brink of complete social collapse, a UN official has warned, with mobs looting warehouses for food and families drinking dirty water. Pictured: People search through buildings that were destroyed during Israeli air raids in the southern Gaza Strip on October 30

However, it said ‘events in Palestine and Israel have made our hearts heavy and are causing much anguish’.

The BIMA letter added that many Muslim doctors have connections to the region and its ‘post-colonial struggle’. 

‘Our community’s connection to Palestine is profound, long-standing, and transcends ethnic or national affiliation,’ the letter said.

‘Many of us have family from that region, and the relationship is also linked by the post-colonial struggle that communities with heritage in former Commonwealth countries identify with.’

BIMA added that medics shouldn’t be penalised for taking action in support of Gaza and Palestinians.

‘Many doctors – and not just Muslims – who uphold professional humanitarian values feel morally compelled to do more than reflect or pray, and seek action,’ it said.  

‘This includes participation in lawful protest, lobbying, and other forms of activism that call for an end to hostilities. 

The GMC told MailOnline that its standards for medics are clear. 

‘Doctors – like all citizens, are entitled to their political opinions,’ a spokesperson said. 

‘Our focus is on the effect that expressions of political or other personal beliefs may have on patients’ or public confidence in the profession. 

An IDF tank is seen in a photo shared by the Israeli military as it expands its ground offensive

‘In sharing opinions and raising awareness around certain issues doctors must consider how doing so may affect the public’s trust and perception of doctors.

The spokesperson added that just because a doctor is reported to the GMC that doesn’t necessarily guarantee the body will take regulatory action. 

‘Not every departure from the standards will be considered serious, and we always take context into account,’ they said.

‘We’ll only recommend taking regulatory action against a doctor if they pose a risk to patient safety or public trust in the medical profession.’

Earlier this month, MailOnline highlighted how one doctor, Mennah Elwan, mocked terrified festivalgoers fleeing Hamas gunmen.

The neurology registrar, who worked at the Walton Centre — a major neurology site in Liverpool, posted ‘if it was your home, you would stay and fight’ alongside horrifying footage of Palestinian terrorists opening fire on civilians.

BIMA’s letter comes as the Israel presses on with the next stage of its action in Gaza, a ground offensive.

Israeli tanks have now entered the edge of the city today, while Israel Defense Forces troops were pelted with rocks as they carried out raids against armed Palestinian groups in the West Bank.

These actions came as a UN official warned the Gaza Strip was on the brink of social collapse.

Mobs have reportedly been looting warehouses for food with families forced to drink dirty water. 

Fears are also growing of a wider conflict in the Middle East.

Who are the UK medics celebrating or defending Hamas’s barbaric attacks? 

Dr Mennah Elwan

Earlier this month MailOnline revealed how Dr Meenah Elwan apparently mocked terrified revellers fleeing from one of the October 7 massacres.  

Reposting a terrifying clip of people attempting to dash to safety at the Supernova Festival, which took place close to the Gaza Strip, she wrote: ‘If it was your home, you would stay and fight. You wouldn’t just run away.’ 

The Egyptian-trained Dr Elwan then closed off her statement with a smiley emoji.

People in the footage could be heard screaming as shots were fired, while police were seen trying to help people evacuate. 

Other footage from the incident has since emerged showing gunmen executing civilians as they lay in the sand before rifling through their pockets.

Corpses of victims from the festival had to be piled up in makeshift tents as Israeli emergency responders worked to identify their remains.

Dr Elwan, a neurology registrar, posted on social media mocking people fleeing a massacre by Hamas at a music festival

In another post, the neurology registrar also appeared to support the wave of horrific violence towards Israeli civilians and tourists during the attacks more generally.

She wrote: ‘Israel kills Palestinians everyday, didn’t see anyone caring’, again ending the statement with a smiley face emoji.

Dr Elwan went on to add: ‘Also, there are no civilians in Israel.’

Her NHS employer, the Walton Centre — a major neurology site in Liverpool — said it did not ‘support any behaviour that marginalises an individual or community’. 

The statements led to groups like the Campaign Against Antisemitism calling for Dr Elwan to be suspended from the NHS and investigated by the UK’s medical regulator.

Tory sources also told this website said Dr Elwan should face ‘immediate disciplinary action’ for the ‘sickening’ comments.

Dr Wahid Asif Shaida/Abdul Wahid

Abdul Wahid, the firebrand leader of an extremist Islamic group, has been revealed to be an NHS GP under his real name Dr Wahid Asif Shaida.

As head of the group Hizb ut-Tahrir in the UK, Abdul Wahid celebrated the barbaric Hamas terror attacks that slaughtered 1,400 Jewish men, women and children earlier this month as a ‘very welcome punch on the nose’ to Israel.

But he has also spent more than 20 years practising as a family doctor under his real name, Dr Wahid Asif Shaida. 

Hizb ut-Tahrir caused outrage last weekend when members chanted ‘jihad’ during a rally outside the Egyptian and Turkish embassies in London and called for ‘Muslim armies’ to attack Israel.

Dr Wahid Shaida, aka Abdul Wahid, pictured, celebrated the barbaric Hamas terror attacks that slaughtered 1,400 Jewish men

Dr Shaida told the baying crowd: ‘Victory is coming and everyone has to choose a side. Whose side are you going to be on?’ 

The Government has faced repeated calls to ban Hizb ut-Tahrir, which wants the whole Islamic world to unite under one leader, and for Britain to fall under the rule of that ‘caliph’. 

Dr Shaida has been the leader of the UK group for at least 17 years, but has, until now, managed to keep his NHS career hidden. 

He confirmed to The Mail on Sunday that he was also known as Abdul Wahid but denied his group was ‘extremist’.

Dr Shaida added: ‘I attend to my professional duties and commitments diligently, aiming for the best care of my patients at all times. For reasons of professional probity I keep a very clear line between my professional and political life.’

He said his group was calling on the Muslim world to intervene militarily to rescue the people of Gaza ‘who have been subjected to horrific conditions for 16 years’.

Dr Siema Iqbal 

As Israel reeled from the attacks earlier this month, Dr Siema Iqbal posted on social media that Palestine ‘has every right to fight against the occupation’.

And a separate post, shared on Facebook, the GP described those who carried out the bloody attacks as a ‘Palestinian resistance fighters’.

Dr Siema Iqbal, a GP partner at the Wellfield Medical Centre in Manchester, posted that Palestine ‘has every right to fight against the occupation’

In a post on X, Dr Iqbal excused the actions ‘under International Law’

A separate post shared on Facebook by Dr Iqbal described the terrorists who carried out the attacks as ‘Palestinian resistance fighters’ 

It wasn’t the first time Dr Iqbal, who works as partner at the Wellfield Medical Centre in Manchester, has been criticised for social media posts about Israel. 

The Jewish Chronicle reported in 2017 that she had once called for the relocation of Israeli citizens to the US as a solution to the conflict in the region.

It was also highlighted that Dr Iqbal retweeted a post that accused Israel of ‘shopping around for cheaper bombs’ with a message reading: ‘When a people who survived a genocide use it as an excuse to commit genocide’, against a backdrop of a Star of David splattered with blood. 

Charity Citizens UK, which was associated with Dr Iqbal at the time, said: ‘It has since come to light that, in 2014, during an upsurge in violence between Israel and Gaza, Dr Iqbal retweeted anti-Semitic tweets. Citizens UK wholeheartedly condemns these tweets.

‘We can readily see how this has caused offence and apologise for any hurt that has been caused, particularly to the Jewish community with whom Citizens UK has a long-established working relationship, just as we do with the UK’s Muslim and Christian communities.’

Dr Clarissa Hemmingsen 

Dr Clarissa Hemmingsen is another UK medic who has sought to excuse the bloody Hamas attacks.

Writing on X she said: ‘Those on Med [medical] Twitter who find themselves able to justify acts of colonialism, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, imprisonment of children, and the routine carpet bombing of hospitals should really consider whether they belong in a caring profession.’

This comment was in response to a Jewish doctor who called out medics who ‘find themselves able to justify acts of terrorism’ if they belong in a caring profession.  

Dr Hemmingsen, who originally studied medicine at the University of Manchester but is now thought to work on the Isle of Man, also liked a post on October 7 that declared the new ‘Palestinian resistance emoji’ as the parachute.

This emoji references how some Hamas gunmen entered Israel using paragliders to circumvent border security forces and attack unarmed civilians.

 Dr Clarissa Hemmingsen, who works on the Isle of Man, also defended the bloody attacks earlier this month

Dr Hemmingsen, who studied at the University of Manchester, said medics should reconsider if they belong in a caring profession if they can ‘justify acts of colonialism’

The medic also shockingly liked a post that proclaimed the parachute emoji to be a new ‘Palestinian resistance’ in reference to how Hamas used paragliders to infiltrate southern communities in Israel

Farah Bouamra

Farah Bouamra, a physician associate at St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, in London, celebrated the Hamas terror attacks on Israel in a series of disturbing social media posts.

On her X account, she posted or retweeted a flurry of anti-Israeli comments in the wake of the October 7 attacks. 

In one, she reposted a video of bulldozers ploughing through the Gaza strip separation fence with Israel and celebrating the kidnapping of innocent festival goers and children.

A caption read: ‘Palestinians break into separation fence w/Israel, dozens of Israelis captured and brought into Gaza…’ and then ‘VIVAAAAA’ to celebrate this – before they went on to kill 1,400 people including children.

NHS worker Farah Bouamra (pictured) has celebrated the Hamas terror attacks on Israel in a series of disturbing social media posts

On learning of a mob attempting to storm the Israeli Embassy in Jordan, Farah rejoiced in the violence, posting: ‘They set the Israeli embassy on fire in Jordan. I love these people so much’

On the same day she reposted ‘Free Palestine today tomorrow and forever’.

And in answer to Labour MP David Lammy, the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth, condemning the Hamas attack, she reposted ‘Israel has killed Palestinians indiscriminately for the past seven decades, so when you stand in solidarity with Israel you stand in solidarity with terrorism you stinking idiot.’

In another post she agreed that the Israeli government is behaving ‘like war criminals… being supported by depraved western leaders.’

The British-born NHS staffer, who has Algerian family heritage, also branded Israeli soldiers as ‘terrorists’ – and advocated the ‘flogging’ of journalists.

She also blasted the Metropolitan Police as ‘pathetic’ for tweeting about a London Underground employee tannoying alleged ‘anti Jewish’ remarks.

The medic also reposted that ‘decolonization is always a violent phenomenon’ from Wretched of the Earth, a book by philosopher Frantz Fanon – and she hopes the current conflict leads Muslims to ‘radicalise’.

And of learning of a mob attempting to storm the Israeli Embassy in Jordan, Farah rejoiced in the violence, posting: ‘They set the Israeli embassy on fire in Jordan. I love these people so much’.

A St George’s spokesperson said: ‘We do not condone the personal views of this individual and appropriate action is being taken.’

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