ByESTHER DAVIS

A resident doctor in the UK's National Health Service (NHS) appeared at the Old Bailey Criminal Court in London on Friday, facing accusations of recruiting for Hamas and publishing a variety of inflammatory and antisemitic posts.

Dr. Rahmeh Aladwan, a 31-year old British-Palestinian trainee trauma and orthopedic surgeon, was arrested in October, just days before her tribunal hearing by the UK's General Medical Council (GMC).

Aladwan refused to admit or deny the six charges against her, speaking only to confirm her identity.

She is charged with four counts of supporting Hamas, a proscribed terrorist organization in the UK, and two counts of inciting racial hatred through the use of threatening or abusive language at a demonstration in July and written material in November.

Aladwan is accused of writing "I do not condemn Hamas. I do not condemn October 7th," and "I condemn the existence of Israel" in a post on July 23 of last year. 

A woman holds a Palestinian flag as demonstrators attend a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government's proscription of ''Palestine Action'' under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025.
A woman holds a Palestinian flag as demonstrators attend a rally organised by Defend Our Juries, challenging the British government's proscription of ''Palestine Action'' under anti-terrorism laws, in Parliament Square, in London, Britain, August 9, 2025. (credit: JAIMI JOY/REUTERS)

In December 2025, she posted that she wants to “free the world from Jewish supremacy,” and on the second anniversary of October 7, she posted a picture of a bulldozer captioned “glory to the Palestinian resistance.”

Her trial is not expected to begin in her home city of Bristol until March of 22027.

Aladwan’s GMC tribunal hearing

In November 2025, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) in the UK suspended her license for 15 months pending an investigation, after hearing that Aladwan’s posts included content that “justifies terrorism, denies sexual violence, includes antisemitic conspiracy theories, misuses Holocaust and Nazi imagery, and expresses support for proscribed groups and terrorist acts.”

The GMC counsel Emma Gilsenan also told the MPTS hearing that Aladwan had allegedly referred to the Royal Free hospital in London as a “Jewish Supremacy cesspit,” doxed NHS colleagues for raising concerns about her, and expressed explicit support for proscribed terrorist groups such as Hamas and Palestine Action.

The Royal Free Hospital is located in Hampstead, in North West London, and serves as the primary local hospital for most of London’s Jewish community.

Gilsenan told the MPTS hearing in September that it was “unconscionable to consider that Dr Aladwan should be permitted to continue to practice.”

In November, the tribunal found that Aladwan’s alleged conduct “may impact on patient confidence in both her and the profession, and patients may be discouraged from seeking treatment from her.”