1,734
of 5,000 signatures
To NHS England and the Secretary of State for Health
NHS workers are being suspended, disciplined, and threatened with the end of their careers for wearing a badge or for displaying a watermelon on a screensaver. For bearing witness to suffering, which is exactly what health workers are trained to do.
This is not neutrality; it is selective silencing, and the double standard is well documented. In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Barts Health NHS Trust published official statements of solidarity, and staff organised donation drives. Ventilators, patient monitors, and anaesthetic machines were shipped to Ukrainian hospitals. Cambridge University Hospitals lit their chimney in blue and yellow for a week. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals raised the Ukrainian flag. East London NHS Foundation Trust held trust-wide meetings in solidarity with Ukrainian colleagues. None of this was considered political and all of it was actively encouraged.
Then came Gaza. Barts banned Palestine badges, Palestinian flags, and watermelon symbols from its hospitals. A manager ordered a colleague to remove a Microsoft Teams background containing a fruit bowl, because it included a watermelon. Dr Nadeem Haddadin-Crowe, an A&E doctor with 15 years of NHS experience, was suspended on the spot and escorted out of Royal Free Hospital. Ahmad Baker, a senior nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital with 25 years of service, is now suing the trust for discrimination. Dozens of health workers across the country face disciplinary proceedings and some have lost work entirely.
Meanwhile, the government is pushing NHS Trusts to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a definition widely criticised by human rights groups, Jewish community organisations, and the NHS's own doctors. At their annual conference, 84% of BMA doctors voted that criticising the actions of the state of Israel is not inherently antisemitic. The government is overriding the professional consensus of its own workforce.
The suggestion that opposing genocide is antisemitic is not a safeguard against hatred. It is a distortion of what antisemitism means and it erases the thousands of Jewish colleagues who wear the badges, attend the protests, and stand alongside their Palestinian coworkers. Antisemitism is real and must always be challenged. Equating it with criticism of a state does not protect Jewish people. It insults them.
This is not neutrality; it is selective silencing, and the double standard is well documented. In 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Barts Health NHS Trust published official statements of solidarity, and staff organised donation drives. Ventilators, patient monitors, and anaesthetic machines were shipped to Ukrainian hospitals. Cambridge University Hospitals lit their chimney in blue and yellow for a week. Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals raised the Ukrainian flag. East London NHS Foundation Trust held trust-wide meetings in solidarity with Ukrainian colleagues. None of this was considered political and all of it was actively encouraged.
Then came Gaza. Barts banned Palestine badges, Palestinian flags, and watermelon symbols from its hospitals. A manager ordered a colleague to remove a Microsoft Teams background containing a fruit bowl, because it included a watermelon. Dr Nadeem Haddadin-Crowe, an A&E doctor with 15 years of NHS experience, was suspended on the spot and escorted out of Royal Free Hospital. Ahmad Baker, a senior nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital with 25 years of service, is now suing the trust for discrimination. Dozens of health workers across the country face disciplinary proceedings and some have lost work entirely.
Meanwhile, the government is pushing NHS Trusts to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism, a definition widely criticised by human rights groups, Jewish community organisations, and the NHS's own doctors. At their annual conference, 84% of BMA doctors voted that criticising the actions of the state of Israel is not inherently antisemitic. The government is overriding the professional consensus of its own workforce.
The suggestion that opposing genocide is antisemitic is not a safeguard against hatred. It is a distortion of what antisemitism means and it erases the thousands of Jewish colleagues who wear the badges, attend the protests, and stand alongside their Palestinian coworkers. Antisemitism is real and must always be challenged. Equating it with criticism of a state does not protect Jewish people. It insults them.
Petition text
We call on NHS England and the Secretary of State for Health to publicly acknowledge that opposition to genocide is not antisemitism and let NHS workers show our solidarity with Palestine.
NHS workers must be free to show solidarity with Palestine
Next step - spread the word
NHS workers must be free to show solidarity with Palestine
NHS workers must be free to show solidarity with Palestine
Will you chip in?
Can you boost this petition to get thousands more signatures in the next 24 hours? Getting support in a timely manner is critical to a petition’s success. Chipping in allows us to promote the petition on Organise and through email.
