Not entirely unacceptable to call Hamas freedom fighters, doctor tells tribunal

A doctor has told his lawsuit against an NHS trust that he does not support Hamas, but it would not be “entirely unacceptable” to call them freedom fighters.

Dr Nadeem Crowe, who has Palestinian family and friends, alleges discrimination and harassment by the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, and its responsible officer, Dr Jane Hawdon, after he was suspended mid-shift for X posts that criticised Israel and expressed support for Palestinians on social media.

The A&E doctor temporarily lost his bank status at the Royal Free Hospital, Camden, north London, in August 2024 after a colleague complained about his online comments, a central London employment tribunal has heard.

Allegations raised to the hospital included that his “absolutely vile” posts were “celebrating Hamas and comparing Israel to the Nazis and are very much antisemitic”.

The staff member, who is anonymous in proceedings, cited several examples, including his reply to a post from another account.

Only part of the account’s 7 August 2024 post was visible in the tribunal evidence, and it said: “Now that Yahya Sinwar has been named the terror group’s new leader, will nations that draw a distinction between Hamas’s political and military wings finally realise that there is no “moderate” side of an organisation that swears to destroy Israel, murder Jews, and holds…”

Dr Crowe appeared to have replied: “They aren’t terrorists, they are freedom fighters. Israel and the IDF are the terrorists”.

The screenshot did not display the full social media engagement, Dr Crowe told the panel via video link on Wednesday.

Jude Shepherd, for the respondents, asked who he was talking about when he wrote “they aren’t terrorists they are freedom fighters” and Dr Crowe said: “I believe it was Gazan civilians.”

He denied referring to proscribed Hamas as freedom fighters, later adding: “But that is seeing (the post) as it is and assuming – I’m more than happy to see another version and concede, if it appears.”

He added: “I would not support, I do not support Hamas.”

Ms Shepherd asked Dr Crowe “if it is right that you were saying Hamas aren’t terrorists, they’re freedom fighters” then do “you accept that that is an entirely unacceptable thing to say?”

He said: “I don’t, no.”

Dr Crowe added that this is “on the basis that you can be a terrorist but also fighting for freedoms” as shown by “the old idiom that came out of apartheid South Africa that, ‘one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter’”.

He accepted that Hamas is a proscribed organisation but disagreed that it would be unacceptable to say they are not terrorists.

He added: “Terrorists and terrorism have a version in international law and it has a colloquial meaning.

“The IDF use terrorist actions, and I believe they are terrorists, but that doesn’t automatically describe them as a proscribed group.”

He rejected the suggestion, calling the group “freedom fighters” in relation to another X post, again stating that the full X interaction had not been shown to the tribunal.

An account said: “The election of Yahya Sinwar as the leader of Hamas must send a clear message to the world that the Palestine issue is now completely controlled by Iran and Hamas.

“Without Israeli action in Gaza, the area would fall entirely under Hamas control.”

Dr Crowe’s reply on X included the statement: “The people you call terrorists are in fact freedom fighters, and the terrorist, baby-killing, rapist militia is called the IDF.

“I (now) use the word ‘Israel’ as a synonym for ‘depraved evil’. The world hates Israel.”

Another of his X posts flagged to the trust said: “A pig in heels (sic) is still a pig – in this case the pig is the IDF.”

He accepted the term “pig” was offensive to Jewish people but said he used it in reference to the IDF, not Jews.

His word choice in the 9 July, 2024 post was “because it’s a very well-known colloquialism that comes from pig in heels and pig in lipstick”.

“I think considering the IDF dip their bullets in pig fat to fire at Muslims, I would be much more offended by that than a colloquialism,” he said.

On 14 August, 2024, Dr Crowe was informed that his bank employee status was suspended pending a meeting.

His suspension came 63 minutes after the complaint about him was lodged, and he was not given a reason why, he claimed.

Describing the next day’s meeting with Dr Hawdon, he told the tribunal: “I was very offended and shaken, and the ambush nature of it made me feel very vulnerable.

“Particularly as I was not aware of what had happened for the past 24 hours.”

His suspension was lifted on 16 August after he deleted the posts, and the next day he returned to work.

However, he alleged in his written statement that Dr Hawdon “put implicit pressure on him to delete his social media posts or face a full investigation”.

He later told the tribunal: “I feel there to be more concern about people from Israel than people like me who have other concerns on the matter (of the Israel-Gaza conflict).”

Dr Crowe has said he felt unable to return to work at the hospital as he stopped trusting his colleagues and did not know who complained about him.

The doctor stopped working shifts because of sickness and has not returned since 25 August, 2024, the respondents have said.

Dr Crowe later lodged a grievance about the trust’s treatment of him that he says is yet to be answered.

He alleges that he was harassed and directly and indirectly discriminated against in relation to his protected anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian beliefs.

He further claims to have experienced race-related harassment and direct and indirect race discrimination.

The tribunal continues.