A doctor has told a tribunal hearing 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, in August 2024, leaving him unable to book shifts, 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 August 7, 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…”
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, 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 Crowe said: “I believe it was Gazan civilians.”
He denied referring to 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.”
Shepherd asked 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 responded: “I don’t, no.”
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 has a version in international law, and it has a colloquial meaning.
“The IDF uses terrorist actions and I believe they are terrorists, but that doesn’t automatically describe them as a proscribed group.”
After his colleague’s complaint, Crowe was informed that his bank employee status was suspended on August 14 pending a meeting.
The suspension was lifted on August 16 after he deleted the posts, and the next day he returned to work.
However, he has alleged that Hawdon “put implicit pressure on him to delete his social media posts or face a full investigation”.
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 August 25 2024, the respondents have said.
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.
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