UK doctor suspended after calling Hamas, Hezbollah leaders legends

Dr. Rehiana Ali was suspended pending the conclusion of a full GMC investigation, the association said.

By MICHAEL STARR DECEMBER 31, 2024 17:20 Updated: DECEMBER 31, 2024 17:28

People demonstrate on the day of a vote on the motion calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, in London, Britain, February 21, 2024. (photo credit: REUTERS/Isabel Infantes)

A British neurologist received an interim suspension from the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) last Friday after social media posts declaring Hamas and Hezbollah leaders to be legends, according to the General Medical Council and the doctor.

Dr. Rehiana Ali was suspended pending the conclusion of a full GMC investigation, the association said, rendering her temporarily unable to practice medicine for the National Health Service. The MPTS decision said that the suspension would last for 18 months and was subject to review.

"We are acutely aware of the concerns that have been raised regarding Dr. Ali, and we will take action where concerns suggest patient safety or the public’s confidence in doctors may be at risk," said the GMC.

Ali, who had sought election in 2024 as an independent politician for Bradford South's parliamentarian, said on X on Thursday that the social media posts that led to the suspension were those relating to her comments about deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

"Israel has failed. Nasrallah is now a legend -- completely untouchable -- in Lebanon. They've just immortalized the man forever. Rest in Peace," Ali wrote on October 7, later eulogizing the Hamas leader in a similar manner on October 24. "Israel will lose. They've just turned Sinwar into a legend. A male role model."

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in London, 5 October 2024 (credit: SCREENSHOT/X)

Ali claimed 'free speech' 

Ali argued on X Thursday that the posts were legal political commentary, and the matter was a free speech issue that had been ignored by actors that profess to protest the right.

"I'm Dr. Rehiana Ali Consultant Neurologist who was suspended for 18 months last week because I criticized the fake terrorist construct called Israel whose lobby in the UK has infiltrated most organizations including GMC and MPS," Ali said in a Tuesday X post calling for the release of Kamal Adwan Hospital and alleged Hamas officer Dr Hussam Abu Safiya from IDF custody.

The neurologist also asked if there was "any evidence of this 'antisemitism' because hurt feelings don't count. And if anything, there's a huge over-representation so a little diversity may be good? There are zero barriers to Jewish progression. Quite different for a Muslim. I've actually worked my way up."

Ali said that complaints about her had been filed by UK Lawyers for Israel and the Jewish Medical Association to the GMC, but had been dismissed and had not resulted in an investigation.

“We are grateful that the GMC has in this case decided on an interim suspension," UKLFI director Caroline Turner said in a Sunday statement.

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UKFLI said that it had been alerted to Ali's social media proclivities by antisemitism and Holocaust denial watchdog GnasherJew. In one such October 26 X post, Ali called for the de-proscription of Hamas in the UK, as the group "are not terrorists and are legitimate Palestinian resistance."

In multiple posts Ali had disputed the Jewish casualties of the Holocaust and suggested that Holocaust victim Anne Frank's diary was a forgery.

Ali has also made shared posts with fake and misleading Talmud quotes, claiming on Friday that Jews and Israelis behaved the way that they did because "all roads seem to lead to the supremacist beliefs in the Talmud."

The JMA and Ali did not immediately respond to requests for comment.