NHS doctor who posted conspiracy theories claiming Jews were behind 9/11 is suspended
An NHS doctor who posted conspiracy theories on social media claiming Jews were behind the 9/11 attacks has been suspended for two months.
Dr Najmiah Ahmad, who was working at the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust at the time, appeared before a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS) hearing accused of misconduct.
Consultant anaesthetist Ahmad used her X account to repost two ‘seriously offensive’ comments which led to the GMC receiving a complaint from the Jewish Medical Association (JMA) UK.
One repost read: ‘The Zionist owned-and-controlled mainstream media has suppressed this important story for years. Are you surprised? 9/11 was an inside job, The Zionist owned-and-controlled US government was complicit.’
A second post read: ‘This should also be considered. 5 Dancing Zionists on 9/11 attacks.’
It was accompanied by an AI image showing the New York skyline with the Twin Towers in the background and a plane flying towards them.
The image also showed a white van on a rooftop with five males wearing dark trousers and white shirts – typically associated with Hasidic Jews – celebrating the attack together with the blue Star of David.
Katie Nowell, counsel for the GMC, said the posts related to ‘conspiracy theories’ that Zionists were responsible for 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Ms Nowell argued that the doctor had effectively endorsed the posts, which were both and seriously offensive.
The tribunal heard how Ahmad now accepted that the term ‘Zionist’ could be used to describe Jewish or Israeli people and that well known tropes used to ‘promote hostility’ against Jewish people included the conspiracy theory they were responsible for 9/11 and controlled media and government.
The tribunal noted how Ahmad had been ’emotionally impacted’ by events in Gaza.
Ahmad claimed she used X as a research tool and had reposted comments so she could ‘bookmark’ them to read later after she’d became ‘obsessed’ with understanding more about Zionism.
She accepted she had also used it to comment on others’ posts but denied ‘amplifying’ content and promoting it to others.
The tribunal said she had been ‘naive’ but accepted she’d wanted to research more about the terms ‘Zionism’ and ‘Zionist’, and didn’t understand at the time they could be used as a proxy for Jewish or Jew.
Therefore, it was found there was ‘insufficient evidence’ her actions were motivated by racial or religious hostility and/or prejudice against Jews.
Giving evidence, Ahmad blamed her background for her lack of understanding about antisemitism.
‘I would like the tribunal to know that it’s a foreign thing for me to learn about antisemitism,’ she said.
‘It’s not a Southeast Asian thing to grow up learning about it in school. I had a steep learning curve.
‘At the time I reposted it I wanted to know what has Zionism got to with 9/11 – conspiracy or not conspiracy, I just wanted to know. I don’t support any of this.’
Ahmad, who has since undergone training and mentoring in her use of social media, added: ‘I don’t hate Jews.’
But Ms Nowell claimed that she had often posted ‘in anger’ and to hit back at comments from Jewish people.
The tribunal found that Ahmad’s fitness to practise is impaired due to her misconduct and handed her a two-month suspension.
