A consultant anaesthetist has received a two-month suspension after sharing conspiracy theories blaming Zionists and Washington for the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Dr Najmiah Ahmad faced a misconduct hearing before the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service following a complaint lodged by the Jewish Medical Association UK with the General Medical Council.
The tribunal determined that Dr Ahmad’s fitness to practice medicine at the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust had been impaired by her actions on the social media platform X.
Katie Nowell, representing the GMC, told the hearing that the posts Dr Ahmad shared related to conspiracy theories suggesting Zionists bore responsibility for the 2001 attacks on New York.
The tribunal heard that Dr Ahmad had reposted two items deemed “seriously offensive” by the GMC counsel. One shared post stated: “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 repost declared: “This should also be considered. [Five] Dancing Zionists on 9/11 attacks.”
This latter post included an AI-generated image depicting the New York skyline with the Twin Towers visible and an aircraft approaching them.
The image featured five men dressed in dark trousers and white shirts, attire typically associated with Hasidic Jews, appearing to celebrate atop a white van, alongside a blue Star of David, an apparent reference to a conspiracy theory that Israeli Mossad agents had prior knowledge of the 2001 attacks.
Dr Ahmad was employed by Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust at the time of the alleged posts | FRIMLEY HEALTH NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
Ms Nowell argued that Dr Ahmad had effectively endorsed both posts, which she described as seriously offensive.
Dr Ahmad defended her actions by claiming she had used X as a research tool, reposting content to bookmark it for later reading after becoming “obsessed” with learning more about Zionism.
She acknowledged commenting on other users’ posts but denied amplifying or promoting the material to others. The doctor attributed her lack of awareness about antisemitism to her cultural background.
Dr Ahmad told the hearing: “I would like the tribunal to know that it’s a foreign thing for me to learn about antisemitism…It’s not a Southeast Asian thing to grow up learning about it in school. I had a steep learning curve.”
The attack on the World Trade Center in September 2001
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She explained: “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.”
Dr Ahmad, who has since completed training on social media use, stated: “I don’t hate Jews.”
The tribunal accepted that Ahmad had been “naive” and genuinely wished to research the terms “Zionism” and “Zionist,” not understanding at the time that these words could serve as proxies for Jewish people.
It was noted that Dr Ahmad had been “emotionally impacted” by the ongoing war in Gaza.
Dr Ahmad practiced at the Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust
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The panel acknowledged she now accepted that “Zionist” could be interpreted to refer to Jewish or Israeli people.
She also accepted that conspiracy theories blaming Jews for the September 11 attacks and claiming they controlled media and government were well-known tropes used to promote antisemitic hostility.
However, Ms Nowell contended that Ahmad had frequently posted “in anger” and in response to comments from Jewish people.
The tribunal ultimately concluded there was “insufficient evidence” that her actions stemmed from racial or religious hostility towards Jews, but nonetheless found her fitness to practice impaired due to misconduct.