Fatimah Mohamied, a Muslim midwife and mother of two, experienced harassment by her former employer over Palestine advocacy. After leaving her position at Chelsea and Westminster NHS Foundation Trust, she was referred both to the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) and to the counterterrorism program Prevent – a shocking example of how ordinary people are punished for speaking out against war crimes.

As a Cultural Safety Lead Midwife, Mohamied told People’s Health Dispatch that her role was technically meant to address systemic racism and its consequences in maternity services. In a job advert published in January 2024, the Trust described the post as working toward improved outcomes in the local maternity population and better experiences for marginalized staff. “We are looking for someone who is… not afraid of change,” the advert read.

Mohamied’s experience, however, was the very opposite. After the start of the genocide in Gaza, she felt compelled to speak out and advocate for Palestinians under assault and starvation by the Israeli occupation. “Advocacy, after all, is a prominent part of our role – to speak up for the vulnerable, marginalized and dispossessed,” she previously wrote. “These are NHS values and should invariably include opposing illegal occupation, apartheid and ethnic cleansing, as they are severe manifestations of racism.”

Yet she soon discovered that this was not the kind of anti-racism work the Trust had in mind. In response to complaints about her personal social media activity, including from the Zionist group UK Lawyers for Israel, her former employer attempted to silence her. “Every attempt I made to bring the question of Gaza or Palestine into my work was impeded and obstructed,” she explains. The Trust argued that her responsibilities were limited to addressing racism inside the institution rather than globally. “But how could I tackle racism if I didn’t speak out against one of the worst manifestations of racism in contemporary history?” Mohamied asks.

Referred to Prevent

After she left the position in March 2024, Mohamied was referred to the NMC, which soon concluded that the complaints were unfounded. Then, in May 2025, a Prevent police officer contacted her, notifying her that the Trust had also referred her to the program.

Part of Britain’s so-called counterterrorism strategy, Prevent has long been shown to disproportionately target Muslim communities, with health services coopted into cooperation. In this context, Mohamied’s referral underscores both the criminalization of solidarity with Palestine as much as it does the systemic racism and Islamophobia in Britain.

Read more: Prevent: Health workers resist UK’s ‘counter terrorism’ strategy that weaponizes public services

Reading the officer’s email, Mohamied describes being terrified, knowing how others had been treated under the program. As a health worker, she had also undergone Prevent-related training, which offered her little reassurance. “Prevent training is built so people will rely on their conscious and unconscious biases,” she says. This, she adds, feeds into the dominant white supremacist framework that society is forced to operate within.

“If you’re Muslim, regardless of whether you are a health worker or something else, you’ll be discriminated against. If you stick out, you’ll be perceived as someone with extreme ideas, and you won’t get the benefit of a doubt as other people will,” Mohamied adds. In this case, the Prevent officer – like the NMC – concluded there was no basis for the referral, even noting it was unusual for an organization the size of an NHS Foundation Trust to make such a claim.

A lesson for all the NHS

The targeting Mohamied faced illustrates a dangerous trend in Britain, where advocacy for Palestine is increasingly censored and criminalized. “I think I’m one in a long line of people who have been harassed for speaking up for Palestine,” she says. In recent months alone, dozens have been arrested for participating in peaceful protests after the proscription of direct action group Palestine Action. Journalists covering Palestine have also been targeted, with homes raided and devices seized.

Mohamied is now taking legal action against the Trust over post-employment harassment and discrimination, urging others to support her case. “I hope my case sends a strong message to the Trust, but also to all the NHS of how they should not be behaving – how they need to apply caution when they’re approached by extreme lobby groups,” she says.

As Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues, Mohamied stresses that justice cannot be separated from speaking out about the atrocities being committed there: “It is naive to believe that Israel’s attacks on healthcare in Palestine won’t impact health elsewhere.”

“It’s time for the NHS to actually stick by its values,” she concludes, invoking the service’s professed dedication to justice and equity.

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch*. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click* here.

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