Ahmed Baker, a nurse at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London, has worked for 25 years in Britain's National Health Service without complaint from patients or staff. That was until a poster on a virtual call derailed his career.

His activism on political and human rights issues related to Palestine, where he is from, until that point.

Trouble started with warnings from senior staff, about the image of a watermelon he had been using as a background for virtual calls. A colleague warned the image could be “anti-Semitic”.

Bosses tightened uniform restrictions this year, banning pin badges and lanyards displaying flags or political causes not approved by the hospital. This followed complaints from Jewish patients who said they felt unsafe seeing hospital staff wearing Palestinian badges or symbols.

Mr Baker is one of three healthcare professionals now suing the Barts Health NHS Trust for discrimination over the policy. He is part of a growing number of people caught up in legal action against NHS trusts as a result of disciplinary action targeting Palestinian sympathies.

British Palestinian nurse Ahmed Baker has worked at Whipps Cross Hospital in east London for 25 years

He says the new policy infringes on his right to express his identity as a Palestinian. “We are going through a genocide and we’re not allowed to express our opinion,” he told The National.

The policy, he added “was clearly targeting one group only” – those expressing support for Palestine. “It’s a pattern we’ve seen across many hospitals,” he said.

Mr Baker believes the image of the watermelon was singled out because he is Palestinian. “The issue with the painting behind me was who was sitting in front of me,” he said. “It’s not the painting that was problematic, it’s the prejudice of the person I was speaking to.”

He has compared the new uniform policy to stop and search – a street policing power which was shown to be disproportionately be applied to young black men.

Impartiality rules

At least seven people are suing their NHS trusts over grievances, including harassment and discrimination against their beliefs. They say the NHS’s professed commitment to inclusivity ends with support for Palestine.

The chilling effect ultimately forced me to step away from the NHS Dr Omar Abdel Mannan

They are part of a wider movement of medical professionals who believe it is their duty to speak out on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and the killing of fellow healthcare workers. Some are pushing for their trusts and the wider NHS to divest from tech services such as Cisco for internal communications and data management software Palantir, whose defence solutions have been used by the Israeli military in Gaza.

But others – including British Prime Minister Keir Starmer – believe a line has been crossed and that expressing support for Palestine is not a humanitarian but a political issue that com