Two nurses from Bankstown Hospital in Sydney, Australia, have been suspended after a video surfaced showing them making abhorrent anti-Semitic remarks and bragging about killing and refusing to treat Israeli patients.
The clip was shared by content creator Max Veifer, who was speaking with Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, both verified as health workers from Bankstown Hospital in Sydney’s southwest, according to ABC News Australia.
It is one of several videos on Veifer’s account featuring conversations with individuals from various parts of the world—primarily the Middle East—through the Chatruletka app, which randomly connects users for live interactions.
During the exchange on the app Chatruletka, tensions escalate when content creator Veifer reveals he is from Israel.
Nadir, who claimed to be a doctor, which he is not, reacts with hostility, stating, “I’m so upset that you’re Israeli. Eventually you’re going to get killed and go to Jahannam (hell), inshallah.”
Veifer asks why he is being threatened, prompting Abu Lebdeh to join the conversation.
She escalates the rhetoric, declaring, “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country, you piece of s**t.” She then issues a chilling remark: “When your time comes, I want you to remember my face so you can understand you will die the most disgusting death.”
When asked if they would treat Israeli patients, Lebdeh chillingly responded, “I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them… Not God forbid, I hope to God.”
Nadir follows up with another disturbing statement accompanied by a throat-slitting gesture., stating, “You have no idea how many Israeli dogs came to this hospital, and I sent them to Jahannam.”
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These abhorrent statements have been met with swift condemnation from the highest levels of government.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese labeled the footage as “sickening and shameful,” asserting that such hate-driven, anti-Semitic comments have no place in Australia’s health system or society at large, according to the New York Post.
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park expressed his revulsion, stating, “The whole video, from start to finish, is a concern to me … the fact that they chose to do this in uniform, that they chose to do this while they should have been caring for patients.”
“Obviously, investigative process now takes place. I don’t want to leave a sliver, a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again.”
“There is no place in our hospital and health system for this sort of view to ever, ever take place,” Park said.
“There is no place for this sort of perspective in our society, but hospitals are different in the fact that every single Australian and every single resident of this state should be able to go to their local hospital when they need care and attention and get high quality care that is safe and effective,” he added.
In response to the incident, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW has deregistered both Nadir and Lebdeh, effectively banning them from practicing nursing anywhere in Australia.