Exiled Labor MP Senator Fatima Payman says NSW nurses pile on gone too far

Exiled Labor MP Senator Fatima Payman says she held her tongue for too long over two Sydney nurses making vile anti-Semitic remarks.

Exiled Labor MP Senator Fatima Payman has confessed she “held my tongue for too long” over two Sydney nurses caught on camera making vile anti-Semitic remarks insisting that while what they said was wrong, the pile on had gone too far.

Ahmed ‘Rashid’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh told Israeli influencer Max Veifer in a recorded interview that they would kill their Jewish patients with Mr Nadir making a throat slashing gesture.

Both have now apologised through their lawyers or family members and suggested they were either joking or provoked respectively.

As police continue their investigations, the WA MP who split from the Labor Party after she was indefinitely suspended after vowing to cross the floor again in support of the Palestinian state has accused critics of hypocrisy.

Senator Payman spoke out on Sunday insisting that what the nurses did was wrong and adding that “thankfully no Israeli patient was killed”.

She then added a but, suggesting that a double standard was at play over the furore.

Ahmed ‘Rashid’ Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh. Picture: NewsWire Handout

“Let me be crystal clear. What these two nurses said was wrong. No one should be ever be denied medical care based on their race, religion or nationality. There is never an excuse for that,’’ she said.

“That being said, we need to address the elephant in the room. The Prime Minister has commented. Premiers have weighed in.

“They made a terrible comment yet are been treated as if they have committed the absolute worst crime imaginable,” Senator Payman said.

“These individuals have been fired, banned from ever working as nurses again, raided by police, placed under the most intense public scrutiny and now (they are) the ones being hospitalised; they’ve apologised, they have been punished.

“What is the end goal here? What exactly are we trying achieve? Justice or just public humiliation?

“We never see the same level of anger and vitriol when the roles are reversed.”

Senator Fatima Payman insisted that while what the nurses said was wrong, the pile on had gone too far. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Senator Payman highlighted a previous incident where a Sydney woman was accused of driving her car at Sheik Wesam Charkawi in an alleged Islamophobic attack.

“But where was the national condemnation, where was the wall-to-wall media coverage?” she asked.

“Where were the Prime Minister and premiers denouncing it with the same force we see for these nurses’ comments?

“Instead there was silence, absolutely deafening silence.

“When Muslims face discrimination, when Islamophobic or anti-Palestine attacks happen where is the Prime Minister? Where is the full scale media outrage?

“This is the double standards that must end. If we’re to condemn one, we must condemn the other, otherwise we’re not standing for justice, we’re just picking sides.

“And that is what fuels division in our society. That is what actually damages our social cohesion.”

Senator Payman on Palestine

Last year, Senator Fatima Payman refused to declare the actions of Hamas on October 7 were an act of terrorism or an act of resistance as she was grilled on her fledgling political party.

The former Labor recruit who broke ranks to sit as an independent over a split with Labor over Gaza was asked during an ABC interview with 7:30 host Sarah Ferguson.

“Let me just ask you a question about this week. We’ve just had the memorial of the October 7 attack. In, and a very divisive debate obviously in the Parliament yesterday. In your view, were the actions of Hamas on that day an act of terrorism or an act of resistance?” Ferguson asked.

But instead of describing the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust – which involved the murder of 1200 Israelis during the attack and the taking 240 civilians hostage as an act of terrorism – Senator Payman declined to do so.

“I think that that question really not only ignores the 75, 76 years, but also reduces the Palestinian plight,’’ she said.

Senator Payman split from the Labor Party after she was indefinitely suspended after vowing to cross the floor again in support of the Palestinian state. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

She did however say the actions of Hamas on that day should be condemned.

“What happened on 7 October I’ve condemned, and the atrocities, the loss of any human life is to be condemned,’’ she said.

“Any form of violence against civilians must be condemned, and we need to acknowledge that Palestinians and now the Lebanese community are hurting, but so are the Israeli communities, and this is about how do we make sure that we are raising awareness but at the same time not isolating one group and pitting one group against another.”

Exiled senator goes rogue in politics move

Announcing she was leaving the ALP in July, Senator Payman pledged to be a “true voice” for Palestine and warned that her “conscience leaves me no choice” but to strike out as an independent.

Speaking in Canberra, she stressed hers was not a Muslim political party but agreed her split with the Labor Party was sparked over the war in the Middle East.

“Australians are fed up with the major parties having a duopoly, a stranglehold over our democracy,” she said.

“If we need to drag the two major parties kicking and screaming to do what needs to be done, we will do it.”

Originally published as Exiled Labor MP Senator Fatima Payman says NSW nurses pile on gone too far