Words of harm from a place of care add chilling new dimension to wave of hate

A new, unthinkable reality emerged on Wednesday. There will now be patients turning up to NSW emergency departments – sick or injured, and scared – who will question whether a doctor or nurse is wishing them harm.

Two nurses on night duty at Bankstown Hospital on Tuesday – who found the time to spew vile hate towards Israelis on a video platform – weaponised healthcare in the most extreme way. Through their words, public health in NSW has been undermined at a time when the system is already hurtling towards crisis.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park; (right) nurses Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who have been stood down after video emerged of them making antisemitic comments.Credit:

The duo, one in NSW Health scrubs and the other in a hijab, not only delivered an antisemitic rant; they also broke the sacred code that says nurses will never discriminate. In public health, anyone who walks in the door of a hospital – irrespective of their race, religion or social status – should receive the best care possible.

But in a late-night rant, that code was challenged in the most stunning way. Using the platform Chatruletka, the nurses (while on duty) connected to Israeli social media personality Max Veifer. He uses Chatruletka – which allows users to video chat to randomly chosen strangers around the world – to expose antisemitism.

Veifer shared a video on Instagram and TikTok showing him talking to the nurses. Veifer asked the pair what would happen if an Israeli patient came into their hospital. The female nurse, identified as Sarah Abu Lebdeh, says: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.” She also says to Veifer: “One day, your time will come, and you will die the most horrible death.”

Her male colleague, Ahmad Rashad Nadir, adds: “You have no idea how many [Israelis] came to this hospital, and I sent them to Jahannam” – the Islamic equivalent of the underworld.

It did not take long for the pair’s hate to emerge publicly.

Just after 7am on Wednesday, as the nurses were finishing their shifts, Veifer’s video was sent to Health Minister Ryan Park and his Health Secretary Susan Pearce. By 10am the nurses had been stood down, police were en route to Bankstown Hospital, and a NSW Health investigation was under way.

Pearce was reduced to tears as she addressed the media only hours after the video emerged. She knows the reality of the situation. Even if these two are malevolent outliers in the 180,000-strong NSW Health workforce, their actions will not only shake the already hurting Jewish community but also the nurses and doctors who turn up to work every day to save lives.

“Never in my wildest dreams,” Pearce said through tears, “did I think that I would be standing here with two staff of the NSW health system having said such horrendous things about our community, and particularly our Jewish community.”

Park was equally passionate: “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.”

Australian Medical Association NSW president Kathryn Austin was blunt: “Most people would feel that hospitals should be a place of safety. When people threaten to use healthcare as a weapon, that is incredibly dangerous.” Meanwhile, Premier Chris Minns told parliament that the actions of the two nurses risk undermining confidence in the public health system.

The NSW Labor government will next week introduce new laws to parliament to ban racially motivated hate speech in response to what Minns has called Sydney’s “summer of rolling hatred”. Hate cannot be legislated away, of course, but Wednesday’s revelations serve as a reminder that much more needs to be done.

The scandal is a body blow for the state’s public health system, which is already confronting multiple serious challenges. Nurses are burnt out, exhausted and stuck in a protracted pay dispute with the government, while NSW Health is in the midst of a psychiatrist workforce crisis, with the state’s mental health system on the verge of collapse.

In total frustration, 201 psychiatrists resigned from NSW Health last month, although some have since rescinded their resignations or delayed them until the pay dispute is heard by the Industrial Relations Commission on March 17. Regardless, the situation is untenable and will put untold strain on emergency departments and staff who are plugging the gaping hole in the mental health system.

Late on Wednesday, News Corp tracked down Nadir, who claimed the video was a bad joke. Lebdeh was holed up in her house, too distraught to speak, The Daily Telegraph reported. Her family also insisted her threat of harming Israeli patients was an ill-thought gag.

Their excuses matter little, of course. There was a niggling fear among members of the Jewish community that they could be mistreated by a public institution. Given today’s extraordinary revelations, that anxiety appears justified.

Alexandra Smith is the state political editor.

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