(JNS) Two medical professionals in Australia were suspended from their work at a hospital after they were filmed speaking about not treating and killing Israelis at work, local media reported on Wednesday.
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation identified the two as Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, both health workers from Bankstown Hospital in the southwestern part of Sydney in New South Wales.
The incident occurred amid an unprecedented increase in antisemitic incidents in Australia in recent months, which some critics have attributed in part to inaction or hostility to Israel by the Labor-led federal government.
Max Veifer, a vlogger from Israel, connected with the pair on the app Chatruletka, which links users at random.
“Eventually you’re going to get killed and go to Jahannam [Hell], inshallah,” Nadir told Veifer after he identified himself as Israeli.
Abu Lebdeh, wearing a Muslim headscarf, comes into the frame of the video and tells Veifer: “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country, you piece of shit.” She then said: “When your time comes, I want you to remember my face so you can understand you will die the most disgusting death.
“I won’t treat them, I will kill them,” she added.
Nadir, who initially falsely self-identified as a physician, told Veifer, “You have no idea how many Israeli dog[s] came to this hospital and I send them to Jahannam.”
A lawyer for Nadir, Mohamad Sakr, told ABC that his client had sent a “very sincere apology to not only that individual, but to the Jewish community as a whole.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in a statement called the footage “sickening and shameful” and welcomed the removal of Nadir and Abu Lebdeh from the NSW health system.
NSW Premier Chris Minns told 2GB Sydney radio that both employees “have been immediately stood down pending a full investigation.”
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park called the video “one of the most vile, shocking and appalling videos I’ve ever seen.”
He added: “I say to the people of New South Wales, but in particular the Jewish community, I as the New South Wales health minister am so very sorry that you’re having to deal with this this morning.”
Australia Medical Association President Kathryn Austin said the association condemned “in the strongest possible terms today’s antisemitic commentary within the health system” and that “there is no place for hatred or division in the health system and this behaviour will not be tolerated.”
Many among Australia’s Jewish population of about 115,000 are feeling uneasy following a series of antisemitic attacks in the country’s two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne—including arson attacks on synagogues and a childcare center, as well as swastikas defacing buildings and vehicles.
In late January, authorities reported foiling a potential “mass casualty” attack after discovering a trailer loaded with explosives in northwest Sydney, with “some indications” it was intended to target the Jewish community.
Authorities are investigating more than a dozen “serious allegations” among more than 166 reports of antisemitic attacks received since mid-December, when police launched a special operation to curb antisemitic attacks.
Australia‘s parliament last week enacted stringent laws to address hate crimes, introducing mandatory minimum sentences for terrorism offenses and the display of hate symbols.
