February 19, 2025
The Coalition has urged taxpayer funding be stripped from Muslim organisations linked to signatories of a joint statement lashing the reaction to the sacking of two Bankstown nurses over anti-Semitic comments.
The ‘United Muslim community statement’, shared online by Stand For Palestine Australia, includes more than 60 signatories stating they “condemn the hypocrisy over (the) nurses controversy”, referring to former NSW nurses Ahmad “Rashad” Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who were immediately stood down after a video of them threatening to kill Israeli patients went viral last week.
While the statement says “healthcare should be provided justly to all”, it condemns “the selective outrage and political motivations” following the Bankstown nurses being exposed in the video, in which Nadir said he sent Israeli patients to “Jahannam”, an Arabic word for hell.
“The frustration and anger directed at Israel is a direct response to its violent and inhumane policies – not an expression of hatred towards Jewish people.
“The statements made by the nurses regarding ‘killing Israelis’ were clearly emotional and hyperbolic, as supported by subsequent investigations,” the statement read.
Among the signatories is controversial Islamic fundamentalist group Hizb ut-Tahrir Australia.
Independent candidates from The Muslim Vote movement, Dr Ziad Basyouny and Ahmed Ouf, also signed the letter, as did the movement itself.
Dr Basyouny is running to topple Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke in Watson, while Mr Ouf is targeting Education Minister Jason Clare in Blaxland.
It was also signed by Gamel Kheir, the secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association (LMA), which received a share of a $2 million grant to provide youth programs, as well as Sheik Ibrahim Dadoun of the United Muslims of Australia (UMA), which received a grant from the Securing Faith-Based Places Grant Program.
Sheik Dadoun previously made headlines when he stated he was “elated” at a rally on the streets of Lakemba in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel.
Neither the UMA or the LMA organisations signed the letter.
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the wide-ranging list of signatories was “alarming”.
He also pressured Mr Burke to strip grant funding from organisations linked to the letter.
“It is alarming that so many representative bodies and Muslim community leaders think it is appropriate to downplay the seriousness of the nurses’ misconduct,” he said.
“Tony Burke must put the national interest before his political interest and rescind grants from any organisation which signed this statement. Taxpayers money should never be spent excusing extremism.”
Mr Burke was contacted for comment.
