February 18, 2025
Muslim groups outraged over the reaction to anti-Semitic nurses should lose grants Taxpayer funding should be stripped from Muslim organisations that signed a joint statement criticising the "selective outrage'' over the anti-Semitic comments of two Bankstown Hospital nurses, the Coalition says.
The "United Muslim community statement'', shared online by Stand For Palestine Australia, included more than 60 signatories stating they "condemn the hypocrisy over (the) nurses controversy", referring to 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 said "healthcare should be provided justly to all", it condemned "the selective outrage and political motivations" following the nurses being exposed in the video, in which Nadir said he sent Israeli patients to "Jahannam", an Arabic word for hell.
"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 the Sydney seat of Watson, while Mr Ouf is targeting Education Minister Jason Clare in Blaxland.
It was also signed by Gamel Kheir, the Lebanese Muslim Association secretary, 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, which received a grant from the Securing FaithBased Places Grant Program.
Sheik Dadoun 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. Mr Kheir and Sheik Dadoun signed the letter as individuals, not on behalf of their respective organisations.
Coalition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said the wide-ranging list of signatories to the joint-statement 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."
It comes as the NSW Government will today introduce new hate speech laws making it a crime to incite racial hatred in a public place, carrying a maximum penalty of up to two years' in jail, fines of up to $11,000, or both.
"Under this new legislation, it will be a crime to publicly and intentionally incite racial hatred," NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley said.
