Social media ban for Sydney nurse charged over alleged antisemitic hospital video

A nurse at the centre of a widely condemned anti-Israel video has been bailed on charges of making violent threats amid a "very complex" investigation.

The two Sydney nurses accused of filming an antisemitic video inside a hospital.

Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdehon were immediately stood down from their roles at Sydney's Bankstown Hospital after the video emerged. Source: Supplied / Supplied

A nurse charged with inciting violence against Israeli patients has been barred from leaving Australia and logging onto social media platforms.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh worked at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney and was charged with three federal offences after meeting investigators at a police station on Tuesday night.

The charges include threatening violence to a group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

"(Abu Lebdeh) is on very, very strict bail conditions namely prohibiting her from going to a point of departure from Australia but more importantly banned from using social media," NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old appeared alongside colleague Ahmed Rashid Nadir in a video chat from the hospital with Israeli social media personality Max Veifer.

The duo allegedly bragged about refusing to treat Israeli patients and killing them instead.

Webb confirmed the male nurse was still under investigation and police would "interview that individual at the right time".

Nadir was taken to hospital for assessment earlier in February after paramedics were called to his Bankstown home following a "concern for welfare" report.
The investigation, led by detectives targeting antisemitic incidents, had not been straightforward because of "jurisdictional challenges" involved with Veifer's location, Webb said.

She declined to declare whether the video was antisemitic or anti-Israeli, saying it was a matter for the courts.

In an earlier ABC radio interview, Webb said there was no evidence patients at the hospital had been harmed.

Nadir previously told reporters the incident was a "big mistake", describing the comments as a joke gone wrong and apologising for any offence.

The video drew widespread condemnation, including from the prime minister and NSW premier.

Australia's health practitioner watchdog barred both nurses from working in the profession nationwide "in any context" and they have had their registrations suspended by the NSW Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Abu Lebdeh was granted police bail and will appear again in court in March.

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By Cameron Carr
Source: SBS News


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