Two nurses in Australia suspended for reportedly making antisemitic comments

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Two nurses in a Sydney hospital have been suspended from work for threatening to kill Jewish patients and refusing to treat them in a video on TikTok, triggering an investigation by police, authorities said on Wednesday.

The video was shared by a TikTok user named Max Veifer, who says he is from Israel, and shows him talking to a man and woman wearing medical scrubs.

“I’m so upset that you’re Israeli … eventually you’re going to get killed and go to (hell)”, the man in medical scrubs said, after Veifer mentioned he is from Israel in a video chat.

When asked why he would be killed, the woman in medical scrubs said: “It’s Palestine’s country, not your country” and used an obscenity.

The woman said she would not treat any Jewish patients and instead kill them. The man, with a threatening gesture, said he had already send many Israelis, who visited the hospital, to “Jahannam”, the term for Islamic hell in Arabic.

Reuters could not independently verify the footage and it was not immediately clear if the full video of the conversation had been uploaded by the user. Some of the woman’s words have been beeped out in the video.

Reuters could not immediately contact the two nurses.

New South Wales state Health Minister Ryan Park said the nurses have been “stood down immediately”, pending an investigation.

“Obviously, the investigative process now takes place. I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think that they will ever work for New South Wales Health again,” Park told reporters.

New South Wales state police said its antisemitic taskforce is investigating a social media video depicting alleged health workers making antisemitic threats. Police said the individuals involved were now assisting detectives.

Max Veifer, who regularly posts videos mostly about the Middle East on TikTok, has 102,000 followers and his videos have been liked by 4.2 million users.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian federal police has offered “whatever assistance” to New South Wales state police.

“I have seen this antisemitic video. It’s driven by hate and it’s disgusting. The comments are vile, the footage is sickening and it is shameful,” Albanese said in parliament.

Australia has seen an escalating series of attacks on synagogues, buildings and cars since the Israel-Gaza war began in October 2023, sparking fear among Australia’s nearly 115,000 Jewish people.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)