Muslim groups slam ‘selective outrage’ over Sydney nurse video

Signatories also included the mainstream political group Muslim Votes Matter, which is lobbying for more Muslim Australians to be elected to parliament, and Gamel Kheir, the respected community figure and secretary of the Lebanese Muslim Association.

Also included in the statement was the Al Madina Dawah Centre, home of controversial preacher Wissam Haddad, and the extreme Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

Hizb ut-Tahrir was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in the UK in 2024 for its support of Hamas, antisemitic views and its calls for jihad.

This masthead is not suggesting Hizb ut-Tahrir supporters are terrorists or that all its members condone terrorism.

While not a signatory of the statement, independent senator Fatima Payman echoed the comments in a video on social media, calling the public reaction to the nurse video a double standard.

“They made a terrible comment yet are been treated as if they have committed the absolute worst crime imaginable,” she said.

Nadir and Lebdeh are under police investigation but are yet to be interviewed by police. In a statement provided to Nine News on Monday, Nadir’s lawyer Mohamad Sakr said his client was remorseful.

“By no means does he protect what he had done or hide from it,” he said. “He is more than happy to cooperate with police.”

Seven News reported police searched Nadir’s hospital locker, where they allegedly found a vial of morphine. This masthead does not suggest that Nadir has committed a crime.

Both nurses have had their registration suspended by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of NSW and neither can work as nurses anywhere in Australia.

The video, which made headlines across the globe, comes as the NSW state government prepares to introduce new laws combating antisemitism into parliament on Tuesday.

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Intentionally inciting racial hatred would become a criminal offence under the new laws. Jewish groups believe even if the video of the nurses had emerged after new laws had passed, the pair may not meet all the requirements under the legislation.

To constitute an offence under the new laws, the incitement of hatred must be a public act, incite hatred, be intentional and be based on race.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said the new legislation may not go far enough to cover comments made by the nurses.

“There is clearly a gap between the level of protection expected by the public and what the criminal law actually provides,” he said.

“The problem in this case is with the requirement that the act be ‘public’. Yes, the video of this now-infamous encounter was certainly made public, but it was not made public by either of the two nurses.

“So anyone expecting that identical behaviour by nurses in the future will be prosecutable under any new legislation could be disappointed.”

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