Some members of Australia’s Jewish community say they have experienced ongoing trauma and fear in the months since a video came to light that allegedly included threats to Israeli patients by two former Sydney nurses.<\/p>\n
The video published by Israeli content creator Max Veifer was recorded from cam chat app Chatruletka and uploaded in February.<\/p>\n
The nurses, who were employed at Bankstown Hospital, allegedly bragged about refusing to treat Israeli patients, killing them and saying they would go to hell during the conversation in February.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27, and 26-year-old Sarah Abu Lebdeh were charged with several offences over the alleged comments.<\/p>\n
Ms Abu Lebdeh previously faced three Commonwealth offences, but prosecutors this month said one count of using a carriage service to threaten to kill had been withdrawn.<\/p>\n
Their cases will return to court in November and the two remain on bail.<\/p>\n
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Former Bankstown Hospital workers Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh pictured in the video. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
At the time, NSW Health secretary Susan Pearce condemned the alleged comments by the two nurses, who the department said were “no longer employed” in the public health system.<\/p>\n
Police have previously said they found no evidence that anyone at the hospital was harmed.<\/p>\n
Community members share their feelings of ongoing fear<\/p>\n
Rabbi Mendel Kastel is chief executive officer of Jewish House, a crisis centre in Sydney’s east, as well as a Jewish chaplain in a number of NSW hospitals.<\/p>\n
He said there were people in the community who felt anxious in the wake of the video.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Kastel said it had especially impacted those going into the hospital system.<\/p>\n
“People are feeling nervous and therefore did not want to identify as Jewish. For example wearing the Star of David. When it came to admissions, people did not put down Jewish on their forms,” he said.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Mendel Kastel has connected with members of the Jewish community and heard their concerns firsthand. (Supplied: Jewish House\/Facebook)<\/p>\n
Rabbi Kastel said a woman in her 40s recently underwent surgery at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney’s east and told him she “made a conscious decision to not write I was Jewish when asked to identify my religion”.<\/p>\n
She told him it had gone against her nature to hide her identity.<\/p>\n
Brisbane woman Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy, told the ABC she too sought to conceal her religion at a recent appointment with unfamiliar medical staff.<\/p>\n
“When I had to go for a work medical recently, I realised I had my Star of David on \u2014 I always wear that. I had a moment of panic. I scrambled to take it off as I took my clothes off,” she said.<\/p>\n
“I had a high level of distrust of medical staff, especially something as sensitive as trying to pass a work medical where you may not be cleared for a whole set of reasons which can be impenetrable.<\/p>\n
“I was really worried about it.”<\/p>\n
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Sarah felt “a moment of panic” when she realised she was wearing her Star of David necklace during a medical appointment. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
She said even though Bankstown was a long way from Brisbane, discussion within her community had affected her view of the wider medical system.<\/p>\n
“I spent hours with this doctor and I did end up trusting her. I did, in the end, tell her I was Jewish, and she was really supportive, but it does not take away from my initial reaction.”<\/p>\n
Review of recording of patients’ religion<\/p>\n
Rabbi Kastel said much work had been done with Health Minister Ryan Park, Ms Pearce and NSW Health to make sure patients felt assured.<\/p>\n
Ms Pearce also said there were a series of meetings with the wider community.<\/p>\n
“Since then, we have been working on different ways of making people feel safe and confident they will be looked after properly in the NSW hospital system,” Rabbi Kastel said.<\/p>\n
Ms Pearce also said there had been a series of meetings with the community.<\/p>\n
“The day after the Bankstown incident, Rabbi Kastel and a senior Muslim chaplain along with others were filmed together to show the strength of their partnership,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Susan Pearce says the state’s health department is focused on making sure all patients feel safe. (AAP: Bianca de Marchi)<\/p>\n
Ms Pearce said it was overall a very distressing situation for many.<\/p>\n
“We understand the impact but what I would say [is] NSW Health is a very safe place. We very rapidly reviewed any actual harm associated with the comments made on that day, and we found none, and we were able to say that quite quickly because we had to take it seriously.”<\/p>\n