US: A nurse honoured for compassion, fired after referring to Gaza 'genocide'

New York: A nurse was fired by a New York City hospital after she referred to Israel's war in Gaza as “genocide” during a speech accepting an award.

Labour and delivery nurse Hesen Jabr, who is Palestinian American, was being honored by NYU Langone Health for her compassion in caring for mothers who had lost babies when she drew a link between her work and the suffering of mothers in Gaza.

“It pains me to see the women from my country going through unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza,” Jabr said, according to a video of the May 7 speech that she posted on social media.

”This award is deeply personal to me for those reasons.”

Hesen wrote on Instagram that she arrived at work on May 22 for her first shift back after receiving the award when she was summoned to a meeting with the hospital's president and vice president of nursing “to discuss how I put 'others at risk' and 'ruined the ceremony' and offended people' because a small part of my speech was a tribute towards the grieving mothers in my country.”

She wrote that after working most of her shift she was “dragged once again to an office” where she was read her termination letter and then escorted out of the building.

A spokesperson for NYU Langone, Steve Ritea, confirmed that Jabr was fired following her speech.

“Hesen Jabr was warned in December, following a previous incident, not to bring her views on this divisive and charged issue into the workplace,” Mr. Ritea said in a statement.

“She i chose not to heed that at a recent employee recognition event that was attended by her colleagues,'' he said. (AP)