According to Oxford University:

http://academic.oup.com/ijtj/article/16/3/396/6776207

"The most recent data suggests that during the two Soviet
occupations (1940-1941 and 1944-1990) the total number of
people killed in Lithuania was 50,000, with 20,000 partisans
killed in action, 25,000 killed for other reasons, and
5,000 other casualties.

The number deported was - 131,600, including 39,000 children
and the number arrested was 282,000 of whom 200,000, were
imprisoned. By 1954, Lithuania had lost one sixth of its
population.

Recent research shows that if not for the Soviet occupation
Lithuanian would have a population of five million.

As a response to physical and social Soviet repression, a
large part of the Lithuanian population stopped talking
about the occupation, even within family circles. Therefore,
memories of WWII, and the post war period, were obscured in
Lithuania until "Perestrojka" in 1986" .

The memories of all those who perished at the hands of both
Stalin and Hitler during WWII are not revered by the blame
game. It does not honour them who
suffered and died that we now continue to hurl insults.
This only compounds the tragedy of WWII.

I'll try once more replying to individuals and then drop out if people discuss away from the original topic.

ttbn,

<<Only a tiny minority of people..... would agree.... or try to make excuses for these two dreadful people.>>

Well we have no figures there and I could then argue the same re the Israeli Government. It's not a popularity contest or a poll, it's what is the best pathway to follow.

Rhian,

<<Most violent racists justify themselves...>>

As pointed out it is a question to if these two nurses would actually go through with what they actually said in real terms. It also must be noted that the recording gladly went through at the other end, with this essentially a gotcha moment. For the person at the other end to sit there in glee is hardly something to be proud of when they had the opportunity to guide these two nurses down a different pathway, but they chose not to.

Whilst I wouldn't put out comments the way these nurses have, I still hold very strong views on issues as do others and this needs to be accepted as part of public discourse and the need for people to separate off the issues. So comments you may make in one environment are fine and you can be a totally different person elsewhere. This needs to be understood.

Armchair Critic,

<<You act like they're the victims...>>

Yes, because they are. We've had them face something extraordinary for what were some comments they did not expect to have put out there in the open. I agree such comments should not have been made in a workplace environment, but the person at the other end should not have encouraged them. Plus we have not seen a lot of calls from prominent people calling for leaders and political people to resign (with their actions seeing huge deaths in Gaza) as it's too difficult politically. So, these nurses are easy targets.

Finally we have politicians in Australia putting out vile things under parliamentary privilege. Politicians are meant to represent the people. Are they stepping down?

Foxy,

That Lithuanians suffered horrendously under the Soviet regime is a given.

That Lithuanian Jews suffered genocide at the hands of other Lithuanians is hardly disputed.

One doesn't obviate the other. Because they suffered under the Soviets doesn't excuse their earlier genocide of the Jews.

I don't doubt that the Lithuanians stopped talking about the events of 1941. Shame would do that. But that doesn't mean the inherent antisemitism that allowed that genocide went away or wasn't passed to later generations.

Again Nathan, I agree this is a free speech issue and these people had a right to say what they said.

But its also a public safety issue. We cannot allow people who claim to want to harm their patients to work in the health system. Sacking and deregistering them was the minimum that was required...and also the maximum. Imagine we had an Uber driver saying, even jokingly, that he intending raping the next women with a short skirt he picked up. Would anyone demur at ensuring his Uber licence was withdrawn? Same here.

The only difference is that these were Muhammadians and the proposed victims were a group that barely has any rights to safety these days.

___________________________________________________________________

Last night 7:30 ran a report on just how bad antisemitic attacks in our cities had become. If even the ABC is prepared to call this out, it has to be horrendous. Its not 'Kristallnacht' yet... but its certainly on that path.

Jews "barely (have] any rights to safety these days".

Because Albanese threw them under a bus thinking that his anti-Semitic regime will get Muslim votes.

He is an ignorant coot in more ways than one: assuming that all Muslims are anti-Semitic so they will vote Labor because Labor is anti-Semitic; that all Muslims support Islamist activists; that all Muslims, unlike the rest of us, won't have other things on their minds (that he has caused) when they vote.

I'm against Muslim immigration because it lets a small number of very dangerous people into Australia.

But, as far as I'm concerned, Albanese is a much bigger danger to Australia and Australians than your average Muslim is. And he certainly is insulting Muslims who just came here for a better life.

mhaze,

<<But its also a public safety issue. We cannot allow people who claim to..... work in....">>

Politicians, shop workers, police, teachers, cleaners, fire fighters.... I could go on.

If we took every person's comments put out there and applied 'safety' across the board we'd be employing no one.

To be on the safe side, I suggest we audit all people in the health sector and ask them what their views are on the Gaza/Israel conflict. If they are anti-Israel they lose their jobs, the others stay on and those who refuse to comment also go as a public safety issue.

I don't see it going down very well, as people would say things like: "My views are none of your business and they don't affect how I undertake my job."

If you do have people come out and they are forced though to say how they feel to keep their job and they are anti-Israel/Israeli Government where do you draw the line? How many people would keep their true feeling bottled up to themselves and lie? Is that healthy, is that what you want to encourage?

People's feelings and real life actions are two different things pointed out by myself.

Just as an addition, policy failures in Afghanistan and calls for political leaders in the US to resign, did it actually happen? I mean they ruined lives. No, the resignations didn't occur despite the huge impact on individuals, still affected today.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/08/29/harris-biden-us-withdrawal-afghanistan-taliban/74954296007/

If this issue (re the nurses) was a public safety one, I'd agree with you, but it is not. It is a political one, driven by people who want to send a message they are doing something, yet in terms of their real life they destroy lives every day and get away with it, that being politicians.