Antoinette Lattouf’s unlawful dismissal case against the ABC in the Federal Court reveals the extreme lengths to which the media establishment will stoop to silence dissenting voices.
Lattouf was sacked halfway through a five-day, fill-in shift on ABC Radio Sydney, in December 2023.
While the ABC claims she breached its social media guidelines (by sharing a Human Rights Watch post about the genocide in Gaza), Lattouf alleges the real reason is her support for Palestine.
The court heard there was a concerted campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists who demanded Lattouf be removed. After what we know over the last 15 months of genocide, and the Zionist state’s spin, it is hardly surprising.
It has now been revealed that ABC managing director David Anderson and former chair Ita Buttrose wanted Lattouf off air even before the alleged breach in policy.
Anderson told the court Lattouf’s social media was “full of antisemitic hatred”, although when asked to point out an example he couldn’t.
One of Buttrose’s emails wondered whether Lattouf could “come down with flu or COVID or a stomach upset … I have a whole clutch more complaints ... we owe her nothing”.
This case follows a pattern: The ABC sacked Palestinian journalist and Middle East producer Fouad Abu Gosh in February 2023 over his social media posts criticising Israel.
It also downplayed the death of freelance journalist Roshdi Sarraj, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike in October 2023 while working for the ABC.
But now, the powers that be have unleashed a broader campaign to silence pro-Palestine voices, attributing the rise of antisemitism to them.
Renowned sports journalist Peter Lalor was sacked by SEN Radio on February 4, midway through the Australian cricket team’s tour of Sri Lanka, over his social media posts about Gaza.
Lalor was told the sound of his voice “made people feel unsafe”. “It is an awful situation. But so is Gaza,” Lalor said.
Following ministerial pressure, Creative Australia dropped Lebanese Australian artist Khaled Sabsabi from its Venice Biennale selection on February 13 for his 2006 artwork depicting assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
Last year was the deadliest year for journalists on record: More than 70%, or more than 200 journalists or media workers, were killed by Israel.
These journalists had literally put their lives on the line to report on Israel’s genocide.
But despite Israel’s deliberate targeting of journalists, this genocide has been livestreamed to the world, making it harder for the ruling class to get away with its whitewashing.
Lattouf’s case has put the ABC’s pro-Israel bias on full display.
Ali Kazak, the former Palestinian ambassador to Australia, wrote a stinging open letter to the ABC in November 2023, saying its reporting on Gaza had been “from an Israeli perspective, adopting all its claims, propaganda, and deceptions without examining their credibility”.
ABC staff last March criticised management for “favour[ing] the Israeli narrative over objective reporting” on the Gaza genocide, including banning terms such as “apartheid” and “genocide”.
It’s not just the ABC displaying its pro-Israel bias. Corporate media as a whole, including all social media platforms, such as Facebook, X and TikTok, consistently ban or censor pro-Palestine coverage.
For-profit traditional and new media alike serve the interests of the powerful; they have an enormous ability to shape public opinion.
The campaign to link the rise of antisemitism to Palestine supporters will likely make it harder to counter any new rise in racism whether against Jews, Muslims or anyone who is not white.
Closing arguments in Lattouf’s case will be heard over February 27–28, and if she is successful in her unfair dismissal case it will be a win for truth.
Green Left is proud to stand on the side of truth and justice, and will always support activist journalists speaking up against the powerful.
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