A fill-in radio presenter for the ABC has been axed after sharing a series of pro-Palestine posts on social media.
Antoinette Lattouf had been hosting ABC Sydney mornings this week, filling in for Sarah Macdonald, but was told on Wednesday afternoon she would not be returning to the airwaves.
A spokesperson for the national broadcaster told Daily Mail Australia that ‘ABC Sydney casual presenter Antoinette Lattouf will not be back on air for her remaining two shifts this week.’
Antoinette Lattouf had been hosting ABC Sydney mornings this week, while filling in for Sarah Macdonald, but was reportedly told on Wednesday afternoon she would not be continuing on in the gig
The outspoken journalist had posted excitedly about filling in for Macdonald on Monday.
She was originally due to present the morning radio show for five days, but will now not be returning to the program on Thursday or Friday.
Lattouf’s sudden departure from the ABC sparked a deluge of critical comments on her most recent Instagram post. She then turned the comments off.
It’s understood Lattouf’s posts about the conflict in the Middle East, which were on various online platforms, breached the ABC’s social media policies.
The ABC has strict editorial policies and requires staff to be impartial in their reporting.
‘A thoughtless post or tweet can instantly compromise this perception of impartiality,’ the ABC’s rules state.
Lattouf hit back and said she was ‘considering her legal options’.
‘I am very disappointed by the ABC’s decision today,’ she said.
‘I believe I was terminated unlawfully. This is not a win for journalism or fair, critical thinking.’
It’s understood Lattouf’s posts about the conflict in the Middle East, which were on various online platforms, breached the ABC’s social media policies
The ABC has strict editorial policies and requires staff to be impartial in their reporting
Lattouf recently co-authored an article questioning the veracity of a viral footage that showed pro-Palestine activists apparently chanting ‘gas the Jews’ at the Sydney Opera House earlier this year.
‘Analysis of the Aust Jewish Association videos by fact checker RMIT CrossCheck found a number of signs that suggest audio was edited…’ she said.
In another post from November Lattouf wrote: ‘We need a PERMANENT ceasefire and to address the ROOT of the problem – unlawful occupation of Palestine’.
In a video posted to Instagram in October, Latouff attempted an analysis of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, and called both Hamas and the Israeli government ‘extremists’.
She called for the mourning of all civilian life lost in the conflict and for the condemnation of anti-Arab and anti-Semitic rhetoric, but added: ‘You can and should condemn illegal military occupation of Palestine that’s been happening for 75 years.’
‘You can and should remember human rights organisation internationally and in Israel have called the occupation “apartheid”,’ she said.
‘You can and should speak out against the occupation of Palestine — because that is the root of all of this’.
She wrote that she had turned comments off on the post to ‘limit hate speech’.
Lattouf, who is a mother-of-two, is also the co-founder of Media Diversity Australia – a not for profit organisation that supports increasing cultural and linguistic diversity in the media.