CNN has fired a senior editor on Middle Eastern affairs Wednesday after she posted a Twitter message in support of deceased Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.
Fadlallah, profiled last week by Fight Hatred, has a long history of anti-Jewish and Israeli positions. He has cast doubt over the Holocaust and has supported suicide bombings against Israelis saying, “there are no innocent Jews in Palestine.”
Following his death, CNN senior editor of Middle Eastern affairs Octavia Nasr wrote on Twitter, “Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah ... One of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.”
Following several objections, a CNN spokesman said that Nasr had made “error of judgment” that “did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.” In defending herself, Nasr said she was sorry about the message since "it conveyed that I supported Fadlallah’s life’s work. That’s not the case at all.”
She said that she used the word “sad” and “respect” because “to me as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarians and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman’s rights. This does not mean I respected him for what else he did or said. Far from it.”
Despite her explanation, CNN has decided to fire her. Senior vice president of international news gatherer for CNN Worldwide Parisa Khorsavi said “at this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.”
