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Octavia Nasr Fired From CNN After Controversial Tweet?
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by Amy Judd | July 8, 2010 at 08:13 am
495 views | 10 Recommendations | 1 comment
Was CNN's Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs Octavia Nasr Fired After Tweeting About Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah?
Some reports claim that Octavia Nasr was fired, while others say she is leaving, but one factor remains the same, the Senior Editor of Mideast Affairs will no longer be with CNN.
Having worked there for 20 years, Nasr came under fire this past weekend when she tweeted "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah... One of Hezbollah's giants I respect a lot".
Soon after posting that Nasr came under fire in articles posted on sites such as Newsbusters and The Jerusalem Post, and many asked for CNN to respond. According to Newsbusters, who quote the Associated Press, Fadlallah is "considered by many to be the unofficial spiritual leader of Hezbollah" although that has never been confirmed.
Now in an internal memo obtained and posted by Mediaite, CNN has decided to take serious action against Nasr:
From Parisa Khosravi – SVP CNN International Newsgathering
I had a conversation with Octavia this morning and I want to share with you that we have decided that she will be leaving the company. As you know, her tweet over the weekend created a wide reaction. As she has stated in her blog on CNN.com, she fully accepts that she should not have made such a simplistic comment without any context whatsoever. However, at this point, we believe that her credibility in her position as senior editor for Middle Eastern affairs has been compromised going forward.
As a colleague and friend we’re going to miss seeing Octavia everyday. She has been an extremely dedicated and committed part of our team. We thank Octavia for all of her hard work and we certainly wish her all the best.
Parisa.
Nasr did tweet on July 6 that she regretted the tweet about Fadlallah as she did not explain the 'specific respect for standing up for Muslim women'. She posted a blog entry on CNN and said that this was a lesson as to why 140 characters should not be used to comment on matters as controversial or sensitive as those in the Middle East.
She explained that she used the words 'respect' and 'sad':
because to me as a Middle Eastern woman, Fadlallah took a contrarian and pioneering stand among Shia clerics on woman's rights. He called for the abolition of the tribal system of "honor killing." He called the practice primitive and non-productive. He warned Muslim men that abuse of women was against Islam.
Despite her deep regret, it appears she will no longer be with CNN.
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Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 11:24 on July 8th, 2010
Her remarks are not only offensive to myself as a Christian American, but it is a slap to the face of the Western world. Her sympathizing with a leader of a well known terrorist organization, who's aim is to destroy America, Israel and the rest of the free world, is absolutely despicable. Is this the position of the 'moderate' muslim woman? It would be the same as sympathizing with Hitler's demise. Disgusting. She should be ashamed of herself, and I believe owes an apology to America for her backstabbing rhetoric. You deserve to have been fired from CNN, and I believe you should not be allowed to work as an editor for any free press, or media organization. Your hate filled mission of undermining America and Israel over the years, has been exposed for the world to see.