Axed journalist Antoinette Lattouf bragged she “could not be fired” over her views on Israel and Gaza just days before signing an ill-fated agreement with the ABC.
Ms Lattouf was dismissed in late December, three days into a five-day hosting gig on the ABC’s Radio Sydney morning show.
She says she was axed due to her political views on the Israel and Gaza war, as well as her Lebanese heritage, while the ABC claims it was because Ms Lattouf was warned not to share controversial social media posts while working for the national broadcaster but continued to do so.
Now, it’s been revealed Ms Lattouf believed she couldn’t be fired in her capacity as a freelance journalist and didn’t look kindly upon publications that didn’t want to work with her due to her pro-Palestine beliefs.
On November 24, just three days before signing on to work for the ABC, Ms Lattouf shared a three-minute video to social media, praising journalists who had signed an open letter calling for newsrooms to treat unverified information from Israel’s government or terror group Hamas with the same “professional scepticism”.
She threw her weight behind the letter and declared: “As an independent and freelance journalist, nobody can fire me”.
Ms Lattouf then laughed and said: “I will certainly be using my voice and sharing my concerns.
“I have thought about future job prospects, so if somebody doesn’t want to work with me because I care about dozens of journalists who have been slaughtered by doing their work, because I care about the thousands and thousands of children who have been killed and civilians harmed … then honestly f**k them.”
The ABC says Ms Lattouf was let go due to her social media activity, which included — before she was employed by the national broadcaster — repeatedly questioning whether videos of pro-Palestinian protesters chanting “gas the Jews” at Sydney’s Opera House were verified.
On December 20, she shared a post from Human Rights Watch that read: “The Israeli government is using starvation of civilians as a weapon of war in Gaza.”
It was the latter post, shared on Ms Lattouf’s third day working for the ABC, that saw her employment terminated.
Ms Lattouf has launched legal proceedings against the ABC over her dismissal, claiming she was discriminated against because of her Lebanese heritage and political expression.
The ABC, however, says these allegations are “without merit” and claims Ms Lattouf was let go due to her refusal to follow directions about posting on social media.
It claims Ms Lattouf was asked not to share posts about controversial topics while working for the ABC — a conversation that took place before her December 20 Human Rights Watch post.
The ABC also says it did not fire Ms Lattouf but rather decided “not to require” her services for the final two days of her hosting gig.
The ABC has reeled from the fallout of Ms Lattouf’s short employment.
More than 100 ABC staff who are members of the media union, the Media, Entertainment, Arts & Alliance, gathered on Monday for a no-confidence vote about the ABC’s managing director David Anderson.
They voted no confidence in Mr Anderson by 125 to three, saying he had failed to protect ABC staff from outside attacks.
Reports this week revealed a group called Lawyers for Israel campaigned for Ms Lattouf to be ousted, urging members to flood the ABC with complaints about her.
The ABC has denied any accusations that it bowed to external pressure when sacking Ms Lattouf.