A Palestinian journalist in the Greater Toronto Area says she was fired for posting comments about the Israel-Gaza war on her social media and speaking up about the atrocities she believes her people are currently suffering.
“I’ve got some personal news to share. Global News fired me for speaking up about Palestine on my social media accounts,” Zahraa Al-Akhrass shared to Instagram last week.
Since then, her video has amassed almost three millions views on Instagram as of publication.
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“Being their only Palestinian journalist in the newsroom I thought my voice would matter the most to them during these times,” she continued.
Al-Akhrass goes on to share that she was officially removed on Oct. 17, the same day an airstrike hit the Ahli Arab Hospital in northern Gaza, reportedly killing 500 people.
“I was on a phone call with a senior leader with Global to be told I’m fired for everything I’ve been posting. Not a single word of sympathy, no regard to the humanitarian crisis, the genocide the world is witnessing and that I’m personally affected by.”
According to her, she was not only told to take down every post with the hashtags #FreePalestine, #GazaGenocide and #GazaUnderAttack but that her stance made her appear unbalanced.
“Global was literally asking me to look at these horrific images and detach myself from my identity, my own people and say nothing,” she continued.
On Global News’ website, it says Al-Akhrass is a former employee of Global News.
According to Al-Akhrass’ LinkedIn profile, she worked at Global News from Feb. 2020 to Oct. 2023.
Her story was widely shared on Twitter, including the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) who posted her video which garnered over 550,000 views as of publication.
“We are deeply concerned about the alleged firing of a Palestinian journalist by Global News,” the NCCM said.
“Our legal team will be reaching out to provide support as needed. We will also be reaching out to Global News to better understand the reasoning behind the decision,” it added.
A Global News spokesperson told Now Toronto that due to confidentiality reasons, they are unable to provide comment on specific employee matters.
“Commentary by our employees expressing or amplifying violence or discrimination against any group is not condoned and is a violation of our company policies,” they said in an email statement.
“While we respect and welcome a diversity of views by individuals, Global News must remain fair and unbiased. Our employees are expected to uphold our ethical codes including our Journalistic Principles and Practices which limit how personal opinions are shared publicly by journalists.”
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Al-Akhrass followed up with another video on Wednesday.
“My termination of employment was with cause, meaning the company wasn’t legally required to pay me any severance, however, I was offered an amount of money to stay quiet and not go public with my story,” she said.
“This is only to further silence me and I find myself forced to say it in public in defense of some accusations being circulated to discredit me. This pattern of oppression of Palestinian voices must stop,” she continued.
