Full List of Journalists Fired Over Pro-Palestinian Remarks

At least two journalists have been sacked from their jobs after expressing support for Palestinians since the latest outbreak of violence between Israel and Hamas.

Jackson Frank, a sports writer for Philadelphia local news outlet PhillyVoice, and Michael Eisen, editor-in-chief of life sciences academic journal eLife, have both been removed from their posts over remarks they have made regarding the conflict since fighting broke out on October 7.

Meanwhile, other reporters have been taken off air over their social media posts and one cartoonist had their contract with a British newspaper terminated after penning an illustration attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu which many thought included an antisemitic trope. The removals follow several previous sackings at international news outlets.

On October 13, satirical news site The Onion published a piece with the headline: "Dying Gazans Criticized For Not Using Last Words To Condemn Hamas."

Eisen, who is Jewish and has Israeli family members, responded to the piece posting on X ,formerly Twitter: "The Onion speaks with more courage, insight and moral clarity than the leaders of every academic institution put together. I wish there were a TheOnion university.

"Every sane person on Earth is horrified and traumatized by what Hamas did and wants it to never happen again," he added. "But I am also horrified by the collective punishment already being meted out on Gazans, and the worse that is about to come."

Then, on Tuesday, eLife's board of directors released a statement in which it said it had decided to replace Eisen as editor.

"Mike has been given clear feedback from the board that his approach to leadership, communication and social media has at key times been detrimental to the cohesion of the community we are trying to build and hence to eLife's mission," the statement read. "It is against this background that a further incidence of this behavior has contributed to the board's decision."

While eLife's board of directors did not specifically mention the tweet, Eisen wrote the previous day that he had been informed he was being replaced for, as he put it, "retweeting a TheOnion piece that calls out indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians."

On October 8, the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team released a statement in which it said: "We stand with the people of Israel and join them in mourning the hundreds of innocent lives lost to terrorism at the hands of Hamas."

It came a day after around 1,500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants launched a surprise attack on Israel, killing civilians, including children and the elderly.

In a since-deleted post, Frank responded: "This post sucks! Solidarity with Palestine always."

PhillyVoice CEO Hal Donnelly told The New York Post in a statement on October 9 that Frank's employment with the outlet had been ended that day, adding: "We stand with everyone who is absolutely outraged by the senseless attacks in Israel, by the loss of innocent lives and violence against civilians."

Frank has since continued to comment on the conflict, claiming Western media was a driving force behind the "acceptance of Zionism and Palestinian genocide," and that there was Palestinian "blood on the hands of so many politicians, organizations, journalists and media outlets."

Early last week, the BBC took six reporters for its Arabic news service off the air and launched an investigation over allegations of breaching the corporation's strict impartiality rules over claims some appeared to show support for Hamas on social media.

The British state broadcaster has previously faced criticism for its reporting on the Israel-Palestine conflict, and recently resisted pressure to refer to Hamas as "terrorists." One reporter, Noah Abrahams, told TalkTV he resigned from his role at the corporation over its refusal to do so.

Around the same time, The Guardian newspaper said it would not be renewing the contract of one of its longest-serving cartoonists, Steve Bell, after he complained on X about its decision not to run an illustration in which he depicted Netanyahu cutting a square of his stomach out with a scalpel in the shape of Gaza.

According to Bell, the paper thought it was a reference to the antisemitic trope in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in which a Jewish character demands a "pound of flesh," representing the supposed cruelty of Jews—something Bell has denied he was referencing in the cartoon.

Earlier in the year, two France24 journalists were fired for allegedly making antisemitic tweets. The Jerusalem Post reported that in one case a correspondent had made social media posts praising Hitler and calling on Palestinians to kill Jews. The posts have since reportedly been deleted.

In 2021, The Associated Press faced criticism for firing a young journalist after her pro-Palestinian social media activity as a student, which included calling for a "free Palestine," drew attention from conservative outlets.

The agency said at the time that she had reposted items since joining the company which appeared sympathetic to Palestinians, and that AP policy prohibited employees from openly expressing their views on current affairs.