A sports reporter in Philadelphia has lost his job after tweeting his “solidarity” with Palestine in the wake of Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel.
Jackson Frank, a writer who covered the Philadelphia 76ers professional basketball team, is “no longer employed by PhillyVoice.com” after he expressed support for the Palestinian cause on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, PhillyVoice.com chief executive Hal Donnelly told the New York Post.
Frank’s departure stemmed from his response to a tweet by the 76ers about the escalating violence in Israel and Gaza, where hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian civilians have died, first from a deadly incursion by Hamas militants over the weekend and then from retaliatory airstrikes from the Israeli military.
The 76ers tweeted: “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,” along with the hashtag #StandWithIsrael.
Frank responded by quoting the tweet while adding: “This post sucks! Solidarity with Palestine always.” Frank, who had only recently joined PhillyVoice.com as a sports reporter, has since deleted the tweet.
The deteriorating situation in the Middle East has exposed schisms in the US, which has traditionally been a staunch ally of Israel. A pro-Palestine rally has been held for two days in New York City while dueling protests supporting the Palestinians and Israelis have faced off in Boston.
Joe Biden has condemned what he called the “appalling terrorist assault” against Israel, which involved the killing of hundreds of people, including those attending a music festival, and the kidnapping of dozens of others. Biden has added that the “American people stand shoulder to shoulder with Israelis”.
Republicans have, however, accused the Biden administration of being “complicit” in the attacks by claiming, misleadingly, that a deal to partly lift sanctions on Iran helped fund the attacks by Hamas.
According to polling taken prior to the latest surge in violence, Americans’ sympathies are still mostly with Israel but the picture is changing. More Democrats are now sympathetic to the Palestinian cause than they are of Israel, according to a Gallup poll in March, even as Republican voters remain overwhelmingly more aligned with Israel’s view of the conflict.
Frank was not the only media figure to lose his job after expressing support for Palestine. As the Daily Beast reported, the adult magazine Playboy terminated a partnership with the Lebanese American social media influencer and former porn actor Mia Khalifa after she expressed solidarity with Palestine after the Hamas attacks in Israel.
Playboy reportedly said it had spiked its deal with Khalifa because she had made “disgusting and reprehensible comments”.
