Jobs lost, voices censored: The fate of Westerners who speak up for Palestine

The conflict in Gaza has prompted a wave of shock resignations, cancellations and other forms of suppression of voice supporting Palestine. Counterintuitively, the efforts of suppression might be further turning public opinion towards the Palestinian cause. 

On 16 November, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and New York Times Magazine's poetry editor, Anne Boyer resigned. She expressed in her letter that the Israeli state's US-backed war on Gaza is unjust, and she won't write amid the tones "acclimatising" such suffering.

Consequently, The Telegraph published a column titled "This Appears to Be the Left's Most Pathetic Anti-Israel Protest Yet." The column sarcastically presented Anne's stance as a double standard and suggested that it wouldn't pose much of a problem for Bibi Netanyahu, stating, "Certainly, Netanyahu cannot survive this blow," and humorously adding, "Perhaps, at this very moment, he is shamefacedly drafting his resignation."

This is only one example. Covering a wide range of industries (such as entertainment, news media, politics, culture and sports), individuals continue to face backlash for taking a public stand in support of Palestine. In many cases, the backlash takes the form of forced resignation, cancelled contracts or outright firing of employees. 

Turmoil in newsrooms

Since the commencement of the recent Israeli conflict in Gaza, various media professionals have faced dismissals or suspensions under specific circumstances. For instance, Jackson Frank, a sports reporter in Philadelphia, was terminated from PhillyVoice.com due to his tweets expressing support for the Palestinian cause.

Zahraa Al-Akhrass was dismissed from her position at Canada's Global News because of her social media posts that highlighted the plight of the Palestinians. Kasem Raad also faced job termination at Welt TV, a subsidiary of the German media company Axel Springer, for questioning internal policies favouring Israel.

Issam Adwan, a Gaza reporter associated with the Associated Press, found himself suspended over recent and past social media posts criticising Israel as an apartheid regime. Additionally, a minimum of six Arab journalists at the BBC are currently undergoing an internal investigation regarding their social media activity, which is alleged to demonstrate an "anti-Israel bias," reported Aljazeera.

A petition signed by hundreds of writers labelling Israel as an apartheid state and criticising media coverage (including a New York Times editorial) of the ongoing war led to internal discussions at the New York Times Guild about staff members signing such petitions. NYT journalist Jazmine Hughes was forced to resign over her support for it, following a warning.

Media outlets are grappling with debates over staffers expressing personal views, with some instituting stricter social media policies. Open letters, like the one Hughes signed, have gained traction, and journalists are calling for precise terms like 'apartheid,' 'ethnic cleansing,' and 'genocide' in coverage of Israel's actions.

In an email to the staff, the NYT magazine editor Jake Silverstein wrote, "While I respect that she has strong convictions, this was a clear violation of the Times' policy on public protest."

The consequences of such stands are evident, as seen in Hughes's case, who had a distinguished eight-year career at the Times magazine. Her colleague, Jamie Lauren Keiles, also resigned on the same day after signing the Writers Against the War on Gaza letter.

The Times faced scrutiny for its initial framing of the Gaza hospital bombing, leading to protests and accusations of complicity in "laundering genocide." Photographer Nan Goldin even cancelled a job with the Times magazine, citing concerns about their reporting on the war in Gaza.

In a video interview with Democracy Now, Jazmine Hughes and Jamie Keiles argued that the scrutiny of pro-Palestinian activism at their former institution indicates a double standard and implies tacit support for Israel.

In another case, Artforum, an international monthly magazine, published an open letter in opposition to the conflict, which led to the firing of editor-in-chief David Velasco, who held the position for six years.

Following Artforum's firing of Velasco, Nan Goldin and other artists announced they would no longer collaborate with the publication, according to The New York Times.

At least four editors have resigned in response to Velasco's dismissal, the Times reported.

Zack Hatfield, a former senior editor for the magazine, announced online that he had left Artforum and called Velasco's firing "unacceptable." In addition to Velasco, another prominent editor was fired after making a Twitter post about Gaza.

Michael Eisen was removed as editor-in-chief of eLife, an academic science journal, Eisen confirmed in a post to X.

"I have been informed that I am being replaced as the Editor in Chief [of eLife] for retweeting a piece [from satirical US website the Onion] that calls out indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians," Eisen wrote.

An open letter to eLife and its board, which criticised Eisen's dismissal, has circulated and garnered nearly 2,000 signatures.

Turbulence in politics 

In the UK, conservative MP Paul Bristow was dismissed from his government job as a ministerial aide at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology after publicly urging UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. Bristow had written to the prime minister calling for an end to hostilities between Israel and Hamas. 

No. 10 stated that he was sacked because his comments were "not consistent with the principles of collective responsibility." Bristow is the first frontbencher on either side of the Commons to lose their job for advocating an end to hostilities. 

On 16 November, Sir Keir Starmer suffered the biggest rebellion of his leadership as eight Labour frontbenchers defied him over a vote for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Jess Phillips and seven other shadow ministers resigned or were sacked after being told they could not stay in the top team if they voted against the party's Israel policy.

Another two parliamentary aides, along with almost 50 backbench MPs, voted for a ceasefire in the territory, which has been under fire by Israeli forces since the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

The frontbench exodus is thought to be the biggest since 16 ministers left Boris Johnson's government in the dying days of his premiership in 2019. The vote came on the same day that Israeli forces stormed Gaza's biggest hospital, claiming to have found Hamas weapons stored among patients.

In the US, the Richmond City Council faced backlash for considering a resolution expressing support for Palestinians in Gaza.

What does the entertainment and culture industry say?  

On 15 November, in a star-studded National Book Awards ceremony featuring LeVar Burton as the host, Oprah Winfrey, Julie Andrews, Trevor Noah, Matthew McConaughey and Dua Lipa, the nominees stole the show with their collective moral courage.

After winning the 2023 National Book Award for Fiction, Justin Torres kept his remarks short as he, along with over a dozen finalists, used the platform to oppose the ongoing bombardment of Gaza and called for a ceasefire.

Following her remarks at a pro-Palestine rally over the weekend, Susan Sarandon was dismissed as a client by the Hollywood talent agency UTA, a representative for the agency confirmed to Deadline.

The Oscar-winning actor came under criticism for stating, "There are a lot of people afraid of being Jewish at this time and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country," during multiple pro-Palestine demonstrations.

Melissa Barrera, one of the lead performers in the upcoming Scream VII, has reportedly been fired due to a series of social media posts regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas. Barrera, who was initially set to reprise her role in Scream VI alongside Jenna Ortega, was abruptly terminated by Spyglass Media Group following her Instagram posts, one of which stated, "Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp."

Maha Dakhil, one of the top agents in Hollywood, has resigned from her leadership roles at Creative Artists Agency following the reposting of an Instagram story addressing Israel's treatment of Palestinians.

Dakhil is set to continue working with her top roster of clients, including Anne Hathaway, Tom Cruise, Ava DuVernay, and others, the LA Times reported.

However, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin has severed ties with Dakhil, stating, "She's just wrong," and departed from CAA, as reported by Variety. Dakhil had served as a long-time agent for the writer of The Social Network.

In contrast, Tom Cruise expressed support for Dakhil, informing the CAA of his endorsement and "took the rare step of going in person [to the CAA office] to show support" for her.

The recent controversy unfolded after Dakhil reposted an image on Instagram with the caption: "You're currently learning who supports genocide."

Dakhil added, "That's the line for me." She subsequently shared a second image that read: "What's more heartbreaking than witnessing genocide? Witnessing the denial that genocide is happening."

Following public backlash, Dakhil removed both images and issued a public apology.

"I'm so grateful to Jewish friends and colleagues who pointed out the implications and further educated me. I immediately took the repost down. I'm sorry for the pain I have caused," Dakhil said in a statement to Variety.

Recently, the Art Gallery of Ontario removed its inaugural and sole Indigenous art curator, Wanda Nanibush, from its website. This drew attention among arts and cultural workers to Nanibush's abrupt departure from Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). Concerns arose within the local arts community last week as observers noted Nanibush, the AGO's first curator of Canadian and Indigenous art, was no longer featured on the museum's website.

The situation took a new turn when an anonymously leaked complaint sent by the organisation Israel Museum and Arts, Canada (IMAAC) to the AGO on 16 October raised suspicions that Nanibush's public comments on the Israeli occupation and bombardment of Palestine may have influenced the decision.

The email complaint, signed by the leadership of the Toronto-based group, including Art Canada Institute Founder and Executive Director Sara Angel, alleges that Nanibush was "posting inflammatory, inaccurate rants against Israel."

In a parallel incident, renowned Chinese artist Ai Weiwei experienced the effective cancellation of his exhibition in London due to a social media post on the Gaza war. Ai Weiwei revealed that he chose to "avoid further disputes and prioritise my well-being."

A comparable incident unfolded in Germany as well. The Museum Folkwang in Essen cancelled part of a planned group show after a curator, Anaïs Duplan, engaged with pro-Palestine content on social media. Duplan, a writer, professor and curator, shared screenshots on Instagram of an email from Museum Folkwang director Peter Gorschlüter, stating that the institution decided to "suspend" their "collaboration."

Sports to be 'spiritless' 

The German football club Mainz 05 has terminated the contract of Anwar El Ghazi, originally a Dutch footballer, due to his social media posts related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In a statement on 3 November, Mainz announced the termination, citing "comments and posts from the player on social media" without providing further details.

Following his termination, El Ghazi posted on social media, stating, "Stand for what is right, even if it means standing alone."

In another instance, the Israeli Tennis Association has filed an official complaint with the Women's Tennis Association against Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur. The complaint was made in response to an Instagram story where Jabeur expressed support for Palestinians on 11 October. 

In her post, Jabeur emphasised the indescribable challenges faced by Palestinians over the past 75 years and called for peace, stating, "We all want to achieve peace. Peace is all we need and deserve. Stop the violence. Free Palestine." The ITA accused Jabeur of incitement and "supporting a terrorist organisation."

Additionally, Egyptian swimmer Abdelrahman Elaraby, after a significant win in the 2023 World Cup, shared that he faced death threats for his support of Palestine. Despite achieving a 50 butterfly upset against top competitors on 15 October in Athens, Elaraby expressed difficulty celebrating due to the harassment he received throughout the week. 

Atop the podium, he revealed, "I don't know if I can celebrate this, honestly. It has been a really mentally tough week for me. I've been getting death threats. People have been attacking me all week for supporting Palestine."

The double standards of criticism

When pro-Israeli celebrities or public figures take stands, they often face no consequences such as losing contacts or jobs. Amy Schumer is among a group of Jewish Hollywood stars and allies who signed an open letter to TikTok on 1 November, demanding that the platform do more to protect its content creators from antisemitism.

Comedian Schumer, along with celebrities like Debra Messing, Jason Biggs, Michael Rapaport, and Isaac Mizrahi, have shown their support for Israel without facing repercussions.

A visit to Michael Rapaport's Instagram proves a grim reality. Post after post, the actor – using inflammatory language – defends Israel's retaliation against Hamas and the collective punishment of Gaza's population. 

Amy Schumer, earlier in October, put up an Instagram post of a cartoon – depicting demonstrators in pro-Palestine marches with banners saying "Gazans rape Jewish girls only in self-defence," "Beheading is resistance," "Stab Jews for Allah," "Cutting off Jewish breasts for Palestine," etc. 

Schumer took down the post. It is yet to be seen if Rapaport or Schumer will face any consequential impact on their careers because of these public expressions in support of Israel while dehumanizing Palestinians. 

The double standard extends to sports as well. "Players on these teams who support Palestinian rights and oppose the occupation are being put in an awkward position," said Jules Boykoff, a professor at Pacific University in Oregon and a former professional football player, to Middle East Eye. 

Many fear punishment or cancellation for expressing pro-Palestinian views. For instance, NBA blogger Jackson Frank was fired by PhillyVoice after expressing solidarity with Palestine in response to a post by the Philadelphia 76ers expressing support for Israel.

According to Danyel Reiche, a visiting associate professor at Georgetown University in Qatar, there have always been double standards in openly showing support for either Israel or Palestine in the realm of sports.

He explained that in football, support for Israel by waving Israeli flags is usually accepted. For example, fans of Ajax Amsterdam and Tottenham Hotspurs frequently do so. However, instances of support for Palestine have sometimes been punished, such as when the UEFA Champions League fined the Scottish football club Celtic in 2016 for fans displaying the Palestinian flag during a match.

Nevertheless, not all are staying silent despite pressure from pro-Israel groups. 

Over 1,300 writers and publishers have decried the cancellation of events featuring Palestinian authors and artists. The letter of support, signed by several Nobel laureates and Booker Prize winners, condemns the cancellation of events featuring Palestinian art, voices and stories across Europe in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on Israel. The effort is led by ArabLit, an organisation that publishes ArabLit Quarterly magazine featuring translated works from Arabic.