An ABC news producer based in Jerusalem has deleted his Twitter account after the national broadcaster was alerted to a series of his social media posts in which he compares Israeli police to Nazis, and warns of a Zionist conspiracy to take over the entire Middle East.
Fouad Abu Gosh, who has worked as a news producer for the ABC since 2014, and won a Walkley Award in 2016 for his reporting from Syria, may have breached the national broadcaster’s social media policy with his provocative anti-Israel posts.
One year ago, the ABC’s managing director David Anderson announced an overhaul of the guidelines surrounding staff members’ personal use of social media platforms, after several high-profile journalists at the taxpayer-funded giant attracted criticism for inappropriate and defamatory posts.
Mr Anderson reminded staff that they should have a disclaimer on their social media accounts making it clear that posts or likes “are your personal view and do not represent the views of the ABC”.
Prior to the deletion of his Twitter account last week, the bio on Abu Gosh’s page read: “Middle East producer for Australian Broadcasting Corporation, opinions are mine and ABC’s.”
In October last year, Abu Gosh warned that “there is a great Zionist project to dominate and control all Arabs in the region!!”.
Read the article by James Madden in The Australian.