A CNN photojournalist and photo editor with a history of anti-Semitic tweets tendered his resignation Thursday after facing intense criticism.
Mohammed Elshamy had various tweets referring to Jews as "pigs" and appearing to celebrate the terrorist group Hamas. They began circulating online on Thursday. He labeled Jews killed by a bomb in 2011 as "pigs."
Thursday evening, the Washington Free Beacon received the following response to its inquiry about Elshamy: "The network has accepted the resignation of a photo editor, who joined CNN earlier this year, after anti-Semitic statements he’d made in 2011 came to light. CNN is committed to maintaining a workplace in which every employee feels safe, secure and free from discrimination regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion."
It's easy to see why Jewish or Israeli people might not feel safe around Elshamy.
"More than 4 jewish pigs killed in #Jerusalem today by the Palestinian bomb explode. #Israel #Gaza," Elshamy tweeted in 2011.
Hey @CNN,
Interesting choice of hire here. Was 'anti Semitic bigot" in the job description? pic.twitter.com/SSW3rRifHU— Harry Khachatrian (@Harry1T6) July 25, 2019
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/50557057551695872?s=20
"HAMAS HAMAS HAMAS #Anti-Israel #Gaza #Palestine #Hamas," he tweeted in 2010.
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/14673624883535873?s=20
In October 2011, he tweeted about liberation from "zionist pigs."
"Despite everything happening now in Egypt. I'm proud of the army generation that liberated us from the zionist pigs @ 6 october 1973 #israel," he wrote.
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/121910685977415680?s=20
Elshamy celebrated the removal of the Israeli flag from Israel's embassy in Cairo in August 2011. Several weeks after the flag was removed, protesters stormed the embassy.
"Only in #Egypt you find the Zionist embassy being a flag-less embassy 🙂 #cairo #israeliembassy #israel," Elshamy tweeted.
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/105111564889239552?s=20
"Thr flag has been removed ALLAHU AKBAR #israeliembassy #cairo #egypt #israel," he wrote the same day.
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/105067490131984385?s=20
A few months prior to the embassy attack, he tweeted the following:
https://twitter.com/elshamyme/status/72288976937037824?s=20
Last year, CNN fired contributor Marc Lamont Hill after he delivered a controversial speech before the United Nations in which he said that while he prefers nonviolence, standing with the Palestinian people meant supporting the use of violence as well.
"We must prioritize peace, but we must not romanticize or fetishize it," Hill said.
Hill also said he believes in "a free Palestine from the river to the sea," a phrase used by those who believe a future Palestinian state should include the entirety of current Israeli territory, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
Updated 10:28 p.m.: This piece was updated with CNN's reply to a request for comment, in which they said Elshamy resigned.