Saturday 2 October 2010

CNN axes Sanchez after anti-Jew remarks


[ 02/10/2010 - 02:16 PM ]

ATLANTA, (PIC)-- Anti-Arab CNN on Friday announced it fired anchor Rick Sanchez a day after he assailed The Daily Show Jewish host John Stewart as a "bigot" and suggested that CNN and the other media outlets are run by Jews.

Sanchez made his remarks Thursday on the Sirius XM radio show "Stand Up! with Pete Dominick".

CNN acted within 24 hours and declared Sanchez was no longer with the network. "We thank Rick for his years of service and we wish him well," according to its statement.

The Daily Show retaliated and considered Sanchez an intellectual lightweight compared to CNN stars Anderson Cooper and Wolf Blizter and made him the butt of jokes, which Sanchez resented and described as racist.

CNN has always fought perceptions that it is pro-Arab and anti-Israel. In July, CNN fired veteran Middle East correspondent Octavia Nasr after she tweeted about the passing of Hezbollah's Mohamed Fadlallah saying that she respected him a lot.


Sanchez’s first mistake

by Philip Weiss on October 2, 2010 · 

I must point out that Rick Sanchez, who was unceremoniously fired by CNN today for talking some trash about Jon Stewart and the Jewish ownership of networks, was one of the few network anchors to give any attention to the Palestinian side of the story. He was plainly alarmed by the Israeli assault on Gaza in 08-09. He interviewed Palestinian lawyer Diana Buttu. And below, he interviewed Mustafa Barghouti, and showed that Israel broke the cease-fire ahead of the Gaza onslaught. 

As for his recent comments about Jews not being an oppressed minority and Jews owning the television networks-- it seems to me that these are legitimate subjects for discussion. Maybe his tone was inappropriate, maybe he should have gotten out the kid gloves. But they are legitimate subjects; and the manner of Sanchez's dispatching is only likely to feed uninformed debate about the nature of the American establishment. Let's talk about it.
Of course I hope that in his next incarnation Sanchez looks more deeply into the Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Somehow I sense that's not in the cards...


River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian

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