Al Jazeera America Dumps Chief Amid Anti-Semitism Flap
Image by Getty Images
Al Jazeera America replaced its chief executive officer in the wake of a lawsuit by a former employee alleging that he was the victim of workplace anti-Semitism.
Ehab Al Shihabi, who has headed the news network since it began operations in 2013, was replaced on Wednesday by Al Anstey, the former managing director of Al Jazeera America.
In his $15 million lawsuit filed last week, Matthew Luke claims that he was fired after complaining about the conduct of his boss, Osman Mahmud. Luke alleges that Mahmud made derogatory comments about Israel, women and the United States.
Al Shihabi wrote in an email to Al Jazeera staff on Wednesday announcing Anstey’s new position that he would remain at Al Jazeera America as chief operating officer, The Wall Street Journal reported. The newspaper quoted an unnamed senior source at the network as saying that Al Shihabi’s departure from Al Jazeera America was “imminent.”
Al Jazeera America, which is funded by the government of Qatar, reportedly will fight Luke’s charges. A statement issued by the network on Monday called the allegations in the lawsuit “false and malicious.”
Three female executives have quit since Luke filed his charges.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
, editor-in-chiefSupport our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
