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.
A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.
If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
