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Fired ABC journalist and radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf has said she “still loves” the public broadcaster and hopes to return to the air.
Lattouf was fired by ABC in December for her posts on the conflict in Gaza. She was just three days into a week of work as a substitute presenter on Radio Sydney’s morning show.
He has since taken legal action against the ABC before the Fair Work Commission, claiming the decision was political, based on his stance on Palestine and his Lebanese heritage.
Lattouf appeared on Abbie Chatfield’s It’s A Lot podcast Tuesday morning, and the host joked that she had lost ABC “as a friend.”
The journalist quickly clarified that she “still loves ABC” and said she “plans to get back on the air.”
Fired ABC journalist and radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf has said she “still loves” the public broadcaster and hopes to get back on air.
“An organization is only as good as the people who run it, and if they are brave, and I would say right now they are not,” Lattouf said.
“But as an institution I will always defend the ABC, our democracy is better for it.”
Discussing the legal action taken, Lattouf said he would “move forward.”
“As long as it takes because I think he’s much bigger than me and much more important than me,” he said.
Lattouf claims she was fired after sharing a Human Rights Watch post on her Instagram page that alleged the Israeli government was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza.
When podcast producer Lem Zhakaria asked Lattouf if she was “hesitant” to present her case to Fair Work, the journalist responded with a resounding: “No.”
Lattouf was fired by ABC in December for her posts on the Gaza conflict.
“There was already a front-page story about me when I got home, so I thought everyone was watching and it would set a precedent,” he said.
Chatfield also asked him if he thought the reaction to his views would have been different if he had been a “white man.”
“I absolutely think things would be different,” he said.
Lattouf has claimed that he was ordered to leave because he was expressing “a political opinion and also because of his race.”
But ABC has denied this, claiming the decision was made “not to require her” during the final two days of her five-day contract.
He claimed that she “failed or refused to comply” with instructions not to post on social media about controversial topics during the time she was presenting.
Hours after the podcast aired Tuesday, Lattouf’s legal representatives met for the first case management hearing.
The Federal Court was told that both parties were interested in going to mediation as soon as possible.
Abbie Chatfield interviewed Lattouf on her podcast It’s A Lot on Tuesday