According to a recent report from the American website Semafor, the MSNBC news channel has allegedly quietly removed three Muslim anchors amidst the ongoing Israeli siege of Gaza following Hamas attacks last Saturday.
The report claims that the channel canceled scheduled appearances by journalists Ayman Mohieddine, Mehdi Hasan, and Ali Velshi in the past week. Notably, the channel reportedly did not air “The Mehdi Hasan Show” on Thursday. Mehdi Hasan has previously worked for BBC and Al Jazeera and he has an active presence on Twitter.
The report further noted a reversal in the initial plan, where Ayman Mohieddine had to appear for broadcaster Joy Reid’s program on Thursday and Friday. Mohieddine, who is of Egyptian-American heritage, has covered the Israel-Palestine conflict for two years.
It’s worth mentioning Alicia Menendez also replaced Ali Velshi’s slot. Velshi had recently conducted an interview with a Palestinian Authority spokesman. All three of these journalists, apart from being Muslim, are experts on the Palestine-Israel issue.
However, an MSNBC official mentioned that the removal of these Muslim anchors did not take place. The official suggested that the network has chosen to stick with more “recognizable faces.” The official explained that Hasan’s show had already been recorded but was not aired as MSNBC aimed to keep its content current. Additionally, the official noted that Mohyeldin has been appearing as a guest on other shows within the network
