CNN Photo Editor Quits after Anti-Semitic Tweets Surface

July 26, 2019 Cnaan Liphshiz

The CNN Center building in Atlanta (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

An award-winning CNN photo editor resigned after anti-Semitic tweets he made in 2011 were discovered.

Mohammed Elshamy, an Egyptian-born former photojournalist and documentary filmmaker with the Turkish Anadolu news agency, quit on July 25 after an employee of Israel’s Government Press Office flagged on Twitter some of the anti-Semitic statements by Elshamy.

Elshamy, 25, who recently graduated from Cairo University, began working at CNN in January.

“Morethan 4 jewish pigs killed in #Jerusalem today by the Palestinian bomb explode.#Israel #Gaza,” read one of his tweets, following a terrorist attack.

The bombing killed a 59-year-old Scottish Christian woman who was studying Bible in Israel and severely injured Hodaya Asulin, a 14-year-old Israeli girl who died of her injuries six years later. The attack left about 50 other people injured.

“Despite everything happening now in Egypt, I’m proud of the army generation that liberated us from the zionist pigs @ 6 october 1973 #israel,” Elshamy, who worked at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, wrote in another tweet from 2011, referencing the Yom Kippur War between Egypt and Israel.

Israel is the main enemy for the people of Egypt and shall always remain despite rulers who lick Jewish legs,” Elshamy wrote in yet another tweet, according to The Hill.

On July 26, Elshamy, who was 16 at the time of the tweets, “unequivocally” apologized on Twitter for the statements, “to everyone, especially those in the Jewish community, who were offended by the tweets. I also want to apologize to my family, friends, and mentors who I am ashamed to have let down in this way. … I will continue to work on becoming a better person who does not discriminate, hate, or accept injustice, and I will continue to hold myself accountable for my actions, and work to correct any harm I have caused.”

“The network has accepted the resignation of a photo editor, who joined CNN earlier this year, after anti-Semitic statements he’d made in 2011 came to light,” a CNN network spokesman, Matt Dornic, said in a statement to media outlets. “CNN is committed to maintaining a workplace in which every employee feels safe, secure and free from discrimination regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation or religion.”

Cnaan Lipshiz writes for the JTA international news agency and wire service.