Channel 4 breaks silence on Rachel Riley after fans demand she’s sacked over tweet
Channel 4 has issued a statement on Rachel Riley’s future after calls for the Countdown presenter to be sacked.
Riley was accused of perpetuating Islamophobia when she falsely claimed the Sydney mall stabbings were part of a “globalised Intifada”. Intifada is an Arabic word, which translates to “uprising” or “shaking off” and has been used to describe armed uprising of Palestinians against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The Sydney mall massacre, which saw six people lose their lives on Saturday, was carried out by Joel Cauchi, 40, from Queensland, who police said had been suffering from mental health issues and was not motivated by the Palestinian cause.
In the now-deleted tweet, which sparked a huge backlash, Riley wrote: “For 6 months now, people have been out on our streets proudly calling for the ‘Intifada Revolution. If you want to know what ‘Globalised Intifada’ looks like, see the Sydney Mall. 5 victims stabbed to death and 8 transferred to hospital, including a baby, due to one man and a knife.
“In the second intifada over 1,000 Israelis were murdered in restaurants, on buses and in the streets by suicide bombings, stabbings, stoning, lynching, shooting rockets. The youngest victim was just 9 hours old. Sydney mall, multiple times over is what they’ve been proudly calling for.”
A spokesperson for Channel 4 has since told MailOnline: “We have reminded Rachel of her obligations as a contributor to Channel 4 programming.”
Riley also posted an apology over her tweet although she said her original message had been “misunderstood”. “Just to clarify, my intention with this tweet was not to say this attack was caused by any ideation or to link it to Islamic extremism,” she wrote.
“At the time we did not know who the attacker was, and as such I made no reference. My aim was to highlight the weekly calls for “intifada” being tolerated in London and around the world, which in actuality means violence on our streets. For six months now, I have avoided taking the Tube, or going with my kids to anywhere near the marches each Saturday, and each week we see the extremist chants on proud display with little outcry.
“Sadly, the type of attack seen in Sydney yesterday is exactly the kind of violence the previous intifada involved and I hope to avoid in future, but in my opinion ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Attacks on Jews have recently become repackaged as ‘resistance’ in some circles, and we should in one voice condemn all acts of violence, whoever the perpetrators and whoever the victims. I am sorry if this message was misunderstood, that was not my intention.”
Rachel was awarded an MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to Holocaust education.
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