CNN has fired one of its freelance writers last week after he tweeted, “The world today needs a Hitler,” the company said in a statement Sunday.
“Adeel Raja has never been a CNN employee,” CNN spokesman Matt Dornic said in a statement, which was later posted on Twitter. “As a freelancer, his reporting contributed to some news gathering efforts from Islamabad. However, in light of these abhorrent statements, he will not be working with CNN again in any capacity.”
The Washington Examiner reported that Adeel Raja wrote the now-deleted tweet around 1 p.m. on Sunday. That same day, several more tweets from the freelancer praising Hitler were discovered, including one that said, “Hail Hitler!” and another that stated, “The only reason I am supporting Germany in the finals is – Hitler was a German and he did good with those Jews!”
“This guy has 54 articles under his byline at CNN. They should probably fire whoever does their background checks,” The Daily Caller’s Greg Price tweeted, along with screenshots of Raja’s tweets.
After his termination from CNN, Raja, who has contributed to CNN since at least 2014, posted on Twitter saying he did not regret the tweet that got him fired because it raised awareness of Palestine’s cause.
“Glad a single tweet contributed to the #Palestine cause and brought it to limelight with me loosing my job and the West’s claim of Freedom of expression and human rights!” he tweeted.
On Wednesday, Raja also tweeted, “Hammas is not a terrorist organization,” referring to the Hamas Islamic Resistance Movement whose charter explicitly calls for Israel’s destruction.
“Israel for sure is a terrorist,” the tweet continued.
His comments come amid escalating conflict in the Middle East after Hamas bombarded Israel with sustained rocket fire from Gaza for days. As of Thursday, the fighting had continued for 11 days.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Security Cabinet approved a cease-fire Thursday as part of a truce with Hamas, intending to put an end to an 11-day military operation in Gaza.
“The Political Security Cabinet unanimously accepted … the Egyptian initiative for a bilateral ceasefire without any conditions,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.
On Wednesday, Biden had told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a call that he “expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire.” Shortly after, Netanyahu released a public statement vowing to continue the strikes on Hamas terrorists.
“I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved: to restore calm and security to you, the citizens of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a public announcement to Israelis.
Israel Defense Forces said on Wednesday afternoon that 4,000 rockets had been fired at Israel over 10 days.
The conflict began May 10 when Gaza fired rockets at Jerusalem after clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a sacred site, the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Israel responded with many airstrikes on Hamas locations, taking out weapons storage and launching equipment, computer systems, tunnel systems, and even the group’s commanders.
