Mehdi Hasan among three Muslim anchors suspended by MSNBC following attacks in Gaza by Israeli occupation

SHAH ALAM - Three Muslim news anchors have been suspended from American news network MSNBC, following the recent destruction of Gaza City and Palestinians by the Israeli occupation.

Arab News quoted sources that Mehdi Hasan, Ayman Mohieddine and Ali Velshi were “quietly taken out of the anchor’s chair since Hamas’ attack on Israel.”

It said MSNBC decided to stop airing the 'The Mehdi Hasan Show' weekly programme and scrapped the plans of having Mohieddine to anchor Joy Reid's show on Thursday and Friday. Sources also revealed that Velshi was being replaced by another anchor for his upcoming weekend shows.

Despite sources confirmation with Arab News on the matter, MSNBC has denied that Hasan and Mohieddine were being sidelined in any way, according to newsportal Semafor.

"There is a lot of unclarity over what happens next. But the mood is very similar to what had happened post 9/11 with the whole you are either with us or against us argument.

"Sadly, this has now gone beyond political views and is targeting anchors of a particular faith," one of the sources told Arab News.

Although Velshi continues to provide ground reports for other programmes, it said the fate of the three anchors on the network remains unclear.

Israel's "response" to Hamas' ressistance invasion of an outdoor music festival in southern Israel has entered its 10th day today and is expected to escalate further following its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to "demolish Hamas" as his troops prepared to move into the Gaza Strip yesterday.

“We will crush and destroy it,” Netanyahu pledged to Israelis in a televised address Wednesday.

As of Oct 14, a total of 1,900 Palestinians have been killed this year while Israeli death stands at 1,300. For the past 15 years since 2008, a total of 8,080 Palestinians and 1,579 Israelies have died.