Arabic press review: US hospital fires Palestinian doctor for criticising Israel
US hospital fires Palestinian doctor for criticising Israel
A children's hospital in the US state of Arizona has fired a Palestinian doctor for criticising Israel on Facebook, al-Quds al-Arabi reports.
Dr Fidaa Weshah, who is from the Gaza Strip, was dismissed from her job at the Phoenix hospital after writing a Facebook post about Israel's recent bombing of Gaza.
Weshah, who is a pediatric radiologist, address Israel in the post, stating that "a country based on brutality, racism and cannibalism will not last for long."
"Israel can bomb news agencies’ headquarters in Gaza and major media studios, but we have our phones and social media platforms to expose the massacres and genocide which the Zionists are proud of committing," she wrote.
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"From our windows, from our streets, next to the ruins, we will reveal your true face to the world. We will expose your thirst to kill our Palestinian children, using our small platforms.”
As a result, many pro-Israel social media users called on the Phoenix Children's Hospital to fire her.
The hospital said that its team was currently looking into the matter, reported the newspaper. The hospital's Twitter account has since said that Weshah "is no longer providing care at Phoenix Children's".
Turkey clamps down on Egyptian dissidents
Turkish authorities have asked Egyptian opposition media professionals to suspend their broadcasting from Turkey, Arabi21 quoted well informed sources as saying.
The Turkish request comes amid ongoing talks between Cairo and Ankara with a view to reconciliation, following years of tension between the two countries.
Egyptian sources told Arabi21 on Wednesday that a high-ranking delegation from the Egyptian foreign ministry will soon visit the Turkish capital, Ankara, to follow up on the ongoing negotiations between the two countries.
The sources added that the delegation will continue discussing common issues, the most important of which are Libya, the demarcation of maritime borders in the eastern Mediterranean and resuming relations between the two countries.
A delegation from Turkey's foreign ministry visited Cairo on 5 May after being invited by their Egyptian counterparts. The two parties held talks that have been described as "exploratory".
Relations between the two countries have been at a low ebb since the military coup that ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, but regional and international developments have prompted Cairo and Ankara to seek to establish common interests.
Fuel crisis hits Lebanon’s foreign ministry
The depletion of fuel for electricity generators led to a power outage at the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, paralysing the department's work and disrupting transactions by Lebanese citizens and residents, reported Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
The whole of Lebanon been suffering on a daily basis from a shortage of diesel and gasoline.
Long hours of power cuts have hit Lebanon after electricity rationing measures reached 22-hours per day in most regions, according to the newspaper.
Abdo Saadeh, head of the syndicate of private generator owners, said the situation was tragic and confirmed that "diesel tanks owned by most generators’ operators are either empty or about to run out, which means turning off the generators.”
Saadeh indicated that electric generators were already being shut off in many areas as a result of fuel depletion and added that refineries had been closed for five consecutive days, describing the situation as tragic.
Jordanians detained in Saudi demand government intervention
The families of dozens of Jordanian detainees in Saudi prisons have called on their country's government to intervene in order to release their relatives, reported the New Khalij.
The detainees’ families staged a sit-in on Wednesday in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building in Amman, during which they denounced the decision of the Saudi authorities to postpone the trials of the Jordanian prisoners, extending the detention period without justification.
The Specialised Criminal Court in Riyadh postponed the verdict, which was scheduled to be pronounced last Monday, to early October.
The protestors in front of the Jordanian foreign ministry carried the detainees’ pictures and demanded their release, stressing that they had not committed any wrongdoing that required their arrest more than two years ago.
The special committee to follow up on the file of detainees in Saudi Arabia said that the sit-in was meant to demand the Jordanian government take a "serious" stance towards what they described as "procrastination on the part of the Saudi side to solve the file."
*Arabic press review is a digest of reports that are not independently verified as accurate by Middle East Eye
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