Samira Nasr Harper Bazaar’s Editor in Chief forced to apologise after risking being cancelled over comments relating to Palestine-Israel conflict following Hamas terror attack on civilians.
When the media coverage is all one sided and one dares points out the obvious- they are silenced by the mob.
Harper Bazaar’s Editor in Chief, Samira Nasr has been forced to do an about face after becoming the target of a tirade of social media dissent after making a statement regarding the current Palestine-Israel conflict following Hamas terror attack last weekend.
In an initial post on Instagram, Nasr, 59, responding to the embittered feud engulfing Palestine and Israel in the Gaza Strip wrote: ‘Cutting off water and electricity to 2.2 million civilians, This is the most inhumane thing I’ve seen in my life.’
Someone who works at Hearst, please share the statement they released against her. Because all of a sudden, companies want to have a moral compass. It’s really disheartening. https://t.co/NuAUrmWdJY
— Spooky Channél (@lovecocojo) October 13, 2023
When a worker’s values do not align with their employers or the predominant narrative
The statement came off the heels of Israel’s response to the horrific slaughter of up to 1200 civilians at the hands of militant group, Hamas over the weekend. The group’s actions come amid ongoing discontent in the area, with accusations of open apartheid state, the theft of Palestine civilian land by Israel settlers and the ongoing containment of 2 million people in an open prison amid ongoing draconian action by the increasingly right wing government of Benjamin Netanyahu.
Nasr, come Thursday said she was sorry in an Instagram post.
Wrote Nasr: ‘I want to apologise to my friends, colleagues, and the entire Jewish community for my deeply insensitive and hurtful comments. I have no hate in my heart for any people, and I am not in any way sympathetic to a terrorist group that just murdered thousands of innocent Israeli civilians I’m a firm believer that words matter, and I was careless with mine. My most sincere apologies.’
Her apology came as Hearst executives sent out their own memo distancing the corporate entity from the views of their ‘controversial editor’ along with pledging $300,000 to charitable groups in the region.
Read the company memo: ‘The post expressed views that do not represent Hearst’s values and I know that it offended and upset many of our colleagues, partners and readers. We are horrified by the brutality of the terrorist attacks by Hamas and the people of Israel.’
These are the deeply unwell conservatives Hearst thought it was worth caving to. Samira Nasr did NOT say anything anti-semitic, how dare you twist her words & threaten her job. https://t.co/W9SOxHyKjw pic.twitter.com/UjNLqzM5T6
— porochista khakpour she/her پوروچیستا خاکپور (@PKhakpour) October 13, 2023
What ever happened to neutral and even handed reporting of events?
The about face comes as legacy media continues to give a seemingly one sided account of last weekend’s horrific massacre, while omitting to contemplate the events and ongoing fissures that led to Hamas enacting ‘it’s revenge’ (no matter how despicable) on what the group claims is systematic oppression on Palestinians.
While no sane media agent seeks to condone the slaughter of civilians and children, it should be understood, the Palestinians who have sought to find their own autonomy have also suffered great loss of civilian life, especially the death and maiming of their own children ongoing at the hands of the Israeli state. It was inevitable that some kind of revolt, as hideous, deplorable and atrocious as Hamas actions were amid ongoing fissures between the two sides.
Nasr’s comments seemingly sought to address the ongoing pathos of both sides, acknowledging the delicate and highly complex situation that continues to lead to bloodshed on both sides, more than 70 years since Israel coming to creation as its own state in the aftermath of the atrocities of WW2 and the displacement of a wide Jewish contingency – who sought to ‘come home’ to their own state amid persecution and Europe’s Holocaust.
actually sickening to see samira nasr targeted for saying cutting off water and electricity to 2.2 million civilians (half of whom are CHILDREN) is inhuman. it fucking is, and if you can rationalize it in any way i don’t understand you & don’t want to
— preorder MORE, PLEASE (out 6/18/24), thanks, ily (@EmmaSpecter) October 13, 2023
Is one life worth more than another?
Nasr’s apology according to the nypost was forced, with the editor on thin ice at the company.
‘Samira is fighting for her job,’ a Hearst employee told the tabloid.
Nasr according to the source is now personally reaching to Jewish staffers and apologizing.
‘She’s eating crow,’ the source added.
‘People need to be held accountable,’ offered the Hearst insider. ‘Nasr always preached she hates cancel culture. Well, now she is about to experience it.’
The 59-year-old Nasr, who grew up in Montreal, is no stranger to controversy.
In 2021, during a flareup in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis, Nasr posted on Instagram: ‘One cannot advocate for racial equality, LGBT & women’s rights, condemn corrupt & abusive regimes and other injustices yet choose to ignore the Palestinian oppression. It does not add up. You cannot pick & choose whose human rights matter more.’
At the time, Hearst, which publishes glossies like Elle, Cosmopolitan and Esquire, did not publicly address the Instagram post.
Israel has in the days past has called up around 300,000 reservists as it plans to storm Gaza in an effort to free the more than 100 hostages who were taken during last weekend’s terrorist acts by Hamas. In days since, at least 1,537 people, including 447 children, have been killed in Gaza amid Israel military response in the region.
