Usman Khawaja Backs Australian Cricket Journalist Dumped For Gaza Posts

Usman Khawaja Backs Australian Cricket Journalist Dumped For Gaza Posts (Image Source: AFP)

Australian Test opener Usman Khawaja has come out swinging for a cricket journalist dropped from radio coverage of the Sri Lanka tour for retweeting posts about the conflict in Gaza.

Peter Lalor said Australia's Sports Entertainment Network (SEN) told him his retweets were imbalanced, insensitive to one side and had sparked many complaints.

In a statement Monday, Lalor said network boss Craig Hutchison told him that he had "made people feel unsafe" and could not work for the station any more as a freelancer.

The Australian journalist said he was not anti-Semitic and felt compassion to both sides living in fear in the conflict "yet I cannot remain quiet when so many innocent people are being slaughtered".

Khawaja subsequently posted the story on social media, saying "standing up for the people of Gaza is not anti-Semitic nor does it have anything to do with my Jewish brothers and sisters in Australia".

But it had "everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions", he added.

"Unfortunately, hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist. Peter is a good guy with a good heart. He deserves better."

SEN confirmed in a statement published by Australian media that it had split with Lalor, who had been covering the tour on a freelance basis.

Hutchison said in the statement he and Lalor had discussed the journalist's social media feed but had a "different view of the impact of that in the Australian community".

"We respect Pete as a journalist and long-time contributor to the game but also acknowledge the fear that many families in our community feel right now, and we also need to respect that," he said.