'He deserves better': Usman Khawaja shows solidarity with sacked journalist for supporting Palestine

Australian opener Usman Khawaja came out in defence of the journalist who was sacked from his job for a social media post on supporting Palestine. Khawaja, who is currently part of Australia team in the ongoing Test series against Sri Lanka, was himself embroiled in a controversy when he was banned from wearing shoes displaying messages in support of Palestine during the home Test series against Pakistan last year. 

The Australian journalist Peter Lalor was fired from his job by SEN Radio when he was covering the ongoing two-match Test series between Australia and Sri Lanka. Lalor revealed that he received a call from the organization on Day 3 of the first Test to inform about his termination, citing that his retweeting on X (formerly Twitter) in support of Gaza was ‘was not balanced and insensitive to one side'.

“I was told in one call there were serious organisations making complaints; in another I was told that this was not the case.” Peter Lalor wrote in his statement. 

“Perhaps I misunderstood. I was told there were accusations I was antisemitic which I strongly objected to. I was told my retweeting was not balanced, and insensitive to one side and that many people had complained.” he added. 

Upon hearing the news of an Australian journalist getting sacked from his job for his social media post supporting Palestine, Usman Khawaja took to his Instagram story and expressed his shock over Peter Lalor’s termination by SEN Radio. Khawaja stated that standing up for Palestine has nothing to do with the Jewish people in Australia. He added that Peter deserves better treatment as he is a guy with a good heart. 

“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 everything to do with the Israeli government and their deplorable actions.” The Australian opener wrote. 

“It has everything to do with justice and human rights. Unfortunately hatred towards the Jewish and Muslim community will always exist. Pete is a good guy with a good heart. He deserves better.” he added. 

Usman Khawaja has been a strong supporter of Gaza and Palestine as he consistently used his platform to speak out against the humanitarian crisis and advocate for justice and harmony. The International Cricket Council (ICC) had barred Khawaja from displaying any messages in support of Palestine during the three-match Test series against Pakistan last year. Despite the restrictions, the Australian openly continued to raise his voice against Israel’s attack on Palestine while highlighting the importance of justice and human rights. 

Recently, Gaza and Israel have agreed to end their war, which came into effect on January 19. The Hamas have released the hostages as part of a ceasefire deal, bringing a brief period of relief to the war-torn region.