Rachel Riley, the host of Countdown, has apologised following her controversial tweet pertaining to the Sydney mall stabbings, which led to phone calls for Channel 4 to dismiss her. Riley was accused of marketing Islamophobia when she incorrectly recommended the attack was a Palestinian uprising.
The attack in Sydney, which resulted in six fatalities on Saturday, was carried out by Joel Cauchi (40), who had mental well being issues. Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke verified that the attacker was fatally shot by a law enforcement officer.
Just to explain, my intention with this tweet was not to say this attack was caused by any ideation or to backlink it to Islamic extremism.
At the time we did not know who the attacker was, and as these I built no reference.
My goal was to highlight the weekly phone calls for ‘intifada’…
— Rachel Riley MBE (@RachelRileyRR) April 14, 2024
Riley referred to her original tweet, which claimed the assault was owing to a globalised Intifada and has since been deleted. In her apology, Riley expressed regret if her comments were being misunderstood and clarified that her intention was not to hyperlink the assault to Islamic extremism.
Her assertion emphasised the relevance of condemning violence, regardless of the perpetrators or victims. She restricted comments on her put up to those she follows or talked about in the tweet.
I have assumed about this all working day and deleted the original tweet, so just a person extra write-up on the make any difference.
I’m sorry to those I offended. My write-up was ambiguous and even though it was truly intended to phone out calls for violence, it wasn’t the ideal area or time which designed it easier…
— Rachel Riley MBE (@RachelRileyRR) April 14, 2024
Riley is recognized for her advocacy in opposition to antisemitism, and she was awarded an MBE in 2023 for her get the job done in Holocaust education and learning.
The attack in Sydney shocked the earth, as the assailant stabbed buyers at random, including a 9-thirty day period-previous little one. The incident took position at the Westfield Bondi Junction centre about 3:30 pm. Assistant Commissioner Cooke pointed out that detectives haven’t ruled out terrorism as a motive but have not discovered any evidence of an ideology driving the attack.
The article Rachel Riley apologises for controversial tweet ‘promoting Islamophobia’ appeared initial on EasternEye.