‘Go back to Gaza’: Affidavit details Antoinette Lattouf threats

Fresh evidence has revealed journalist Antoinette Lattouf received multiple threatening phone calls after being taken off ABC radio, as outgoing managing director David Anderson prepares to enter the witness box for the second day.

Journalist Antoinette Lattouf is suing the ABC in the Federal Court.

Antoinette Lattouf demanded her ABC bosses explain why she was sacked for sharing a social media post about the Israel-Gaza war less than one hour after being told she was “sounding great” in her fill-in radio role.

In an explosive email tendered in a Federal Court case between the journalist and the public broadcaster, Lattouf requested she be told who made the decision “that my dismissal was warranted” and an explanation of how the post breached the ABC’s social media guidelines.
Lattouf, who was paid $65 an hour for her temporary role, also said the way in which her sacking was handled was “incredibly distressing” and claimed she had struggled to sleep since being warned about her social media use on her first day at work.

Lattouf last year took legal action against the ABC over claims she was unfairly dismissed from a temporary radio job after she shared a social post by Human Rights Watch on December 19, 2023, with the caption that read “HRW reporting starvation as a tool of war”. She was let go after completing three of her five shifts.

The blockbuster unfair dismissal case will enter its fourth day on Thursday, with outgoing ABC managing director David Anderson to enter the witness box for the second day in a row.

Outgoing ABC Managing Director David Anderson will continue cross-examination on Thursday. Picture: Nikki Short

Mr Anderson on Wednesday endured hours of cross-examination under Lattouf’s barrister, Oshie Fagir, on Wednesday, conceding that several high-profile ABC journalists – including Laura Tingle, Patricia Karvelas and Paul Barry – have never been taken off-air, despite making public comments that could be construed as “contentious” or lacking impartiality.

Lattouf’s affidavit testifying to the circumstances of her dismissal, made public on Wednesday, revealed claims that she received various threats and was stalked after being taken off the air.

“On two occasions (once immediately after my termination in December) and another time in late May I received threatening phone calls from private numbers,” she wrote. “A male said words to the effect of, ‘I will find you and end you and shut your anti-Semitic mouth once and for all’.”

In another instance, Lattouf said an unknown woman called “screaming at me saying phrases that included ‘Go back to Gaza’ and ‘I wish you and your kids were in that tent in Rafah’ and to ‘watch your back’”.

The affidavit included an email to ABC Radio Sydney manager Steve Ahern, content director Elizabeth Green and acting station manager Mark Spurway in the hours after she was let go insisting on an explanation.

“As you are aware, today, at approximately 1.45pm, I was summoned by Steve for a quick chat. Mark and Elizabeth also joined the meeting,” she wrote. “In this short meeting, I was told that I was being let go because of one specific social media post ... which I have attached below. Can you please confirm whether the attached Instagram story is the social media post which the ABC alleges was in breach of the social media policy? Can you please also specify exactly which section of the ABC’s social media policy I allegedly breached by sharing that post; and explain as to how this post is said to be in breach of the guidelines?”

Lattouf has appeared in the Federal Court everyday throughout the hearing. Picture: AAP

Lattouf noted in the email a phone call she had with Ms Green on the first day of her contract – a Monday – in which Ms Green told her “that Jewish lobbyists were unhappy that I was on air”.

She said the pair had a discussion on how to handle the criticism, and agreed Lattouf would not post controversial Israel-Gaza content on her social media, but only posts “sharing straight facts from reputable sources”.

Throughout the call, Lattouf said Ms Green “told me multiple times that she had absolute faith in my ‘journalistic integrity’ and gave me a heads up to be mindful on social media”.

In the email, Lattouf said a station meeting was called two days later in which she was singled out by Mr Spurway for “sounding great” and was told the audience are “responding very well”.

“In light of this, can you please explain why I was dismissed less than an hour after being told my work was ‘great’?” she wrote in the email. “Can you please she some light as to how the story got to The Australian so quickly because there was an article published before I even got home.”

She also requested the trio explain “who made the final decision that my dismissal was warranted”.

Court resumes at 10.45am.