A fired South Florida dentist who was caught on camera removing posters of missing Israeli hostages from street poles across Miami claims his actions were “misconstrued” and that he was promoting peace instead.
The actions of Dr. Ahmed ElKoussa was exposed to the public after the organization Stop Antisemitism post a video which shows a dentist and another man tearing down leaflets of missing Israelis believed to have been kidnapped following the October 7 attack by Hamas terrorists.
ElKoussa said his actions were taken out of context because the clip, which has been viewed more than four million times, was so short.
“Unfortunately, my four-second video was taken out of context. It’s all misinterpreted, and I think it’s very sad that it’s misinterpreted,” ElKoussa said at a press conference Thursday.
“And the way my former employer described it, that it was an act of supporting terrorism,” he said. “It’s the opposite, it’s to promote peace, It’s to ease the situation we’re going through and keep our community safe.”
ElKoussa, left, was filmed, along with another man, tearing the leaflet from a street pole in Miami, earlier this week. Local 10 ElKoussa said his actions were taken out of context because the video was only four seconds long and he was trying to promote peace. Local 10
ElKoussa was immediately fired from his position at Miami-based cosmetic dentistry group CG Smile.
“We told the doctor, listen we’re going to terminate your service, we don’t want to deal with all this,” Juan Carlos Izquierdo, owner of CG Smile told NBC Miami. “I believe it is not right. It is against our position in the whole situation.”
Izquierdo claims ElKoussa called back later to explain himself in hopes of getting his job back.
“Then, I got a call saying he wanted to explain and after he explained, everything would be explained, and I told him I didn’t want to hear it,” Izquierdo recalled.
Miami – two men were spotted removing posters of Israelis kidnapped by Hamas in the Brickell area.
The men appear to be dentists Ahmed ElKoussa (left) and Xave Ramoul (right). pic.twitter.com/cl2Sec8WlA
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) October 18, 2023
ElKoussa’s lawyer said he and his client have received death threats since the video went viral.
“The death threats he received, the death threats I received, because, that is unacceptable,” Hassan Shibly, ElKoussa’s representative and lead lawyer at Muslim Legal said at the press conference.
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Following the incident, CG Smile released two statements on Instagram, one condemning Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, and the other announcing ElKoussa was no longer with the clinic.
“His personal opinion is that posters from both sides may potentially create conflict and he does not want any escalation of conflict in his local community,” Shibly told The Post Wednesday.
ElKoussa’s attorney, Hassan Shibly (right), said he and his client have received death threats since the video went viral.NBC Miami
“And he’s concerned that the poster has the potential to incite conflict – rightly or wrongly, he’s concerned that it will incite and escalate conflict.”
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ElKoussa said she took her concerns about the flyer to local police and was told to either put up her own counter-poster or remove the current one.
He said his actions were motivated after a 71-year-old Illinois landlord fatally stabbed a 6-year-old Muslim boy following the October 7 attack in Israel.
The flyer is part of a nationwide project created by an Israeli artist to show some of the faces of missing Israelis believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas terrorists.Local 10
A Citibank employee was also fired this week after he posted “rebellious” comments about Israel on Instagram.
Nozima Husainova was terminated as a personal banker following her statement that “No wonder Hitler wanted to get rid of them all.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
