Egyptian TV Host Gets Suspended After His 6th of October Speech

Last night on Egypt’s Channel 1, TV host George Rashad, gave a very sincere speech in remembrance of the 6th of October in which he sent his salutes and gratitude to each of the former presidents Gamal Abdel Nasser, Anwar ElSadat and Hosni Mubarak.

Then he stopped at Mubarak and directed his speech to be about the participants of the Jan 25 revolution, naming 6th of April movement and Ikhwan (“and the likes of them”); saying that no matter what they do they will never change history of Mubarak’s victories. “All what has been said about the air strike being wrongly attributed to former president Hosni Mubarak, is nothing but fabrication and falsification of history.”

Later after his speech, he was informed of his suspension by his director. The head of the news sector, Khaled Mehanna. They later clarified that Rashad’s suspension was not caused due to his salutes to Mubarak at all, but it was because the announcer improvised and deviated from the original text, and also for offending Jan 25 rebels and all those who came out in January.

Mehanna’s clarification came in response to Rashad’s statement to Youm7 that he has been notified by his director, Hanaa Samir, that he has been suspended and excluded from the timeline of the show “Sabah ElKheir ya Masr” (Arabic for Good Morning Egypt) for his speech about Mubarak. “I didn’t say anything but the facts of history, and I as an announcer have no political biases or directions,” he added.

WE SAID THIS: Well, that was fast.