Broadcast journalist Mehdi Hasan responded on Monday to an incident on CNN in which a fellow member of a panel in which he was taking part said he hoped Hasan's “beeper doesn't go off”.
“I have interviewed, debated, sparred with, controversial, opinionated, offensive people from across the world,” Hasan said on his Zeteo network.
“But never, never, in my 25 years as a journalist and 15 years of doing live TV, have I been so stunned by what was said to me that I had to walk off set in the middle of a live show.”
During a panel discussion on CNN focused on Donald Trump's Madison Square Garden rally at the weekend, Ryan Girdusky said the journalist had been accused of being anti-Semitic “more than any of us at this table”.
Hasan replied that, as a “supporter of Palestinians”, he was used to the accusation. Girdusky then made the comment about the beeper, a reference to a wide-ranging attack carried out by Israel against Hezbollah in Lebanon that caused thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies to explode.
“In his head, when he hears 'Palestinian', he hears 'Hamas',” Hasan said. “When he sees a Muslim in front of him, he sees Hamas.
“That's how bold these Maga [Make America Great Again] Republicans have become with their racism. That's the permission structure Trump and fans have created.
“To be clear, because of her refusal to budge even an inch on Gaza, [Kamala] Harris morally deserves to lose,” Hasan added, but the alternative is an “anti-Semitic, Islamophobic” president in Mr Trump.
Hasan said that, after the incident on CNN, a friend had asked him if he found it “emotionally taxing” to face bigotry, or if it was “par for the course at this point”.
“Sadly, we Muslims don't have thicker skins than everyone else, nor should we have to have thicker skins than everyone else,” he said. “We're human beings. So of course, it's emotionally taxing. That's the whole point. That's why they do it.
“Racism is about not just dehumanising you, but demoralising and depressing.”
Addressing viewers, he said he would continue to speak out against bigotry and racism and “so should you”.
Previously, Hasan hosted The Mehdi Hasan Show on MSNBC, but he left the network in January after the channel cancelled his Sunday night programme the previous November.
The decision to cancel the show drew condemnation from progressives who accused the channel of silencing one of the few US Muslim broadcast personalities. He had taken a highly critical stance on Israel's military operations in Gaza.
He went on to found media organisation Zeteo.
Structural%20weaknesses%20facing%20Israel%20economy
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima
Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650
Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder
Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm
Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm
Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission
Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km
The five pillars of Islam
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Neighbourhood Watch
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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The specs: 2018 Bentley Bentayga V8
Price, base: Dh853,226
Engine: 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 550hp @ 6,000pm
Torque: 770Nm @ 1,960rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 11.4L / 100km
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Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
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What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
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On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
