British Ambassador to Lebanon Sacked…Who’s Next?!

Nour Rida

Write a letter of appreciation, say what is on your mind and in your heart and get sacked and condemned for these thoughts that you should have held within! Unleash your words on your personal blog to receive avalanches of criticism and condemnations, not to mention a storm of outrage that leads right away to your "firing" and "exile"!

"The Passing of A Descent Man" wrote Britain's ambassador to Lebanon Francis Guy in her blog post in appreciation to Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, only it was removed by the UK from the blog followed by the British government pulling its ambassador
(Guy) for praising the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.

Marking the death of Sayyed Fadlallah, Guy described the Ayatollah as a "decent" man who ranked as the person she most admired. Ms. Guy who has served nearly four years as the Britain's ambassador in Lebanon wrote "Lebanon is a lesser place the day after," she wrote. "If I was sad to hear the news I know other peoples' lives will be truly blighted. The world needs more men like him willing to reach out across faiths, acknowledging the reality of the modern world and daring to confront old constraints. May he rest in peace."

Britain's Foreign Office said the posting had been removed "after mature consideration."
The Foreign Office spokesman said the ambassador had expressed a personal view that reflected the moderation of Ayatollah Fadlallah's views in recent years, an opinion on a person considered by the US as "terrorist" and therefore her blog post was removed.
The official said "Despite the fact that we agree with his progressive stances on women's rights and dialogue between religions, yet we differ on crucial matters such as his stances that support attacking "Israel.""

Moreover, Foreign policy experts said Ms. Guy's comments showed blatant disregard for the Foreign Office's traditional allies.
Earlier this week, CNN sacked their Middle East editor Octavia Nasr after she tweeted that she ‘respected' Fadlallah.

Octavia Nasr, a 20-year CNN veteran based in Atlanta, wrote on Twitter, "Sad to hear of the passing of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah.... One of Hizbullah's giants I respect a lot."
Obviously the British Ambassador to Beirut angered the Americans and "Israelis" and embarrassed officials in London and has to pay the price like her "predecessors". This is the American-Zionist freedom of speech people enjoy, whether in real life or even in cyber-world, and whether diplomatic blogging or personal blogging, the repercussion is quite the same, more or less.