Axed ABC journalist Antoinette Lattouf has taken aim at Aussies who were left outraged at the cancellation of the Myer Christmas window display.
The department store opted for a scaled-back rendition of its traditional grand opening in Melbourne on Sunday after pro-Palestine activists threatened to interrupt the unveiling in the days leading up to the event.
Protesters then called off their disruptive plans, but a small handful still turned up on the weekend as part of a ‘Morons 4 Palestine‘ protest.
The demonstration struck a chord with Aussies who described it as ‘disappointing’ with protestors interrupting a 70-year-old tradition.
Lattouf mocked families that had been left outraged by the protest in a scathing post on social media platform X.
‘I’m loving watching Boomers spiral over the Myer Christmas display,’ she wrote.
‘“Leave children alone!” “Protestors are ruining our way of life!” “We can’t even celebrate Xmas & Jesus!” Umm…where was Jesus born? Which children’s lives are actually being ruined right now?’
The small pro-Palestine demonstration was organised by an activist who goes under the pseudonym Amy Settal.
She announced she was determined to hold a rally after organisers announced the much-larger protest would not be going ahead.
‘The planned disruptions at the Myer windows might have been cancelled, but we will still be there,’ she said.
‘Bring your bubbles and head to the Bourke St mall now!!’ she said.
A small handful of protesters heeded Ms Settal’s call and turned up on Sunday.
They were heard chanting slogans including ‘bombs are dropping, while you’re shopping’ as they blew bubbles through the street.
One of them was wearing clown facepaint and the organiser, Settal, was proudly touting a ‘Morons 4 Palestine’ sign.
They did not deter Aussie families from visiting Myer for its Christmas unveiling, which was guarded by a line of police.
On Monday, Ms Settal told Daily Mail Australia that it was the police who were intimidating, rather than the protesters.
‘The children attending the Myer windows were more frightened of the massive line-up of police than they were of 8 individuals blowing bubbles and chanting.’
When asked why she had adopted a pseudonym, Settal said: ‘I would prefer you didn’t know my name at all, not because I am trying to hide it, but because it doesn’t matter.
‘What matters is Palestine, and Sudan, and Congo, and the First Nations of this stolen, violently colonised continent.’
Settal insisted she used a pseudonym for her own safety and her Instagram had been flooded with Islamophobic and violent messages.
One mother at the Myer windows said the protesters were ‘disappointing,’ while another maintained they had not ruined the Christmas spirit.
The ‘Morons 4 Palestine’ protest drew its name from comments made by premier Jacinta Allan earlier in the week when she called demonstrators morons.
Lattouf was fired by the ABC in December 2023 over her posts on the war in Gaza.
The 40-year-old was pulled off the air just three days into her week-long stint as a fill-in host for ABC Radio after she reposted a Human Rights Watch video about starvation being used as a tool of war in Gaza.
She launched legal action against the ABC at the Fair Work Commission claiming the decision was political, based on her stance on Palestine and her Lebanese heritage.
Lattouf’s legal team argued the ABC breached its disciplinary policies in its enterprise agreement by sacking her.
The ABC claimed she breached the organisation’s social media policy around impartiality and she was not actually sacked because she was paid for the full week.
However, the Fair Work Commission ruled in June that Lattouf was indeed sacked by the national broadcaster.
She is now pursuing an unlawful termination case in the Federal Court.
The ABC’s total legal expenses in the case against Lattouf are still unknown.
