CNN’s firing of Senior Middle East News Editor Octavia Nasr has prompted an outcry from Arab-Americans, angry about what they see as a double standard when it comes to coverage of the Middle East in the American media.

Octavia Nasr

Nasr’s 20-year career at CNN ended Wednesday after a tweet mourning the death of Sayyed Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah, a Lebanese Shiite cleric whom she called “one of Hezbollah’s giants I respect a lot.” Facing a rash of criticism, she explained her tweet in a blog post, saying her respect was based on Fadlallah’s advocacy for women’s rights. But by then, it was too late. CNN put out a statement a few hours later, saying her “credibility” had been “compromised.”

The Anti-Defamation League, which commended CNN’s decision, had described Fadlallah in a letter to the network as someone who had been “designated by the U.S. Department of Treasury as a specially designated terrorist, [who] disseminated numerous fatwas supporting terrorist operations and was a vocal supporter of terrorism against Israeli targets.” It said that CNN should “take steps to ensure that its journalists and editors understand that making known their personal views by tweeting or other methods is out of bounds.”

CNN released a statement on Tuesday saying “it was an error of judgment for Octavia Nasr to write such a simplistic tweet,” adding that “it did not meet CNN’s editorial standards.” On Wednesday, she was fired.

The firing prompted a chorus of applause from conservatives on the Internet. Newsbusters’ publisher Brent Bozell called it a “step in the right direction.” Meanwhile, there was disgust from liberal voices such as Salon’s Glenn Greenwald and much handwringing from tweeting journalists, mulling the possibility of career death from a single tweet.

Marc Lynch, an associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University and a blogger at Foreign Policy’s website, tweeted: “I’d threaten to stop watching CNN if I ever watched CNN, but sadly CNN’s programming put an end to that long ago.” His colleague at FP, Harvard professor Stephen Walt, called CNN’s decision “spineless.”

But the firing provoked perhaps the strongest reaction from Arab-Americans.

“This is unbelievable what is happening in the United States of America,” said Osama Siblani, publisher of the Arab American News. “You can say anything you want — except when it comes to Israel.”

He accused CNN of a double standard, citing what he said was CNN host Wolf Blitzer’s history of working for the Jerusalem Post and for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC). “But for Octavia Nasr to make a statement that’s in agreement with millions of people around the world, has become a firing offense at CNN. It’s incredible the level we have sunk to.”

Siblani, who emigrated to the U.S. from southern Lebanon three decades ago, said Fadlallah was regarded as a “progressive Muslim around the world,” adding, “I respect him. Let them come put me in jail. I plead guilty to this crime.”