Jewish-American editor 'fired' for sharing a 'pro-Palestine' The Onion article

The Jewish-American editor-in-chief of scientific journal eLife has allegedly lost his position for sharing a satirical article online that criticised Western negligence of killing civilians in Gaza.

Michael Eisen, a prominent critic of traditional journals, announced on 'X', the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, that he was informed on Monday of his replacement as editor of the open-access journal after he shared a "pro-Palestine" article from the satirical news site The Onion.

Eisen had shared the article – entitled "Dying Gazans Criticized For Not Using Last Words To Condemn Hamas" – via X, on 13 October.

"The Onion speaks with more courage, insight and moral clarity than the leaders of every academic institution put together. I wish there were a @TheOnion university," he said in the post through which he shared the article.

I have been informed that I am being replaced as the Editor in Chief of @eLife for retweeting a @TheOnion piece that calls out indifference to the lives of Palestinian civilians.

— Michael Eisen (@mbeisen) October 23, 2023

He re-shared his tweet again a day later, clarifying: "Every sane person on Earth is horrified and traumatized by what Hamas did and wants it to never happen again. All the more so as a Jew with Israeli family.

"But I am also horrified by the collective punishment already being meted out on Gazans, and the worse that is about to come … The [sic] Onion is not making light of the situation. And nor am I. These articles are using satire to make a deadly serious point about this horrific tragedy."

eLife Board of Directors confirmed Eisen's dismissal in a statement.

The Board of Directors said that Eisen had been replaced because of his social media activity, and thanked him for his creativity and transformative vision of the organization.

Eisen's eLife colleagues have expressed their support for him - among them eLife editor Lara Urban, who on Monday announced her resignation in solidarity with Eisen and in defence of freedom of speech.

It is with great sadness that I have to resign as @eLife editor and early-career advisor after @mbeisen was fired as editor-in-chief for making use of his freedom of speech to stand up – once again – for the people who were silenced. A brief statement here: https://t.co/VN1H5wJZO1 pic.twitter.com/BV17wLId2f

— Lara Urban (@LaraUrban42) October 23, 2023

Some Israeli researchers had called on Eisen to resign and urged colleagues to refrain from submitting papers to eLife as long as he was in charge.

A petition has been initiated urging the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), the publisher of eLife, not to penalise Eisen for his tweets.

"Our opinion is not based on the merits (or lack thereof) of Eisen’s views. Rather, we believe that censuring Eisen would create a chilling effect on freedom of expression in academia," the petitioners said.