A Miami dentist seen ripping down posters of Israelis who went missing during the brutal Hamas attack on October 7 has been fired and is now begging for his job back.
Dr. Ahmed ElKoussa and his friend, “Instagram model” Xave Ramou, were the subjects of a viral video that captured them tearing down signs showing kidnapped Israelis in the neighborhood of Brickell on Tuesday night.
By Wednesday morning, ElKoussa’s job with CG Smile had been terminated after the business was flooded with negative reviews and backlash due to his actions.
As the Daily Mail reported, the cosmetic dental office made the announcement on Instagram.
“We are very sad to see this situation upon waking up,” the post read. “Our office CG Smile is not in favor of any of the actions taken by Dr. Elkoussa. We do not support terrorist groups, actions or supporters.”
“He has been removed from our staff, all of our social media pages and groups. CG Smile DOES NOT support terrorist groups actions or supporters.”
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The fliers the dentist tore down were part of a project by Israeli artists to garner support and attention for those abducted by Hamas terrorists during the devastating October 7 attack on Israel that left 1,200 dead.
Juan Carlos Izquierdo, the owner of CG Smile, told NBC 6 that his business received intense backlash for ElKoussa’s actions.
“I believe it’s not right. It’s against our position on the entire situation,” he said. “Later on, I got a call saying he wanted to explain and that after he explained, everything would be cleared, and I told him I don’t want to hear it.”
Izquierdo’s mother, Taty Guiribitey, told the outlet that her husband, the owner’s father, is Jewish, and they are not for “anything against Israel”:
I am the mother of the owner of CG Smile and my husband, his father is Jewish, we would never allow anything against Israel, especially now that our friends are experiencing a terrifying situation in Israel. As a member of a Jewish family, we open our doors to all ethnicities, but unfortunately, we cannot predict the attitude of others. Our family will always assert our unwavering commitment to justice and truth.
ElKoussa’s attorney, Hassan Shibly, told the publication his client was supposedly scared of posters causing “conflict” and claimed that police told him he could take them down.
“He wanted to ensure that there’s no conflict here in Florida. And when he saw those posters, he was just concerned that they may lead to an escalation in conflict,” the lawyer said on Wednesday.
He removed them after speaking to law enforcement, saying, “Listen, there’s a lot of tension in the country right now. I don’t necessarily think there should be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli posters hanging around; they may spark conflict. So what should I do?” They said, “Listen, you can remove them if they make you feel unsafe.”
A Thursday statement from Shibly attempted to further justify ElKoussa’s purported fear, explaining that his client’s actions took place following the fatal stabbing of a six-year-old boy in Illinois by his landlord, which is being investigated as an anti-Muslim hate crime.
Six-year-old Wadea Al-Fayoume was stabbed to death in an apparent hate crime by his landlord on October 15, 2023. (Facebook)
“Dr. ElKoussa was simply motivated by fear of copycat acts given that investigators said the landlord had been radicalized by emotionally triggering images from the terrorist attack on Israel,” the lawyer wrote. “That was the sole intention in removing them, and claims otherwise have no basis.”
He continued:
The very act of removing fliers left on the side of the road is in of itself neither illegal nor immoral. The motivation behind removing these particular fliers is where the question may be posed, and therein precisely lies the problem: the website that posted the video rushed irresponsibly, and without the slightest authority, to attribute intentions to him that he neither claims nor holds.
ElKoussa is demanding an apology and to be reinstated at his job.
“For his employer to rush to unquestioning judgment based merely on a random website’s uninformed and wildly speculative word on what is in Dr. ElKoussa’s heart over his is both outrageous and demeaning. It is indicative of the atmosphere of hysteria we are in,” the statement from his lawyer read.
“We demand an apology and reinstatement as the only path to restore his livelihood and clear his good name,” it concluded.
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to reflect a revised number on the death toll from the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel. The Israeli government estimate of 1,400 was revised to around 1,200, according to Reuters.
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