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Palestinian Labor Minister Under Fire After Open-mic Slur Against Workers

The latest incident involving a public official speaking accidentally into a live microphone has the Palestinian labor minister in hot water. Ahmed Majdalani was apparently unaware that his mic was still live when he referred to Palestinian workers as “brothers of whores” following an on-air interview with a local radio station. Majdalani tried to deflect criticism from hundreds of callers phoning the station to complain by saying he was referring to Israelis and not Palestinians, but seemingly to no avail. The workers’ union is demanding that Prime Minister Salam Fayyad fire Majdalani. Another Palestinian minister is about to stand trial on corruption charges. Economics Minister Dr. Hasan Abu-Libdeh insists the charges relating back to his tenure as head of the Palestinian Capital Market Authority in 2008 are false. He’s accused of insider trading, breach of trust and fraud.