Rachel Riley breaks silence after demands she’s sacked over Sydney mall attack tweets

Rachel Riley has returned to social media after viewers called for Channel 4 to fire her over comments she made on the Sydney mall knife attack that left six people dead over the weekend.

The broadcaster shared on Monday that Riley had been reminded “of her obligations as a contributor to Channel 4 programming” amid calls for the Countdown star to face repercussions over her Twitter (X) posts. Riley was widely condemned on social media for appearing to link the Sydney attack to Islamic extremism.

Following the furore, Riley, who identifies as Jewish, took to X to share 2023 figures from America’s largest antisemitism organisation, ADL.

She tweeted: “[ADL] reports the largest annual rise in antisemitic incidents since records began (1979). There were 8,873 incidents of antisemitic assault, harassment and vandalism, up 140% on the previous year and nearly 900% (tenfold) in a decade.

“This parallels with @CST_UK findings in UK, with 2023 also being the worst year since records began (1984). 4,103 incidents, up 147% from the previous year.

“And with France (records began 2012), with the second largest Jewish community outside of the US, @Le_CRIF reported an increase of 284% with 1,676 incidents, 12% of which were in schools.”

Riley was widely condemned on the social media site over the weekend for attempting to link the Sydney attack to Islamic extremism and those who support Palestine.

Prior to Joel Cauchi of Queensland being identified as the man behind a spree of fatal stabbing inside a Sydney shopping mall, Riley took to Twitter to share a series of claims many branded “racist” and “Islamophobic”. In the now-deleted tweet, the maths guru told her followers: “For six months now, people have been out on our streets proudly calling for the ‘Intifada Revolution’. If you want to know what ‘Globalised Intifada’ looks like, see the Sydney Mall.

“Five victims stabbed to death and eight transferred to hospital, including a baby, due to one man and a knife. In the second intifada over 1,000 Israelis were murdered in restaurants, on buses and in the streets by suicide bombings, stabbings, stoning, lynching, shooting rockets. The youngest victim was just nine hours old. Sydney mall, multiple times over is what they’ve been proudly calling for.”

Riley’s initial tweet attracted a wave of critical replies and quote-tweets within minutes of the former Strictly Come Dancing contestant hitting publish, with many social media users urging the star to retract her offensive statement. Riley returned to Twitter after Cauchi was named as the man behind the Sydney stabbings, telling her followers: “Global condemnation for the attack that has now claimed 6 innocent lives, including a 38 year old Mum protecting her baby. And no, the attacker being named as Joel Cauchi does not change my opinion that it is wrong for people on our streets to be calling for mass terror attacks across the world, with or without a ‘cause’, in case you’re wondering.”

Many responded to Riley’s refusal to delete her inflammatory tweet by sharing the number of Channel 4’s complaints line and urging others to lodge complaints with the broadcaster regarding Riley’s tweet. On Sunday, Riley said her “message was misunderstood” as she shared a clarification.

Quote-tweeting her original offensive tweet, Riley wrote at 4.10pm: “Just to clarify, my intention with this tweet was not to say this attack was caused by any ideation or to link it to Islamic extremism. At the time we did not know who the attacker was, and as such I made no reference.

“My aim was to highlight the weekly calls for ‘intifada’ being tolerated in London and around the world, which in actuality means violence on our streets. For 6 months now, I have avoided taking the tube, or going with my kids to anywhere near the marches each Saturday, and each week we see the extremist chants on proud display with little outcry.

Sadly, the type of attack seen in Sydney yesterday is exactly the kind of violence the previous intifada involved and I hope to avoid in future, but in my opinion ignoring the problem won’t make it go away. Attacks on Jews have recently become repackaged as ‘resistance’ in some circles, and we should in one voice condemn all acts of violence, whoever the perpetrators and whoever the victims. I am sorry if this message was misunderstood, that was not my intention.”