The Sun-Sentinel reports today that two Broward County assistant public defenders were fired yesterday for Facebook comments calling Palestinians “cockroaches” and “filthy swine.” The newspaper had published last week an article on the comments posted by Assistant Public Defender Bruce Raticoff and co-worker Gary Sheres on their personal Facebook pages under an item about Palestinians allegedly celebrating the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teen boys.
Sheres posted, “”They are the filthy swine they don’t eat. Their ignorance to the world bewilders the dumbest people I have ever met.”
Raticoff’s: “That’s why the Palestinian people are considered the cockroaches of the world. Reprehensible and despicable with utter disregard for civility and humanity. Burn them to the ground.”
Sheres told his boss that he was only labeling as “filthy swine” the Palestinians who murder people or celebrate murders, not one of his co-workers who is of Palestinian heritage. Raticoff claimed that someone had accessed his Facebook account and posted under his name.
Broward County Public Defender Howard Finkelstein fired both of them.