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Israeli Media Watchdog Alleges Photojournalists’ Connection to Hamas Attack

The statement further said that these journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity and that their actions were contrary to professional ethics…reports Asian Lite News

The Israel Communications Ministry has contacted international media outlets — New York Times, CNN, Associated Press (AP) and Reuters — after an Israeli media watchdog, HonestReporting.com, brought out details regarding the photojournalists employed by these outlets had been with Hamas terrorists when they swarmed into Israel on October 7 early hours and massacred civilians.

The HonestReporting.com, which works to expose false narratives against Israel in foreign press, asks whether these photojournalists were aware of such a massacre as they were present on the scene of crime.

The watchdog also raised questions whether these journalists had permission to cross into Israel from Gaza.

The investigation by HonestReporting.com revealed that these photographers had documented the kidnapping of civilians and soldiers by the Hamas terrorists. The burning of tanks and murder of an IDF soldier was also documented by these photojournalists.

The spokesperson of AP responded to this stating that it had no advance knowledge of the October 7 massacre. 

The spokesperson of AP, Nicole Meyer, in a statement said, “AP had no advance knowledge of the October 7 attack.”

The statement also added, “AP’s role is to capture news and images worldwide, at any point, even if they are terrible and involve victims.”

The National Public Diplomacy Directorate in the Israeli Prime Minister’s office said, “We view this with utmost gravity that photojournalists working with international media joined in covering the brutal acts of murder perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7.”

The statement further said that these journalists were accomplices in crimes against humanity and that their actions were contrary to professional ethics.

The Israel Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi contacted CNN, New York Times, AP and Reuters.  

After the denial by AP, Reuters also said that it did not have any prior knowledge of the October 7 massacre.

The Reuters in a statement said, “We are aware of a report by HonestReporting and accusations made against two freelance journalists and accusations made against two freelance photographers who contributed to Reuters coverage of the October 7 matter.”

It also added that the Reuters acquired photographs from two Gaza-based freelancers and said that the photograph that was published two hours after Hamas fired rockets into southern Israel. It also said that its staff reporters and photojournalists were not present on the scene of crime.

The HonestReporting had also released photographs of the photojournalist, Hassan Eslaiah from whom both AP and CNN had collected photos, along with the Hamas’ most wanted leader and military commander, Yahya Sinwar.

CNN and New York Times are yet to give a rebuttal.

ALSO READ-CPJ Condemns Attacks on Journalists During Gaza Assault

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CPJ Condemns Attacks on Journalists During Gaza Assault

The CPJ further said that it was investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, injured or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes…reports Asian Lite News

Since Hamas launched its massive assault against Israel on October 7, at least 39 journalists and media workers have been killed in the Gaza Strip in the ensuing violence, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in a report.

In its update report issued on Wednesday, the New York-based nonprofit also said that October 2023 was the deadliest month for journalists globally since it began record keeping in 1992. 

Of the 39 fatalities, 34 were Palestinian, four Israeli, and one Lebanese.

The CPJ also said that eight journalists were injured, three remained missing and 13 others arrested.

Meanwhile, there were also reports of multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship and killings of family members of the journalists, the nonprofit added.

“CPJ emphasizes that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, was quoted as saying in the report.

“Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats.

“Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit,” he added.

Since the war began, a total of 10,569 people have died in Gaza, 1,400 in Israel and 150 in the West Bank.

ALSO READ-Children undergoing surgeries without anaesthesia in Gaza

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Indian-origin journo wins Pulitzer

Rajagopalan, who had previously reported from China but was barred from there for the story, travelled to neighbouring Kazhakstan to interview former detainees who had fled there, BuzzFeed said…reports Arul Louis.

Indian-origin journalist Megha Rajagopalan has won the US’ top journalism award, the Pulitzer Prize, for innovative investigative reports harnessing satellite technology that exposed China’s mass detention camps for Muslim Uighurs and other minority ethnicites.

The award in the international reporting category that she shared with two colleagues from an internet media, BuzzFeed News, was announced on Friday by the Pulitzer Board.

Another journalist of Indian-origin, Neil Bedi, won a Pulitzer in the local reporting category for investigative stories he wrote with an editor at the Tampa Bay Times exposing the misuse of authority by a law enforcement official in Florida to track children.

This is the 105th year of the Pulitzer Prizes awarded by a board at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism in New York recognising the outstanding work.

In recognition of the proliferation of citizen journalism in the internet age, teenaged non-journalist, Darnella Frazier, was awarded a Pulitzer Special Citation for her courage in filming the killing of George Floyd, the African-American who died in police custody in Minneapolis last year.

The video clip made on her smartphone went viral and set off prolonged nationwide protests against police brutality and led to measures in many states and cities to reform policing.

The sight of a policeman kneeling on the neck of dying Floyd as he repeated, “I can’t breathe”, appealed to America’s conscience and led to a broader consideration of the problems faced by African-Americans.

The Board said her that her video “spurred protests against police brutality around the world, highlighting the crucial role of citizens in journalists’ quest for truth and justice”.

Rajagopalan and her colleagues used satellite imagery and 3D architectural simulations to buttress her interviews with two dozen former prisoners from the detention camps where as many as a million Muslims from Uighur and other minority ethnicites were interned.

“I’m in complete shock, I did not expect this,” she said.

According to the publication, she and her colleagues, Alison Killing and Christo Buschek, identified 260 detention camps after building a voluminous database of about 50,000 possible sites comparing censored Chinese images with uncensored mapping software.

Rajagopalan, who had previously reported from China but was barred from there for the story, travelled to neighbouring Kazhakstan to interview former detainees who had fled there, BuzzFeed said.

“Throughout her reporting, Rajagopalan had to endure harassment from the Chinese government,” the publication said.

The series of stories provided proof of Beijing’s violation of Uighurs’ human rights, which some US and other Western officials have called a “genocide”.

Bedi and Kathleen McGrory were given their award for exposing “how a powerful and politically connected sheriff built a secretive intelligence operation that harassed residents and used grades and child welfare records to profile schoolchildren”, the Pulitzer Board said.

Bedi, who has a degree in computer science, is now a Washington-based reporter for ProPublica.

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Another Ryanair plane diverted to Berlin over potential threat

The plane was met by a group of police vehicles with lights flashing as it parked in a spot away from the main terminal…reports Asian Lite News.

In yet another flight diversion incident involving Ryanair, the Irish airline on Monday announced that a Poland-bound plane made an unscheduled landing in Berlin due to information received about a possible security threat on board.

The flight from the Irish capital Dublin to Krakow in Poland was diverted to the German capital at around 8 p.m. on Sunday because that was the closest airport, dpa news agency quoted the airline as saying.

The plane was met by a group of police vehicles with lights flashing as it parked in a spot away from the main terminal.

The 160 passengers and their luggage were taken off the plane and examined with the help of sniffer dogs, in an operation that lasted until 4 a.m. on Monday.

The passengers then continued on with their journey using a replacement aircraft.

German federal police said on Monday morning they had determined there was no danger to the aircraft but have yet to release details on the purported threat, saying only that it was a telephone call that had raised alarm.

German tabloids Bild and BZ said that there had been a bomb threat, but neither the police nor Ryanair confirmed those reports.

Sunday’s incident in Berlin comes exactly after a week after Belarusian authorities dispatched a fighter jet to force another Ryanair flight to divert to Minsk, where a dissident journalist who was on board was then arrested along with his girlfriend.

Roman Protasevich, a 26-year-old dissident journalist, and his partner were taken into custody after the landing on May 23, prompting a raft of measures by the EU, including restricted access to the bloc’s airspace for Belarusian carriers.

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