these media which honor photographers linked to Hamas

Media celebrates images of photographers with ties to Hamas

Rinat Harash

Hamas could not have asked for better media coverage. The terrorist group's years-long efforts to build relationships with Gaza journalists who work for foreign media outlets have once again paid off.

The annual end-of-year photo galleries from Reuters, Associated Press, CNN, Time Magazine and The New York Times featured heartbreaking images from photographers who had previously been exposed by HonestReporting for their unethical journalism ties.

Mohammed Salem of Reuters, Fatima Shbair of AP and Samar Abu Elouf of the New York Times were all honored by Hamas or actively participated in the events of the “ Loyalty Day ». But that hasn't stopped their media from portraying their corrupt work as the pinnacle of journalistic achievement.

Reuters' questionable standards

The Reuters news agency praised a photo by Mohammed Jadallah Salem, showing a surreal scene in Gaza: wedding dresses “ for sale » displayed on mannequins amid the debris, while displaced Palestinians pass by.

It's so surreal that you wonder if the photo wasn't deliberately staged. But that's not the point: Any young editor at the once-respected news agency should have highlighted the photos taken by Salem, given HonestReporting's revelations about its privileged relationship with Hamas .

The same goes for CNN, which also included photos from Salem in its 2024 gallery.

In 2017, Salem, who recently won the Pulitzer Prize and the World Press Photo Prize, received an award from Hamas on behalf of his brother Suhaib, Reuters' head of visuals in Gaza. Two senior Hamas officials presented him with this distinction: Khalil al-Hayya and Mushir al-Masri.

Al-Hayya has publicly called for fighting Israel, which he considers “the head of the serpent”, and al-Masri vowed to “uproot the Zionists with our axes, our knives and our guns”.

Such a relationship between a journalist and those he is supposed to objectively cover is inherently flawed. According to Reuters' code of ethics, his work is corrupt. It should be rejected, not celebrated.

The Associated Press ignores reality

The Associated Press also ignored the facts. Its 2024 end-of-year photo gallery includes photos of damaged homes and displaced people in Gaza taken by Fatima Shbair, who was exposed by HonestReporting for participating in a Hamas promotional video.

In the video, which features award-winning journalists honored by Hamas at a Hamas event “Loyalty Day” In 2021, Shbair thanked the Hamas media office in a show of overwhelming emotion, calling his efforts“incredible” :

As long as the battle continues, we must continue to tell the truth and bring this picture to the world. What the Government Press Office does each year to honor Palestinian journalists and their efforts on the ground is incredible.

As we pointed out in our article, when journalists from the world's leading news agencies appear in a Hamas propaganda video, their journalistic integrity is virtually destroyed. They are practically expressing their support and allegiance to the terrorist group's agenda.

But AP did not hesitate to give Shbair a platform, by itself describing her “journalistic” work. Nor did CNN or Time Magazine, which included his images of the destruction of Gaza in their best photos of 2024.

The New York Times hides the truth

Ultimately, the New York Times — although aware of the problematic relationship between its photographer Samar Abu Elouf and Hamas — included one of his photos in its 2024 selection.

Elouf “delivered some of the most indelible images of the year: a series of portraits of Gazans horribly injured during the war, including children who had lost arms, legs or eyes,” the newspaper said.

What he did not reveal to his readers was that Abou Elouf was also honored in 2021 as a “working partner” of the Hamas media office.

Indeed, the images she captured, gruesome as they are, are the livelihood of the Hamas media office's war effort.

The sad truth is that the media wants access to information, which is difficult in Gaza unless you are in cahoots with Hamas.

Over the past year, this hypocrisy has been exposed, leading to the firing of journalists like Abdel Qader Sabbah and Hassan Eslaiah, who were linked to Hamas and worked for CNN and AP.

And last month we launched the campaign “Let us call for complicity” to denounce media outlets that continue to use biased journalists in their coverage of Israel-related issues.

As 2024 draws to a close, these media battlefield efforts continue. Hopefully next year's most important photo selections won't be as tainted.

JForum.fr HonestReporting

Rinat Harash, Ph.D, is a seasoned news media professional, with 15 years of experience as a Reuters journalist, video editor and producer covering Israel and the Palestinian territories.