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Journalists need support to get the Mideast story right. We should give it to them.
(JTA) — At the end of last summer, Ron Kampeas, the seasoned Jewish Telegraphic Agency reporter, shared his experience reporting on the Tree of Life massacre in Pittsburgh. Triggered by a jarring CNN alert back in that dark October of 2018, he and a companion rushed to the scene, where a tip from an informant brought both of them to tears.
“You’re a journalist, professionally bound to maintain distance,” Ron reminded himself then and over the next five years covering the shooting and its ramifications. “Not everything is personal.”
Kampeas’ article, written during the sentencing phase for the gunman who killed 11 Jewish worshippers, provides a poignant window into the emotional toll journalists face when confronting the depths of human brutality. In times of war, these strains can intensify, potentially influencing a journalist’s ability to report effectively.
Having spent nearly two decades as a spokesperson for Jewish community organizations, I’ve often wondered why the Jewish community does not prioritize investment in news organizations, despite the pivotal role they play in keeping communities informed and engaged. The question takes on even greater importance today, with attacks on the Jewish homeland and a disturbing rise in violent incidents of antisemitism. We need highly skilled, credible journalists to report on these events for the rest of the world.
Journalists also play a critical role in countering misinformation and disinformation. According to NBC News, sites like Facebook, X, TikTok and YouTube all are coping with a flood of unsubstantiated rumors and falsehoods about the Israel-Hamas War, which make it impossible for people to distinguish fact from fiction. To address these concerns, increased attention on media organizations and financial support would go a long way.
Amidst a volatile backdrop, journalists are converging on Israel. Despite flight disruptions and border closures, the anchors of the nation’s three largest evening newscasts, including NBC’s Lester Holt, ABC’s David Muir and CBS’s Norah O’Donnell, have entered the country. CNN has deployed a team of approximately 35 professionals on the ground. As of last week, there were about 250 foreign journalists in the country and counting. This cohort of journalists will be the world’s primary source of information during the Israel-Hamas War — regardless of their familiarity with the region.
I recently spoke with Uri Dromi and Talia Dekel from the Jerusalem Press Club and Eli Gershenkoin from the Union for Journalists in Israel. These organizations provide support to foreign and local journalists in Israel whose needs will only grow as the war grinds on. Mental health services and physical protection equipment top the list for local journalists who have already been deeply affected by the conflict. For those who come in from all areas of the world, translators, “fixers” and sources who can provide access to officials are critical. Few speak Hebrew, which limits the scope of their reporting and hampers their ability to maneuver daily life in Israel.
A 2023 reporters’ roundtable organized by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy discussed the challenges facing journalists reporting “under fire.” While some news organizations have the means to employ security advisors who travel with journalists, most can’t afford them, so journalists often head off into conflict areas with limited training or support.
In these demanding environments, maintaining objectivity is complicated by the intense and often traumatic experiences journalists encounter. An array of challenges affect their physical, mental and digital well-being. The intensity of what journalists witness and experience can blur the lines between observer and participant, making fairness a constant battle.
Under these circumstances, Washington reporter Missy Ryan explains in the roundtable, “a journalist should focus on one person’s experience and provide context for the larger conflict.” She also advised war correspondents to “use their judgment and analytical skills while always double-checking the story.”
I am heartened to share that the Knight Foundation, a leader in supporting press freedom and the field of journalism, is providing a grant to the Jerusalem Press Club and Union for Journalists in Israel to help address these challenges. While Knight’s work is almost entirely centered around local news in the United States, we make an exception for work that enhances journalist safety. Legal, digital and physical safety threats to journalists abroad can be harbingers for similar press freedom concerns closer to home.
Knight supports the Committee to Protect Journalists and the International Center for Journalists, and provided grants to those organizations to help Ukrainian journalists, Russian journalists in exile and journalists in neighboring countries get vital information to communities affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine. Knight also supported efforts to keep safe Afghani journalists during the Taliban’s return to power.
As the Israel-Hamas war unfolds, it will continue to be incumbent upon the Jewish community to take heed of the needs of journalists and the organizations that support them. It is crucial that we support the work of these organizations not only during this crisis, but also during times of peace to ensure that journalists have the tools and services they need to cover events accurately. It’s my hope that the Jewish community — and more broadly the general community — will recognize the need for the full, accurate, contextual truth that is only possible when we have prepared and seasoned journalists on the ground reporting.
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Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says
Atomic symbol and USA and Iranian flags are seen in this illustration taken, September 8, 2022. Photo: REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
Iran and the United States agreed on Saturday to task experts to start drawing up a framework for a potential nuclear deal, Iran’s foreign minister said, after a second round of talks following President Donald Trump’s threat of military action.
At their second indirect meeting in a week, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi negotiated for almost four hours in Rome with Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, through an Omani official who shuttled messages between them.
Trump, who abandoned a 2015 nuclear pact between Tehran and world powers during his first term in 2018, has threatened to attack Iran unless it reaches a new deal swiftly that would prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.
Iran, which says its nuclear program is peaceful, says it is willing to discuss limited curbs to its atomic work in return for lifting international sanctions.
Speaking on state TV after the talks, Araqchi described them as useful and conducted in a constructive atmosphere.
“We were able to make some progress on a number of principles and goals, and ultimately reached a better understanding,” he said.
“It was agreed that negotiations will continue and move into the next phase, in which expert-level meetings will begin on Wednesday in Oman. The experts will have the opportunity to start designing a framework for an agreement.”
The top negotiators would meet again in Oman next Saturday to “review the experts’ work and assess how closely it aligns with the principles of a potential agreement,” he added.
Echoing cautious comments last week from Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, he added: “We cannot say for certain that we are optimistic. We are acting very cautiously. There is no reason either to be overly pessimistic.”
There was no immediate comment from the US side following the talks. Trump told reporters on Friday: “I’m for stopping Iran, very simply, from having a nuclear weapon. They can’t have a nuclear weapon. I want Iran to be great and prosperous and terrific.”
Washington’s ally Israel, which opposed the 2015 agreement with Iran that Trump abandoned in 2018, has not ruled out an attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities in the coming months, according to an Israeli official and two other people familiar with the matter.
Since 2019, Iran has breached and far surpassed the 2015 deal’s limits on its uranium enrichment, producing stocks far above what the West says is necessary for a civilian energy program.
A senior Iranian official, who described Iran’s negotiating position on condition of anonymity on Friday, listed its red lines as never agreeing to dismantle its uranium enriching centrifuges, halt enrichment altogether or reduce its enriched uranium stockpile below levels agreed in the 2015 deal.
The post Iran, US Task Experts to Design Framework for a Nuclear Deal, Tehran Says first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike
Varda Ben Baruch, the grandmother of Edan Alexander, 19, an Israeli army volunteer kidnapped by Hamas, attends a special Kabbalat Shabbat ceremony with families of other hostages, in Herzliya, Israel October 27, 2023 REUTERS/Kuba Stezycki
Hamas said on Saturday the fate of an Israeli dual national soldier believed to be the last US citizen held alive in Gaza was unknown, after the body of one of the guards who had been holding him was found killed by an Israeli strike.
A month after Israel abandoned the ceasefire with the resumption of intensive strikes across the breadth of Gaza, Israel was intensifying its attacks.
President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said in March that freeing Edan Alexander, a 21-year-old New Jersey native who was serving in the Israeli army when he was captured during the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks that precipitated the war, was a “top priority.” His release was at the center of talks held between Hamas leaders and US negotiator Adam Boehler last month.
Hamas had said on Tuesday that it had lost contact with the militants holding Alexander after their location was hit in an Israeli attack. On Saturday it said the body of one of the guards had been recovered.
“The fate of the prisoner and the rest of the captors remains unknown,” said Hamas armed wing Al-Qassam Brigades’ spokesperson Abu Ubaida.
“We are trying to protect all the hostages and preserve their lives … but their lives are in danger because of the criminal bombings by the enemy’s army,” Abu Ubaida said.
The Israeli military did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hamas released 38 hostages under the ceasefire that began on January 19. Fifty-nine are still believed to be held in Gaza, fewer than half of them still alive.
Israel put Gaza under a total blockade in March and restarted its assault on March 18 after talks failed to extend the ceasefire. Hamas says it will free remaining hostages only under an agreement that permanently ends the war; Israel says it will agree only to a temporary pause.
On Friday, the Israeli military said it hit about 40 targets across the enclave over the past day. The military on Saturday announced that a 35-year-old soldier had died in combat in Gaza.
NETANYAHU STATEMENT
Late on Thursday Khalil Al-Hayya, Hamas’ Gaza chief, said the movement was willing to swap all remaining 59 hostages for Palestinians jailed in Israel in return for an end to the war and reconstruction of Gaza.
He dismissed an Israeli offer, which includes a demand that Hamas lay down its arms, as imposing “impossible conditions.”
Israel has not responded formally to Al-Hayya’s comments, but ministers have said repeatedly that Hamas must be disarmed completely and can play no role in the future governance of Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to give a statement later on Saturday.
Hamas on Saturday also released an undated and edited video of Israeli hostage Elkana Bohbot. Hamas has released several videos over the course of the war of hostages begging to be released. Israeli officials have dismissed past videos as propaganda.
After the video was released, Bohbot’s family said in a statement that they were “deeply shocked and devastated,” and expressed concern for his mental and physical condition.
“How much longer will he be expected to wait and ‘stay strong’?” the family asked, urging for all of the 59 hostages who are still held in Gaza to be brought home.
The post Hamas Says Fate of US-Israeli Hostage Unknown After Guard Killed in Israel Strike first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks
FILE PHOTO: Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said gives a speech after being sworn in before the royal family council in Muscat, Oman January 11, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Sultan Al Hasani/File Photo
Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq al-Said is set to visit Moscow on Monday, days after the start of a round of Muscat-mediated nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
The sultan will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the Kremlin said.
Iran and the US started a new round of nuclear talks in Rome on Saturday to resolve their decades-long standoff over Tehran’s atomic aims, under the shadow of President Donald Trump’s threat to unleash military action if diplomacy fails.
Ahead of Saturday’s talks, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow. Following the meeting, Lavrov said Russia was “ready to assist, mediate and play any role that will be beneficial to Iran and the USA.”
Moscow has played a role in Iran’s nuclear negotiations in the past as a veto-wielding U.N. Security Council member and signatory to an earlier deal that Trump abandoned during his first term in 2018.
The sultan’s meetings in Moscow visit will focus on cooperation on regional and global issues, the Omani state news agency and the Kremlin said, without providing further detail.
The two leaders are also expected to discuss trade and economic ties, the Kremlin added.
The post Oman’s Sultan to Meet Putin in Moscow After Iran-US Talks first appeared on Algemeiner.com.