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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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Candace Owens Barred From New Zealand After Facing Similar Ban From Australia for Comments on Jews, Holocaust
Right-wing political commentator Candace Owens speaks during an event held by national conservative political movement ‘Turning Point’, in Detroit, Michigan, US, June, 14, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
Right-wing American political commentator and YouTube content creator Candace Owens has been denied a visa to enter New Zealand because she was banned from the nearby country Australia, immigration officials reportedly said on Thursday.
Owens was scheduled to embark on her first speaking tour across Australia and New Zealand in February and March of next year. The tour includes a stop in Auckland, New Zealand, on Feb. 28 and tickets remain on sale online.
Australia rejected her request for a visa last month. Australian Immigration Minister Tony Burke said the decision was made because of Owens’s past remarks, including her apparent denial that Nazis forcibly did medical experiments on Jews in concentration camps during World War II.
“From downplaying the impact of the Holocaust with comments about [Nazi doctor and war criminal Josef] Mengele through to claims that Muslims started slavery, Candace Owens has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction,” Burke said at the time. “Australia’s national interest is best served when Candace Owens is somewhere else.
Jock Gilray, a spokesperson for New Zealand’s immigration agency, said on Thursday that Owens was refused an entertainer’s work permit for New Zealand because visas legally cannot be granted to someone who have been banned from another country, The Associated Press reported on Thursday. New Zealand officials did not refer to Owens’s past comments when announcing the denial of her visa.
Owens and the Australia-based promoter behind her speaking tour, Rocksman, have yet to comment on news regarding the ban from New Zealand but said in October that they will file a legal appeal to a federal judge in response to the ban from Australia. Owens commented on Burke’s decision to deny her a visa for Australia and blamed it partially on the alleged influence of the global “Zionist media empire.”
Owens, who has over 3 million subscribers on YouTube and hosts the podcast titled “Candace,” has promoted conspiracy theories and made numerous antisemitic comments about Israel, Jews, Zionists, and the Holocaust. She has also made controversial comments against Black Lives Matter, feminism, vaccines, and immigration.
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Israeli Bus Attacked in West Bank, At Least Eight Injured
Israeli police officer works at the scene of a shooting attack near the Jewish settlement of Ariel, in the West Bank, Nov. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Palestinian opened fire on a Tel Aviv-bound Israeli bus near the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the West Bank on Friday, wounding at least eight people before he was killed by Israeli troops, the Israeli military said.
Israel‘s MDA medical service said four people suffered gunshot wounds, with three in a serious condition, and four others were hurt by flying glass.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the shooter as a 46-year-old local man. Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said he belonged to the terrorist group.
Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza in October last year.
In the first six months of 2024, the West Bank experienced more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to data made public by Hatzalah Judea and Samaria (Rescuers Without Borders).
Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks, Israeli authorities say, while hundreds of Palestinians — including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths, and civilian bystanders — have died in clashes with Israeli security forces.
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The Winds Are Blowing Agains the Jewish People; But the Response to Chaos and Violent Protests Could Lead to a Reversal
A Torah scroll is seen on display at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, April 16, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen.
People are asking why we are now experiencing such a tsunami of hatred — a kind of Ma Nishtana moment. There are very different factors that have come together to create a perfect storm of conflicting world and ethical values. Old certainties have died, and new ones are flourishing, and not always for the best. One can look at this from different perspectives — the historical, the social, the religious, and the long-term instability of societies and governments.
For thousands of years, the fate and role of societies have been determined by the people who exercised power and what religion or gods they adhered to. Power rose or fell violently and unpredictably. Authorities cared little for human life. Religions were supposed to take care of morality. Winners determined the fate of humans — who was accepted and who was not, or merely tolerated. Every country was guilty at some stage of abuse, and benefited from servitude. This does not mean one cannot try to make things better.
Throughout history, rival religions competed for supremacy and Jews were always caught in the middle. Judaism found itself attacked both by religions and by secular ideologies. And many Jews themselves abandoned their religion and culture ,and joined the different and conflicting ideologies and fought for recognition and rights for everyone. We expected to be hated by the European devils of Stalin and Hitler. But we never believed we would be hated by so many Americans. By Harvards and Columbias.
The First and the Second Great Wars were watersheds. They created new global rivalries and exacerbated cultural opposites. The dream that a United Nations could bring peace has been shattered by its politics. The dove of peace is crippled, and the lion will not lie down with the lamb. As many societies have advanced technologically, and billions were raised out of poverty and servitude, people began to talk about rights instead of obligations. And different groups who felt poorly treated, began to demand respect and amelioration.
Unfortunately, like all such movements, they developed into orthodoxies that allowed for no dissent or criticism. The current curse in the West is wokeism. And in the east, it is the curse of totalitarianism.
Another important factor in a changing world is migration. In the past, people fled prejudice, wars, and oppression. Many wanted a freer life and opportunities. And they integrated into the host societies. Ease of travel and access have now meant that larger numbers are fleeing, bringing with them values directly in conflict with host societies. The Western world is being and will continue to be challenged by massive immigration because it needs more workers to fill the gaps left by declining birthrates. In itself this is not a problem. But by refusing to deal with the issue of integration, by burying heads in sands, and now by fearing to act to remove those inciting hatred, it is only stoking up more chaos for the future. In many places, the character of nations has already begun to change.
Multiculturalism, once seen as an ideal, is now becoming a problem. It has led to a choice, between cultural capitulation and an alliance of false brothers, religious fundamentalists allied with left-wing progressives to gain power despite opposing values. One day, they may overturn states from within.
Some will argue that Israel is the cause of world dysfunction. Strange that such a small people are thought to have such influence. Others argue that Israel was a mistake, and all other states that emerged from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire are legitimate. And they argue that Israel has no right to defend itself. All these are both nonsensical and evidence of prejudice. And they simply reiterate what the Bible foretold, that we are people who are alone, not appreciated by other nations (Numbers 23:9).
If the world is bent on tearing itself apart, we can only look on in despair for them. And do our best to ensure that we are well protected.
All is not lost. There are signs of a reaction. The winds that bring storms can also revive and refresh.
Florence, Italy, in the 15th century was the pinnacle of wealth, culture, and influence. Its banking families controlled the Western world. The Franciscan monk Savonarola (1452-1498) attacked the power and the wealth of the wealthy rulers. But he went too far in destroying great art, music, and what he saw as luxury. Instead, he enforced dull pious conformity. For a while, he was successful. But people soon tired of it, and in the end, he was burnt as a heretic. After the French Revolution came the Reign of Terror. Let us hope it won’t happen now.
The author is a writer and rabbi, based in New York.
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