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Peabody Awards Honor Flawed Coverage of Israel-Hamas War
John Oliver in the Nov. 12 episode of his HBO show “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.” Photo: Screenshot
One of the top prizes in media broadcasting was awarded last week to recipients who should have been called out as bad examples of the industry rather than winners of one of its highest honors.
British comedian John Oliver, pro-Palestinian “journalist” Bisan Owda, and a PBS NewsHour report all won the annual Peabody Award last Thursday (May 9) for their coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
But Oliver’s winning segment in the entertainment category lacked any context or nuance, while Owda’s and PBS‘s winning pieces in the news category made a mockery of journalism.
John Oliver Falls Short
The Peabody Awards Board stated that “with its thoughtful episode about the conflict in Israel and Palestine, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver offered an important corrective to the media landscape awash in misinformation.”
But as we showed last November, Oliver’s analysis fell short in several areas: His flawed depiction of Hamas, his portrayal of Israeli actions in Gaza, and his characterization of the discourse surrounding a ceasefire.
By viewing Hamas through a Western lens, Oliver’s shallow monologue disregards critical facts and falls for terrorist propaganda.
Moreover, Oliver’s depiction of Israel’s actions in Gaza is disturbingly one-sided.
He describes Israel’s defensive war against Hamas as “the relentless bombings of civilians,” but remains silent on Hamas’ embedding of its terror infrastructure within civilian areas.
And to top it all off, Oliver calls for a ceasefire but places the onus for that entirely on the Jewish State, totally ignoring the fact that Israel has the right to defend itself against those who seek to annihilate it.
A Pro-Palestinian “Journalist”
In the news category, the prestigious Peabody went to 25-year-old Gazan Bisan Owda for her work with social media publisher AJ+, which is owned by the Al-Jazeera media network.
But Owda wasn’t even wearing a press vest to identify herself as a journalist while reporting for the Qatari-owned propaganda outlet. In fact, Owda is an influencer who has gained millions of followers on social media by documenting her life in Gaza throughout the Israel-Hamas war, with a clear pro-Palestinian agenda.
Her winning work for AJ+ includes highlights from the videos she shared with her followers as she was sheltering from Israeli bombardments at Al-Shifa Hospital. Apparently, this was enough to impress the Peabody Board. “She shows what survival looks like for her and the masses around her, drawing on her indomitable spirit to keep the world informed of the day-to-day reality on the ground in Gaza,” the judges wrote.
Yet they didn’t seem to wonder why she had only emphasized the plight of wounded Gazans without mentioning Hamas terrorists’ presence at the medical compound.
This is not the work of a journalist, but a pro-Palestinian activist.
And her bias wasn’t a secret. Last November, The Jerusalem Post exposed a post in which she had justified Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.
Apparently, the post has been removed since then but the paper included its translation from the Arabic: “For every action, there is a reaction. This means: What was expected after 75 years of occupation and 17 years of siege? … What was expected of us? … Would the families of the prisoners remain silent?”
Owda also helped distribute the terrorists’ lie blaming Israel for a deadly strike on Gaza’s Al-Ahli Hospital in mid-October, which was caused by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. She has not corrected or retracted her post.
And to reiterate her activism, she had no qualms repeating the slogan “Free Palestine” three times at the end of an Instagram video she posted after the announcement of her Peabody win.
The Mistakes of PBS
Another winner in the news category was “War in the Holy Land,” a PBS NewsHour special report that aired just six days after the deadly Hamas massacre on October 7.
The Peabody Board stated that the report “showed compassion and a sophisticated understanding of the politics of the region.”
But while relatively balanced, the report is full of mistakes and suspicious omissions.
Here are the most prominent inaccuracies:
The 1948 war is described as a result of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, with no mention that the Jewish state had to defend itself against five Arab armies that attacked it immediately afterward.
The Gaza blockade is mentioned as an Israeli policy, omitting the fact it had been also imposed by Egypt after Hamas’ 2007 takeover of the Strip.
Jewish “settlers” are described as “gathering at the [Al Aqsa] mosque for Jewish prayers,” even though Jews are not allowed to enter the mosque and Jewish prayer is officially banned in the entire compound. The accompanying footage actually shows a crowd of ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrating the Jewish festival of Sukkot, clearly not on the Temple Mount let alone inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque. In addition, unless PBS were to check the addresses of any Jews visiting the area, they would not be able to ascertain whether or not they were “settlers” unless they were to buy into the extremist Palestinian position of treating all Israelis as “settlers.”
The report ends with a non-journalistic call for peace: “War moves in one direction until leaders dare to wage peace,” the host says.
She forgets to add that only a few days earlier, Hamas’ leaders dared to wage the murder, rape, and kidnapping of hundreds of innocent Israelis.
Is this report worthy of a reward or a rebuke?
Doesn’t the Peabody Board care about impartiality and fact-checking? Sadly, it seems like it values the complete opposite.
Oliver’s shallow monologue, Owda’s activism, and PBS’ News report all merit criticism, not reward.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
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