Media watchdog reaffirms journalist criteria amid backlash over Gaza database review

CPJ pushes back on ‘unsubstantiated allegations,’ reaffirms journalist criteria amid backlash over Gaza database review, after ToI found some Gaza entries were of Hamas or PIJ operatives

By Stav Levaton

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Today, 10:11 pm

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Stav Levaton is a military reporter for The Times of Israel

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which tracks killings of media workers on the job, reaffirmed its definition of a journalist on Wednesday, amid backlash over the group’s move to review its Gaza database following a Times of Israel investigation.

The investigation identified several avowed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad operatives in the database, lending credence, in at least some cases, to Israeli assertions that they were legitimate military targets in the war sparked by the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023.

CPJ had previously removed eight names from its database after determining the individuals were Hamas and PIJ operatives, and another 12 for other reasons. The “full review” that the CPJ pledged last week for the remaining entries is expected to be completed this month.

In a statement Wednesday, the CPJ said its board voted to reaffirm its journalist criteria amid “unsubstantiated allegations” that the group sought to exclude Palestinian and Lebanese journalists.

The statement came after Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd claimed, citing “anonymous sources within the organization,” that to appease “Zionist” media, CPJ sought new journalist criteria that would “broadly exclude slain Palestinian and Lebanese journalists who worked for government-funded media outlets.” The claim was echoed by other anti-Israel sources, including the Hamas-linked Quds News Network.

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In its statement, CPJ said its longstanding criteria are “anchored in international humanitarian law” and include “journalists working for state-backed media and those working with media organizations affiliated with militant groups provided they are not engaging in combat or inciting violence in a manner likely to have imminent effect.”

“It is not true that CPJ planned to change our definition of who is a journalist to exclude slain Palestinian and Lebanese press killed in the Israel-Gaza war,” CPJ board chair Jacob Weisberg said.

“Such unsubstantiated allegations undermine the rigorous documentation of our Middle East and North Africa program over many years, while endangering Palestinian and Lebanese journalists documenting events on the ground today,” Weisberg added.

In a separate X thread, CPJ also defended the removal, to date, of 20 names from the Gaza casualty database.

CPJ “did not remove any of these names because of political pressure,” it said. “The only time we remove or add names is if new information, verified by CPJ, establishes that an individual should have been included or excluded as per our existing and long-standing methodology.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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