Associated Press Suspends Reporter Who Said Israel Has Been Committing Genocide

A view of a junction shows the aftermath of a mass-infiltration by Hamas terrorists from the Gaza Strip, in the Sderot area, southern Israel, on Oct. 7, 2023. Ammar Awad/Reuters

The Associated Press has suspended a reporter who repeatedly expressed animus against Israel.

Issam Adwan made a series of statements over the years denigrating Israel, including one that claimed that the country has been carrying out genocide since 1948.

“It’s simple to identify which side you take ... Supporting colonialism and apartheid is never ok to the human common sense,” Mr. Adwan wrote on X, previously Twitter, in 2022.

In another post, he said: “Palestinian revolt against the Israeli oppression will be a triumph sooner rather than later,” adding, “No matter how strong or well-supported by the other tyrants, every colonial system will be overthrown.”

Mr. Adwan has deleted many of his controversial posts, but they were archived by the HonestReporting project.

The Associated Press confirmed it has suspended Mr. Adwan while it explores the matter.

“Issam Adwan was taken off of reporting duties last week while we look into this,” an AP spokeswoman told The Epoch Times via email.

Mr. Adwan didn’t respond to a request for comment.

He hasn’t posted on X since Oct. 10.

His last post referred to a story he wrote from the Gaza Strip, describing the impact that Israeli bombs had on the people there.

Hamas terrorists entered Israel earlier in October, murdering more than 1,400 Israelis and taking others hostage.

Israel has been bombing the strip; officials say it’s targeting Hamas, which largely runs the strip.

Mr. Adwan’s story described the terrorist attack in Israel as “the deadliest attack on Israel in decades.” He also wrote that following the attack, “Israel unleashed what Gaza residents described as the most intense bombing campaign in recent memory.”

He quoted residents as saying the Israeli military didn’t give warnings each time it bombed buildings, though the military had warned people to evacuate to certain areas.

Mr. Adwan joined The Associated Press, one of the largest wire services in the world, this year after spending time with Al Jazeera.

In the past, Mr. Adwan worked for the nonprofits “We Are Not Numbers” and “The Palestinian Center for Democracy and Conflict Resolution.”

In 2019, during a Facebook broadcast, Mr. Adwan said, “This apartheid regime of Israel should fall.”

He’s also written on X that Israel has been committing genocide “since 1948,” when it was established.

And he shared a post from the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which calls for harsh measures against Israel, including widespread boycotts.

HonestReporting said that it lodged a complaint with The Associated Press.

The wire service “should run better background checks next time it hires a correspondent to cover one of the world’s most sensitive conflicts,” it said.

The Associated Press fired another worker in 2021 over social media posts she made regarding Israel and Palestine.

“‘Objectivity’ feels fickle when the basic terms we use to report news implicitly stake a claim,” Emily Wilder wrote in one post. “Using ‘israel’ but never ‘palestine,’ or ‘war’ but not ‘siege and occupation’ are political choices—yet media make those exact choices all the time without being flagged as biased.”

Earlier posts showed she called Jewish businessman Shel Adelson a “naked mole rat-looking billionaire” and rallied for ending the Birthright program that sends Jewish students to Israel.

“Why do I #ReturnTheBirthRight? Because millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants cannot visit or return to their parents or grandparents’ homes,” she wrote.

Brian Carovillano, managing editor of The Associated Press, said the firing was made to maintain the news agency’s credibility.

Rockets are fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, on Oct. 16, 2023. Leo Correa/AP

BBC Investigating

The British Broadcasting Corporation said it’s investigating after an article by The Telegraph highlighted statements that its correspondents have made.

One correspondent claimed that the Israelis “basically don’t have any civilians among the youth” and called people who don’t think the same way “ignorant,” The Telegraph reported.

“Every member of the Zionist entity served in the army at some point in his life, whether men or women, and they all had victims of explicit violations,“ another reporter wrote. ”This term ‘civilians’ applies to the animals and pets that live there and they are not seriously at fault.”

A third hit “like” on a post that said: “You cannot support freedom fighters in Ukraine as they resist Russian occupation but not in Palestine against Israeli occupation, unless you have no conscience.”

The BBC didn’t respond to a request for comment.

It told The Telegraph: “We are urgently investigating this matter. We take allegations of breaches of our editorial and social media guidelines with the utmost seriousness, and if and when we find breaches we will act, including taking disciplinary action.”

The BBC is publicly funded and has to follow certain rules, including “due impartiality” to all its subject matter.

Reporters, correspondents, and presenters “may provide professional judgements, rooted in evidence, but may not express personal views on such matters publicly, including in any BBC-branded output or on personal blogs and social media,” the rules state.