Khaled Abu Toameh

Khaled Abu Toameh

Khaled Abu Toameh (Arabic: خالد أبو طعمة, Hebrew: חאלד אבו טועמה; born 1963) is an Israeli Arab journalist, lecturer and documentary filmmaker.[1]

Abu Toameh writes for The Jerusalem Post[2] and for the New York–based Gatestone Institute, where he is a senior distinguished fellow.[3] He is a producer and consultant for NBC News since 1989.[4][5] His articles have also appeared in numerous newspapers around the world.

Biography

Khaled Abu Toameh was born to an Israeli Arab father and a Palestinian Arab mother.[6] He grew up in the Arab-Israeli town Baqa al-Gharbiyye.[7] He received a B.A. in English literature from the Hebrew University and lives in Jerusalem.[8]

Media career

Since 2002, Khaled Abu Toameh has reported for The Jerusalem Post on Arab affairs.[2] Since 1989 he has been a producer and consultant for NBC News.[4] He has produced several documentaries on the Palestinians for the BBC, Channel 4, Australian, Danish and Swedish television.[8]

Abu Toameh has served as a lecturer with the University of Minnesota – School of Journalism and Mass Communication.[9] He has also lectured at the London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS),[10] as well as the London-based think tank Chatham House.[11]

Abu Toameh has spoken at the House of Commons of the United Kingdom by invitation.[12] He was a keynote speaker at the 2009 annual conference of the Canadian Association of Journalists in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.[13] He has spoken on the situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and prospects for peace in the Middle East at university campuses throughout the U.S. and Canada.[14][15] A series of his talks have been sponsored by StandWithUs,[16][17] and he spoke at their annual conference in Los Angeles in 2008.[18]

In August 2011 Abu Toameh was invited to speak at the Sydney Institute in Australia on the challenge of Palestinian state-building.[19] Two days later he also gave a talk on "Human rights challenges in the Palestinian territories" at a seminar organized by The Australian Human Rights Centre.[20][21]

Views and opinions

Abu Toameh says he is routinely subject to condemnations, and is often threatened. He notes, however, that more threats are coming from outside the Middle East than from within the Palestinian Authority, and that those who threaten him "roundly acknowledge" that he is telling the truth and don't question his reporting, but want him to "shut up."[22]

Abu Toameh believes that American students who say that they are against Israel's occupation are actually more interested in ending Israel than in ending Israel's occupation.[23]

Facebook account incident

Following publication of his 2013 article "The Palestinian Authority's Inconvenient Truth",[citation needed] which is critical of the Palestinian Authority, the author's Facebook page was temporarily deactivated.[24] It is unclear whether Facebook's action was taken in light of official complaints from the Palestinian Authority and Jordan or because other users flagged the posts as offensive.[25]

Facebook reactivated his account but removed his article about the Palestinian Authority's corruption. Subsequently, Facebook issued an apology for the deletion of his article, calling it "an employee's error".[26][27] In response, Abu Toameh wrote in an op-ed that many journalists in the Middle East are forced to use Facebook to publish work that their own media will not accept. He also said, "It is the duty of Facebook and Western societies to side with those seeking freedom, and not to be complicit in suppressing their voices". In the same article, he decried the recent arrests of journalists and bloggers that were critical of the Palestinian Authority's leadership in their Facebook pages.[28]

Recognition and awards

Abu Toameh received the 2014 Daniel Pearl Award.[29] Abu Toameh shared Israel Media Watch's 2010 award for media criticism with the satirical Israeli website Latma.[30]

On 10 May 2011, Khaled Abu Toameh won the Hudson Institute Award for Courage in Journalism.[31]

Canada's Toronto Sun columnist Salim Mansur praised Abu Toameh for his courage and knowledge of the politics of the Arab world.[32]

Abu Toameh is the 2013 recipient of the Emet award given by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA).[33]

He was chosen on the Algemeiner Journal's 2013 list of The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life.[34]

References

  1. ^ "Khaled Abu Toameh". aishcom.
  2. ^ a b Lidman, Melanie (15 January 2013). "Facebook temporarily bans 'Post' reporter". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  3. ^ "Distinguished Senior Fellows". Gatestone Institute. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Khaled Abu Toameh, Distinguished Senior Fellow". Gatestone Institute. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  5. ^ Levine, Charley J. (24 August 2013). "Interview: Khaled Abu Toameh". Hadassah Magazine. Retrieved 26 November 2020.
  6. ^ Astor, Maggie (2 February 2008). "Journalist Takes Even Handed Approach to Arab-Israeli Conflict". Columbia Daily Spectator. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  7. ^ Khaled Abu Toameh and the Israeli-Palestinian Dilemma
  8. ^ a b Abu Toameh, Khaled (27 April 2004). "Telling the Truth about the Palestinians". Middle East Forum. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  9. ^ "Jerusalem Post Correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh to speak on campus". Murphy Weekly. University of Minnesota School of Journalism & Mass Communication. 2009. Archived from the original on 11 June 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  10. ^ Gross, Gavin (2008). "Anti-Israeli Activity at the School of Oriental and African Studies: How Jewish Students Started to Fight Back". From Manfred Gerstenfeld ( ed.) Academics against Israel and the Jews. Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 13 June 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Meeting: An Israel Arab's Perspective On Gaza, The New Palestinian Authority, Hamas And The Elections". Member Event, transcript included. Chatham House. April 2006. Archived from the original on 9 June 2007. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
  12. ^ "HJS Event Israel-Palestinian Relations". Transcript of remarks made at the House of Commons. Henry Jackson Society. December 2009. Archived from the original on 16 May 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  13. ^ "Khaled Abu Toameh, Keynote". Annual Conference and Awards Gala 2009. Canadian Association of Journalists. 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  14. ^ Biro, Amalia (March 2010). "Arab-Israeli conflict incites heated debate at Laurier". The Cord. Wilfrid Laurier University. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  15. ^ Chalfant, Morgan (April 2010). "Palestinian Journalist Speaks at BC". The Observer. Boston College. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2010.
  16. ^ Rothstein, Roz (September 2008). "StandWithUs: A Grassroots Advocacy Organization Also On Campus". Institute for Global Jewish Affairs. Archived from the original on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  17. ^ "Standwithus Announces Campus Tour Dates For Khalid Abu Toameh, Itamar Marcus, Neil Lazarus and Mitchell Bard". Scholars for Peace in the Middle East. 28 October 2007. Archived from the original on 8 December 2007. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  18. ^ Greenberg, Brad A. (14 February 2008). "L.A.'s defenders of Israel". The Jewish Journal of Greater Los Angeles. Archived from the original on 28 September 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2011.
  19. ^ "Khaled Abu Toameh". The Sydney Institute. Archived from the original on 12 June 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  20. ^ "AHRCentre Seminar – Khaled Abu Tomah". University of New South Wales Faculty of Law, Kensington (Sydney Australia. Archived from the original on 16 June 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  21. ^ "AHRCentre invites you to a seminar with Khaled Abu Toameh". www.ahrcentre.org. Australian Human Rights Centre, Sydney, Australia. Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  22. ^ Traiman, Alex. "Censored by Facebook, journalist forges on as lonely dissenting Arab voice on PA". JNS.org. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  23. ^ Harris, Ben (25 March 2009). "Worse than Gaza". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  24. ^ "Facebook 'censors' Palestinian writer posting anti-corruption articles". The Commentator. 15 January 2013. Archived from the original on 18 November 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  25. ^ Kalman, Aaron (15 January 2013). "Facebook closes Israeli Arab reporter's page". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  26. ^ "UPDATED: Facebook Closes Khaled Abu Toameh's Account". CAMERA. 15 January 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  27. ^ Abu Toameh, Khaled (18 January 2013). "Facebook's "Accidental Mistake" and Free Speech in the Arab World". Gatestone Institute, International Policy Council. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  28. ^ "Censored by Facebook, journalist forges on as lonely dissenting Arab voice on PA". JNS.org. Retrieved 24 November 2020.[dead link‍]
  29. ^ "Abu Toameh wins 2014 Pearl prize for journalistic courage". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 17 January 2015.
  30. ^ Hartman, Ben (3 January 2011). "'Post' reporter, Latma site win award for media criticism". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 6 January 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2010.
  31. ^ "Post's Khaled Abu Toameh gets Hudson award". Jerusalem Post. 8 May 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  32. ^ Mansur, Salim (4 November 2011). "Arab Spring a mask for ruthless men". Toronto Sun. QMI Agency. Archived from the original on 15 April 2015. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  33. ^ "CAMERA to honor Post's Khaled Abu Toameh with Emet Award". The Jerusalem Post. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2024.
  34. ^ "The Top 100 People Positively Influencing Jewish Life (INTRODUCTION)". Algemeiner Journal. 25 April 2013. Retrieved 6 June 2024.