Instead of focusing on Middle East peace, UN media seminar targets Israel

An annual United Nations media seminar held purportedly to “enhance dialogue and understanding between media practitioners” and “support of a peaceful settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” largely turned into an Israel-bashing exercise last week.

The International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, which is several decades old, has been mandated by the U.N. General Assembly since 2022 as part of the “Special Information Programme on the Question of Palestine.”

The mandate directs the U.N. Department of Global Communications to organize a seminar “to sensitize public opinion to the question of Palestine, support peace efforts, and promote Israeli-Palestinian dialogue—particularly by encouraging media contributions to peace.”

The theme of this year’s seminar, held on Dec. 8 in New York, was “Breaking Barriers: Navigating the Dangers and Complexities of Reporting from Gaza and the West Bank” (Judea and Samaria).

As with past seminars, the only Israeli media outlet placed on the program was one widely viewed as part of the hard left, with Haggai Mattar, executive director of +972 Magazine, taking part with a pre-recorded message. 

+972 Magazine, an English-language publication which is reportedly read mainly by an international audience, has called for boycotts of Israel and has reported that Israel is an apartheid state.

Melissa Fleming, U.N. under-secretary-general for global communications and the seminar’s moderator, described +972 Magazine as “a groundbreaking media outlet” that “plays a crucial role in bridging divides through journalism,” praising Mattar’s work for bringing “nuanced perspectives to global audiences” and “challenges prevailing narratives.” 

Mattar’s message described an “Israeli genocide,” while claiming that “the Israeli media has by and large ignored what Israel has done to Palestinians. Genocide, the devastation, the destruction, the starvation of Gaza, has been just ignored by almost all of Israeli media.”

Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s U.N. envoy, noted that the panel has previously invited Gideon Levy of Haartez, who has also long called for boycotts of Israel in harshly critical reporting of the Jewish state.

A JNS search of seminar guest lists dating back to 2020 revealed no Israeli journalists without ties to left-wing publications.

Asked how the echo chamber created by inviting guests with a lack of ideological diversity creates a platform that helps to encourage media support of a peaceful settlement to the conflict, Fleming told JNS, “We remain open to all media organizations that support peace. Additional factors that influence the lineup are speaker availability, space and budget.”

Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists, told seminar attendees that her organization “has been pushing for the suspension” of the European Union-Israel Association Agreement, which governs political dialogue and economic cooperation between the EU and Israel.

Nasser Abu Bakr, chair of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, delivered a pre-recorded message, stating that Palestinian journalists have been “subjected to the ugliest massacre in human history,” decrying what he says is “the first media genocide.”

Pressed for suggestions or ideas as to how to advance the protection of journalists, Mansour suggested that the United Nations host a “huge international conference” of global journalists “to say something about what is really happening, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” while criticizing “globally known figures such as [CNN anchor and Israel critic Christiane] Amanpour and others, who should have the responsibility to come and to defend their colleagues in a global forum.”

Ginsberg countered that such a conference is better suited to be held in Israel, “because the people that we really need to convince is Israel and the Israeli people,” adding that “We’ve had high-profile figures speak out publicly. Much of that gets neutered once it gets into Israel.”

While multiple panelists criticized Israel for instituting a near-blanket restriction on international journalists from entering Gaza during the war, none of the three Palestinian journalists invited to speak mentioned any of the onerous restrictions placed on journalists by Hamas or the Palestinian Authority. 

Many news organizations have previously reported acts and threats of violence from Hamas for critical reporting, and a pattern of self-censorship by international journalists in Gaza as a result. The Palestinian Authority has also previously been chided for government control of media in Judea and Samaria.

Tania Kraemer, chair of the Foreign Press Association, said during the panel discussion that a reopening of Gaza to international journalists “will bring greater awareness and greater scrutiny of Israel’s, and also Hamas’, actions.”

Asked about the lack of acknowledgement of Palestinian governance crackdowns on free media during the seminar, Fleming said, “The United Nations consistently condemns all restrictions on press freedom, underscoring that such measures violate international human rights law.

It advocates for strong protections for journalists and insists that all parties in armed conflicts ensure the free flow of information, as affirmed in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and U.N. resolutions.”

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