More than half the names on the embattled Committee to Protect Journalists' revised list of "journalists" slain in Gaza "have connections to terrorist groups," even after the New York-based advocacy organization conducted a months-long review meant to identify and remove confirmed combatants from its widely cited database, according to a leading media watchdog.
CPJ first announced in June that it was undertaking a wholesale review of its list of "Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza War" following a series of Washington Free Beacon reports questioning the integrity of its influential list and revealing that numerous confirmed terrorists were included in the death toll. CPJ has been in turmoil for months—driven by infighting and the public defenestration of a pharmaceutical heiress—over allegations of myopic anti-Israel bias that's clouded its historic mission of protecting journalists worldwide.
While CPJ initially said its internal review would be completed in July, the organization did not publicly disclose its findings until late last week. CPJ ultimately removed 19 terrorists and 3 other fake journalists from the list, but reinstated 4 others who had previously been nixed for engaging in terrorism against Israel. That leaves a total of 191 supposed Gazan journalists on the CPJ's rejiggered database—102 of whom still have demonstrable "connections to terrorist groups," according to an independent review of the CPJ audit performed by the Israeli media watchdog group HonestReporting.
"Although the CPJ review removed almost two dozen individuals who participated in combat during the war that began on October 7, 2023, 53 percent of those still listed have terrorist ties, with CPJ failing to remove identified terrorists and even reinstating some to the database," HonestReporting concluded in a comprehensive 138-page review. "CPJ continues to include members of the non-military wings of terrorist groups on its list, and has failed to issue an apology for spreading disinformation."
Thursday afternoon, the CPJ doubled down, making the claim on X that "Israel has been targeting and killing journalists in connection with their reporting for decades, and this deadly pattern must end," something the Israelis strongly dispute, presenting, case by case, documentary proof such as "martyr posters," photos, and Hamas payroll and membership records.
The CPJ was first thrust into the spotlight in May, when it served as a critical source for an outlandish column by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof alleging that Israeli soldiers raped two Palestinian "journalists" with a carrot and a dog.
Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups operating in Gaza have a well-documented practice of installing their operatives as journalists—often as cameramen in TV crews—so they can take advantage of longstanding conventions to avoid killing journalists during war. When Israel identifies and targets these militants, it faces international opprobrium, especially if CPJ claims there were indeed journalists.
HonestReporting further determined that CPJ's updated list fails to meet the organization's own "criteria for inclusion as a journalist, while broader methodological issues remain." CPJ's board voted 17-1 in July to affirm that "organizations affiliated with militant groups" meet the criteria of a legitimate journalistic outlet "provided they are not engaging in combat or inciting violence in a manner likely to have imminent effect." That contentious definition, opposed only by the Fox News board representative, essentially allowed CPJ to continue considering known terrorists for inclusion on its list.
Prior to issuing its July decree proclaiming that journalists could belong to militant groups, infighting among the CPJ board—composed of establishment news industry figures who are effectively, if not officially, serving ex officio—spilled into the open when Nika Soon-Shiong, the anti-Israel daughter of pharmaceutical billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong, publicly stated she was kicked off the board during an argument over a Free Beacon article about the list. Ultimately, however, the board "voted to affirm our definition of who is a journalist," proclaimed Lydia Polgreen, the virulently anti-Israel New York Times columnist who is the board's vice chair.
The CPJ's newly revised list still includes Anas al-Sharif, whom Polgreen wrote was "a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist" who was "assassinated" by Israel, "a young man who had suddenly become the face and voice of the desperate people of his homeland, Gaza." Despite the IDF releasing voluminous documentary evidence to show that al-Sharif was an active Hamas soldier—including a photo of him hugging the Hamas commander and Oct. 7 mastermind Yahya Sinwar—Polgreen said Israel had "no credible evidence" for its case.
The documented problems with CPJ's recent audit became even more embarrassing for the group on Thursday, when the Israel Defense Forces published its own dossier on 170 supposed Gaza journalists who were actually terrorist operatives for Hamas and other jihadist groups. This includes individuals who, at one time or another, worked for Al Jazeera, Reuters, the Associated Press, CNN, the BBC, and other Western media outlets.
"Individuals presented as innocent journalists were, in fact, militants in the military wings of Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) and other terrorist organizations," the IDF said. "They presented themselves as legitimate media professionals while serving terrorist organizations that regularly use propaganda and psychological warfare."
The IDF issued a direct challenge to CPJ when it posted its findings on X, writing, "You might want to update your list."
The public version of CPJ's five-page audit—a "confidential" version of which was disseminated internally on July 7—purported to examine "new information and allegations" against the Gaza journalists included on its list. An unnamed auditor who "previously worked for CPJ and as a journalist in Gaza" was assigned to perform the review.
CPJ ultimately concluded "that Israel was responsible for the deaths of 191 journalists and media workers in IOPT [Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories] since October 7, 2023." The organization acknowledged in a single line that it needs to "improve its data handling and presentation and increase the searchability of its website CPJ.org."
HonestReporting, however, documented significant shortfalls that were either not acknowledged by CPJ in its own audit, or were completely ignored, including documented evidence proving a supposed journalist was actually a terrorist.
At least 30 names still included on CPJ's list are terrorists who were identified as such by "martyr notices" issued by their respective terror outfits, such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Among the four Palestinian "journalists" reinstated to CPJ's list, two were found to have "terrorist connections," according to HonestReporting.
Assad Shamlakh, for instance, "was confirmed by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) to be a member of its Gaza Brigade's Al-Sabra and Tel Al-Hawa Battalion." Mohamed Khaireddine, meanwhile, "worked for the Hamas controlled and U.S. Treasury sanctioned outlet Al-Aqsa TV."
"Other terrorists that remained on the list were simply shuffled around between the classifications 'media worker' and 'journalist,' such as Ibrahim Sheikh Ali, a platoon commander in the Central Brigade of PIJ's Al-Quds Brigades," HonestReporting found. "Ahmed Abu Mhadi was also reviewed without being removed, despite being a fighter in the Northern Brigade of Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades."
Another 18 individuals on CPJ's list are designated as terrorists by the IDF, while 10 others were identified as such through "statements by family members, open-source information, and unverified documents." Nearly 60 names that remain include "individuals working for media outlets" that are affiliated with known terrorist organizations.
"It's time the CPJ properly examined the flaws in its own methodology, as no such self-examination or reflection appear in this audit," HonestReporting told the Free Beacon in a statement. "Gaza's media ecosystem has been contaminated by proximity to Hamas and its allies. This is something CPJ simply refuses to admit despite being shown, repeatedly, to be complicit in helping the system to perpetuate while placing the blame on Israel."
CPJ would not comment on HonestReporting's findings, only telling the Free Beacon that "all relevant information is available on our website."
CPJ CEO Jodie Ginsberg said in a statement on the organization's website that determinations are solely made based "on whether individuals meet our definitions of who we consider to be a journalist, not an individual's affiliation or views." Ginsberg herself has publicly accused Israel of "smearing journalists" by revealing they are actually terrorists.
HonestReporting maintains that CPJ did not even adhere to its own permissive definition of who qualifies as a journalist. The organization recently amended its methodology, stating: "CPJ considers individuals to be engaging in combat if they have active membership in the military or a militant wing of a state or non-state actor, or if they engage in acts of violence."
Yet it failed to apply "that standard consistently," according to HonestReporting. "It retained PIJ Central Military Media Unit members Mohammad Abu Sharia and Mohamed Jamal Sobhi Al-Thalathini, despite notices published on July 16 and August 14, respectively, identifying them as members of the organization."
What this means in practice is that "individuals can remain classified as journalists even if they belong to a terrorist organization, provided they are not considered members of its military wing or otherwise engaged in combat," HonestReporting explained.
