WASHINGTON, May 15, 2013 (WAFA) – An
Arab-American organization Tuesday called on Newseum, a Washington-based
memorial for fallen journalists, to re-evaluate its decision to remove the
names of two Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli airstrike from the list
of fallen journalists honored at its memorial.
Newseum removed on Monday the names of Mahmoud
al-Kumi and Hussam Salama, Al-Aqsa TV cameramen from the Gaza Strip who were
killed when an Israeli missile hit their marked vehicle while covering the
Israeli airstrikes on Gaza in November, only two days after publishing their
names on the list of journalists to be honored.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
Committee (ADC) wrote Newseum “to express deep concern” regarding its
“misguided exclusion” of two Palestinian journalists from its memorial gallery
commemorating journalists killed while reporting the news, as well as from the
special event held in their honor.
“ADC calls on the Newseum to re-evaluate its
decision and to include the two journalists in the gallery immediately,” it
said.
Newseum came under pressure from pro-Israel
groups to remove the names of Kumi and Salama from its list, which it did
justifying its acts by claiming that “serious questions have been raised as to
whether two of the individuals included on our initial list of journalists who
died covering the news this past year were truly journalists or whether they
were engaged in terrorist activities.”
ADC said in its letter that “such an
investigation, which would involve deciding who is qualified to be counted as a
journalist, is far beyond the Newseum's mandate and capacity. Rather than
conducting an investigation in a few days, the Newseum should rely on
information prepared by top international organizations whose expertise and
objectivity confer confidence in their findings.”
It said that the Committee to Protect
Journalists, Reporters Without Borders, and The World Association of Newspapers
and News Publishers have all stated that they recognize these men to be
“journalists” killed in the line duty.
“The Newseum has not shown any evidence to
explain its removal of these two individuals from the memorial,” said ADC. “The
mere raising of questions should not suffice to cause the Newseum to shift its
position. The unfortunate truth is that, despite the facts, the Newseum
capitulated to pressure and wrongfully discriminated against journalists based
on their national origin and/or political affiliation by excluding the two
journalists from the memorial.”
It added: “Excluding journalists because of
their national origin or political affiliation sets a very dangerous precedent.
It sends the wrong signal that killing some journalists is acceptable.”
M.S./F.R.
