Khaled Abu Toameh

Abu Toameh was born in the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria.[6] His father was an Arab Israeli and his mother Palestinian.[7] He studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.[2]

By 2001, Abu Toameh was a senior writer on Palestinian affairs for The Jerusalem Report and a special correspondent for U.S. News & World Report.[8] He was one of three authors invited to contribute perspectives on the implications of Yasir Arafat’s death for Palestinian politics to a publication issued that year.[8] His television work included serving as a Palestinian affairs producer for NBC News from 1988 and, subsequently, as a senior producer for NBC in the Middle East.[3][1]

Abu Toameh covered Palestinian affairs for The Jerusalem Post and reported on events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip for several outlets.[1] In a 2022 interview, he said he had worked with the newspaper for nearly 20 years.[5] His other media work included assignments for the BBC, Voice of America, The Wall Street Journal, and U.S. News & World Report.[2] His articles also appeared in The Sunday Times and Daily Express, and he wrote for the Hudson Institute.[3] In 2014, he was identified as a distinguished fellow at the Gatestone Institute.[2]

Alongside his own reporting, Abu Toameh helped foreign correspondents work in Palestinian territories.[4] In 2003, he described his principal activity as taking visiting journalists to relevant locations, translating, and making practical arrangements for their reporting.[4] He emphasized the dependence of foreign reporters on Palestinian journalists and argued that local journalists could face repercussions after accompanying them, encouraging self-censorship.[4]

His reporting entered the record of a 2002 hearing of the U.S. House Subcommittee on the Middle East and South Asia.[9] The hearing cited his August 26, 2002, Jerusalem Post article, “New Fatah Groups Controlled by PLO Dissident in Lebanon,” during discussion of the Return Brigades and Munir al Maqdah.[9]

Recalling his coverage of Yasser Arafat’s funeral, Abu Toameh said he reported from inside the Muqata, the Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah, describing the atmosphere and Palestinian responses.[5] He recalled that foreign journalists accompanying him relied on his reporting.[5] He also described obtaining an exclusive interview when the imprisoned mastermind of the Karin A weapons ship telephoned him to discuss the episode and his grievances with the Palestinian Authority.[5]

Abu Toameh has also been listed as a Palestinian Affairs correspondent, with articles appearing from April 2018 on Hamas-Fatah tensions, Palestinian Authority affairs, and Gaza.[10] His reporting also addressed Palestinians outside those territories: in 2018, he reported that 23 Palestinians had been killed in Syria during March and that more than 3,600 had been killed there since the civil war began.[11] In 2024, his reporting was cited for information that a Hamas commander killed in Jenin held Norwegian citizenship.[12]

Speaking to visiting Americans in 2009 about the Israeli-Hamas fighting, Abu Toameh argued: “Hamas is not a partner for any peace agreement because Hamas is not going to change.”[13] His reporting involved contact with different Palestinian factions.[13]

Abu Toameh also spoke on American university campuses.[14][15] Robert L. Bernstein, who recounted meeting him in Israel in a 2010 essay, described him as frequently visiting Ramallah and speaking on American campuses, where Bernstein believed he encountered the greatest hostility.[14] Following a tour of campuses across the United States, Abu Toameh challenged pro-Palestinian students with the question, “What makes you pro-Palestinian?”[15]

At a 2017 event, he discussed the difficulties and dangers of reporting on the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, including the challenge of conveying what Palestinian leaders say in Arabic.[16] He has also argued that foreign journalists who are afraid to report freely on Hamas atrocities should seek reassignment rather than continue covering a conflict under such constraints.[6]

At the 2011 Abramowitz Prize ceremony, Abu Toameh argued that more Arab journalists were beginning to reject the role of “foot soldiers” serving political leaders.[17] He linked that change to growing recognition of the importance of a free media.[17]

Abu Toameh received the 2011 Abramowitz Prize for Media Criticism after selection by a committee of judges appointed by Israel’s Media Watch.[17] The award carried a $5,000 prize; at the time, he was reporting for The Jerusalem Post and U.S. News & World Report and producing for NBC News.[17]

In 2014, he received the Daniel Pearl Award, which recognizes courage and integrity in journalism.[2] Judea Pearl praised his coverage of life in the West Bank and Gaza, saying he had reported “with courage and objectivity” while penetrating a complex conflict.[2] His professional work has encompassed newspaper reporting, television production, and documentary filmmaking, and he has lived in Jerusalem.[1][3]

In 2002, Abu Toameh filed a complaint with Jerusalem police alleging repeated telephone threats from Salah Elayan, bureau chief to Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei.[18] The alleged calls followed his September 22 report about a conversation between Qurei and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.[18] Elayan was detained, released on bail, and ordered not to approach Abu Toameh; Qurei’s office denied that Qurei had anything to do with the threats.[18]

His Facebook account was deactivated in 2013 after he shared Arabic-language Jordanian press articles about corruption, and was subsequently restored without explanation.[7] Abu Toameh called the action “an attempt to silence me.”[7] An allegation that complaints from Palestinian Authority and Jordanian security authorities caused the deactivation was not independently established.[7]

In 2022, Abu Toameh said a boycott involving the Palestinian Journalism Syndicate, Palestinian colleagues, and the Palestinian Authority had made obtaining information from officials more difficult.[5] He said colleagues had been arrested, intimidated, or forced out of jobs, while he could return to Jerusalem after reporting in Ramallah.[5] These were his accounts of the reporting environment and pressures on journalists, rather than independently verified findings.[5]