The American newspaper The New York Times has dismissed Palestinian photographer Hosam Salem from his job allegedly due to comments supporting the Palestinian resistance on the social networking site Facebook.
Hosam Salem, who worked for the newspaper for four years in Gaza, reported that the newspaper fired him after a pro-Israel organization alerted the newspaper to Facebook posts expressing support for the Palestinian resistance.
On Wednesday, October 5, Salem published a post on Twitter saying, “After years of covering the Gaza Strip as a freelance photojournalist for the New York Times, I was informed via a sudden phone call from the American outlet that they would no longer work with me in the future.”
“I began working with the newspaper in 2018, covering critical events in Gaza such as the weekly protests at the border fence with Israel, the investigation into the Israeli killing of field nurse Razan al-Najjar, and more recently, the May 2021 Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.”
Salem explained that he was eventually informed that “the decision was made based on a report prepared by a Dutch editor for a website called Honest Reporting.”
It is pertinent to note that the Dutch editor obtained Israeli citizenship two years ago.
The editor later wrote an article stating that he had succeeded in sacking three Palestinian journalists working for The New York Times in the Gaza Strip, on the basis of us being “anti-Semitic.”
Hosam Salem
“The article, [on] which The New York Times had based its decision for dismissing me, gives examples of posts I wrote on my social media accounts, namely Facebook, where I had expressed support for the Palestinian resistance against the Israeli occupation,” Hosam Salem narrated his ordeal.
“My aforementioned posts also spoke of the resilience of my people and those who were killed by the Israeli army—my cousin included—which Honest Reporting described as “Palestinian terrorists,” added Salem. “Not only has Honest Reporting succeeded in terminating my contract with The New York Times. It has also actively discouraged other international news agencies from collaborating with me and my two colleagues.”
“What is taking place,” he added, “is a systematic effort to distort the image of Palestinian journalists as being incapable of trustworthiness and integrity, simply because we cover the human rights violations that the Palestinian people undergo on a daily basis at hands of the Israeli army.”
Since joining the New York Times, Salem has been covering important events in Gaza, such as the weekly protests at the border fence with the occupation.
He also conducted an investigation into the martyrdom of field nurse Razan al-Najjar, and most recently, the Israeli attack on the Gaza Strip in May 2021, which resulted in the death of at least 254 Palestinians, including 66 children.
