democracynow | NBC is facing questions over its
decision to pull veteran news correspondent Ayman Mohyeldin out of Gaza
just after he personally witnessed the Israeli military’s killing of
four Palestinian boys on a Gaza beach. Mohyeldin was kicking a soccer
ball around with the boys just minutes before they died. He is a
longtime reporter in the region. In his coverage, he reports on the Gaza
conflict in the context of the Israeli occupation, sparking criticism
from some supporters of the Israeli offensive. Back in 2008 and 2009,
when he worked for Al Jazeera, Mohyeldin and his colleague Sherine
Tadros were the only foreign journalists on the ground in Gaza as Israel
killed 1,400 people in what it called "Operation Cast Lead." We speak
to Glenn Greenwald of The Intercept, who has revealed that the decision
to pull Mohyeldin from Gaza and remove him from reporting on the
situation came from NBC executive David Verdi.
Greenwald also comments on the broader picture of the coverage of the
Israel/Palestine conflict in the U.S. media.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: NBC
is facing questions over its decision to pull its veteran news
correspondent out of Gaza. Ayman Mohyeldin personally witnessed the
Israeli military’s killing of four Palestinian boys on a Gaza beach
Wednesday. Mohyeldin was kicking a soccer ball around with the boys just
minutes before they died. He’s a veteran reporter who has placed the
Gaza conflict in the context of the Israeli occupation, sparking
criticism from some supporters of the Israeli offensive. Glenn Greenwald
of The Intercept has revealed the decision to pull Mohyeldin from Gaza and remove him from reporting on the situation, it came from NBC executive David Verdi.
AMY GOODMAN: NBC
executives have reportedly claimed the decision was motivated by
"security concerns" ahead of Israel’s ground invasion, but late
Wednesday NBC sent correspondent Richard Engel
to Gaza. During the 2008-2009 war on Gaza, Ayman Mohyeldin, who then
worked for Al Jazeera, was one of the only foreign journalists reporting
from Gaza.
NBC News did not respond to Democracy Now!’s repeated requests for comment on its decision.
For more, we’re joined by Glenn Greenwald, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. His piece for The Intercept at First Look Media is "NBC News Pulls Veteran Reporter from Gaza After Witnessing Israeli Attack on Children."
