Northwestern partnership with Al Jazeera still under microscope as outlet's journalist accused of holding Israelis hostage
According to the Israeli Defence Forces, Abdallah Aljamal held three hostages inside his family's home.
Northwestern University’s relationship with Al Jazeera is again under a microscope as a journalist with the Qatar-funded outlet allegedly held several Israeli citizens hostage.
According to the Israeli Defence Forces, Abdallah Aljamal held three hostages inside his family’s home. Four hostages were rescued from the Gaza Strip in a heroic mission on Saturday by IDF soldiers.
An Author page on Al Jazeera’s website lists Aljamal as a “Gaza-based reporter and photojournalist.” Aljamal wrote a 2019 opinion article for the news outlet.
Walid Omary, Jerusalem bureau chief for Al Jazeera, refuted Israel’s claims in a comment to Fox News Digital.
”This man is not from Al Jazeera, and he did not work for Al Jazeera at all, and he is not listed as working for Al Jazeera neither now nor in the past,” Omary said. ”We do not know him, and all the rumors that have been spread are empty of content and not true at all.”
Imran Khan, a senior correspondent for Al Jazeera’s English channel, said in an Instagram post that Aljamal was previously a freelancer for the outlet.
”The individual in question who was killed in the raid along with his family was, at one point, a freelance journalist,” Khan on Instagram wrote. “He has never worked for Al Jazeera Arabic or English.”
As Campus Reform has reported, Northwestern University - Qatar entered into a “collaboration” in 2013 with Al Jazeera to partner on research and trainings in the media and news industries.
”NU-Q will conduct consultations with Al Jazeera leadership based on its faculty research interests and expertise in the American media industry, as the news network moves forward with its planning for Al Jazeera America,” a 2013 NU-Q press release states, describing the venture as a “collaboration and knowledge transfer between two of Qatar’s foremost media organizations.”
In May, a Coalition Against Anti-Semitism at Northwestern (CAAN) report obtained by Campus Reform urged Northwestern to end its relationship with Al Jazeera.
CAAN sent the letter May 8 to the House Committee on Education and the Workforce ahead of its hearing with Northwestern President Michael Schill on May 23.
Committee Chairwoman Virginia Foxx’s May 10 letter requesting documents from Northwestern relevant to its handling of antisemitism cites evidence of anti-Jewish discrimination compiled by CAAN.
“President Michael Schill owes us an explanation,” CAAN National Co-Chair and Spokesperson Wendy Khabie told Campus Reform. “It is unclear how or whether Medill administrators in Evanston currently or have ever had oversight or an immediate connection to the Medill Qatar campus, calling into question how the university and Medill standards are being upheld or enforced at NU-Q.”
CAAN’s report cites the Canary Mission, which states Northwestern University-Qatar “trains students to legitimize antisemitic, anti-Israel and anti-American narratives in Western media.”
Campus Reform has reached out to Northwestern University for comment.
