CPJ had previously removed eight names from its database after determining the individuals were Hamas and PIJ operatives, and another 12 for other reasons. The \u201cfull review\u201d that the CPJ pledged last week for the remaining entries is expected to be completed this month.<\/p>\n
In a statement Wednesday, the CPJ said its board voted to reaffirm its journalist criteria amid \u201cunsubstantiated allegations\u201d that the group sought to exclude Palestinian and Lebanese journalists.<\/p>\n
The statement came after Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd claimed<\/a>, citing \u201canonymous sources within the organization,\u201d that to appease \u201cZionist\u201d media, CPJ sought new journalist criteria that would \u201cbroadly exclude slain Palestinian and Lebanese journalists who worked for government-funded media outlets.\u201d The claim was echoed by other anti-Israel sources, including the Hamas-linked Quds News Network.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tGet The Times of Israel’s Daily Edition \t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n In its statement, CPJ said its longstanding criteria are \u201canchored in international humanitarian law\u201d and include \u201cjournalists working for state-backed media and those working with media organizations affiliated with militant groups provided they are not engaging in combat or inciting violence in a manner likely to have imminent effect.\u201d<\/p>\n \t \u201cIt is not true that CPJ planned to change our definition of who is a journalist to exclude slain Palestinian and Lebanese press killed in the Israel-Gaza war,\u201d CPJ board chair Jacob Weisberg said.<\/p>\n \u201cSuch unsubstantiated allegations undermine the rigorous documentation of our Middle East and North Africa program over many years, while endangering Palestinian and Lebanese journalists documenting events on the ground today,\u201d Weisberg added.<\/p>\n In a separate X thread, CPJ also defended the removal, to date, of 20 names from the Gaza casualty database.<\/p>\n CPJ \u201cdid not remove any of these names because of political pressure,\u201d it said. \u201cThe only time we remove or add names is if new information, verified by CPJ, establishes that an individual should have been included or excluded as per our existing and long-standing methodology.\u201d<\/p>\n Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.<\/p>\n
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