(WASHINGTON, D.C., 12/19/2024) – The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today called on talk shows on major media outlets to invite Palestinian and Palestinian-American guests to discuss the ongoing genocide in Gaza after a new report showed that three major networks did not have a single Palestinian guest appear on morning news shows since October 2023.
[NOTE: Last year, CAIR sent a list of Palestinian leaders that national media outlets could consider for expert commentary about the Gaza genocide.]
That analysis by The Nation showed that no Palestinians appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press, ABC’s This Week, and CNN’s State of the Union, with the exception of CBS’s Face the Nation, which aired an interview with the Palestinian ambassador to the United Kingdom. Israeli guests were featured 20 times, including appearances by indicted war criminal Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on all four shows.
According to The Nation: “There was no mention in any of the shows of the thousands of Palestinian hostages being held by Israel, no mention of apartheid, no mention of the widespread sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees, no discussion of the siege, repeated bombings, and a policy of starvation waged against Gaza pre–October 7.”
SEE: How Sunday Morning News Shows Promote an Anti-Palestinian Agenda for Washington
In October, CAIR called on media outlets to address any anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian bias or bigotry within their networks in the wake of a racist and threatening anti-Palestinian comment that a CNN commentator directed at Mehdi Hasan live on air.
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“As this important and stunning report indicates, Palestinian perspectives have been almost completely absent from America’s Sunday morning news shows, while the perspectives of the Israeli government and its supporters have been commonly represented. It is time for media professionals – and particularly news talk show guest bookers – to ensure neutral, accurate and balanced coverage by offering Palestinians and Palestinian-Americans an equal opportunity to share their perspectives with the American public.”
Hooper said CAIR would assist any guest bookers seeking Palestinian representation on talk shows.
He noted that CAIR has repeatedly condemned the Israeli government’s targeting of journalists to censor reporting on it genocide.
Yesterday, CAIR demanded the release of a journalist reportedly abducted by Israeli forces at a checkpoint in Gaza during ongoing ethnic cleansing in the area.
Also yesterday, CAIR said the Biden administration, through its complicity with the Gaza genocide, is responsible for the so-called “line of corpses” Israeli forces maintain in Gaza in which anyone – including children – entering the zone is shot and their bodies left to be devoured by dogs.
Earlier this week, CAIR called a report by British watchdog AirWars, which showed unprecedented civilian casualties in Gaza in the first 25 days of the war, the “latest evidence” of the Israeli government’s genocidal intent.
Israel has slaughtered more 45,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and has destroyed most of the civilian infrastructure, forcibly displaced almost all the population, and is using a campaign of forced starvation to carry out ethnic cleansing.
Numerous international bodies have stated that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister for war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Gaza genocide.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR Government Affairs Director Robert McCaw, 202-742-6448, rmccaw@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com