This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
The U.S. State Department, under the direction of Joe Biden, has agreed to fund a project to “train Palestinian journalists.”
But the work is to be done by a charity “that has partnered with terrorist groups,” a report from the Washington Free Beacon charges.
The publication said it reviewed a number of grant records to make the determination.
It said the State Department gave $41,000 late last year to Fares Al-Arab, which is a group in the Gaza Strip that frequently has partnered with the Hamas government, considered terrorists by many.
“The money is for Fares Al-Arab to launch a 15-month training program that will ‘target employed and unemployed journalists’ and focus on ‘developing the Palestinian journalists’ English language skills,'” the report explained.
But Fares Al-Arab openly cooperated with the Hamas government as recently as 2021 – when a housing project was in the works. And it regularly cooperates with the “terrorist organization” on various projects.
The Washington Free Beacon documented, “Fares Al-Arab gave its media award to a radio network run by the Islamic Jihad Movement, honored a self-described journalist who belonged to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, hosted a press freedom event that featured a spokesman for Islamic Jihad, and co-led a human rights training course with a convicted terrorist.”
It also has attacked Israel for being “apartheid” and supports boycotting the Jewish state.
The State Department didn’t respond to a request for comment but a spokeswoman for Fares Al-Arab, Areej Al-Massry, told the publication the organization’s “view” on Israel isn’t part of the media training.
Nonetheless, the organization’s links to terror are raising concerns, with a warning from Israel Defense Forces the group uses “journalism as a cover for terrorism.”
Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, told the publication, “It’s no surprise that the Biden State Department is funding groups committed to inciting violence against Israel and waging economic warfare against our Israeli allies. Biden officials have been taking money that Congress allocated for programs in Israel aimed at coexisting and integration, and instead poured them into Hamas-controlled areas.”
The report noted that Jonah Cohen, of watchdog organization CAMERA, said bluntly that truthful journalism in Gaza could be a “death sentence.”
“If you want to improve the quality of reporting in Gaza, you first need to change the violently oppressive political conditions that Hamas imposes on reporters,” he said in the report.
The terror links for Fares Al-Arab include its letters supporting boycotts of Israel, a petition demanding the U.N. uncover the terrorist “face” of Israel, its award is given to Islamic radio network Voice of Al-Quds, its call during a press event for Israel to release Palestinian terrorists and the fact that Gaza anti-prison activist Jamal Farwana was on its board, for a time.
