Mahmoud Basal: An Open Letter to the Media
For the attention of: ABC News, NBC News, CNN, NPR, and The Washington Post,
We call on you, as stewards of the public trust, to be transparent in your continued reporting on Israel and Gaza. It is up to you to ensure that your reporting on Israel, Gaza, and the broader Israeli–Palestinian conflict adheres to the highest standards of accuracy, transparency, and journalistic ethics.
As of this date, your outlets continue to rely on Hamas terrorists as their sources, spotlighting them as legitimate spokesmen, as Gaza-based “officials” without disclosing their affiliations with Hamas—a designated terrorist organization that controls every government and civil institution in the territory.
Every report and statistic is filtered through the lens of Hamas’ agenda, carefully crafting the narrative that it wants the international community to believe.
Among the most prominent examples is the repeated citation of “Gaza Civil Defense spokesperson” Mahmoud Basal without acknowledgement of his role as an active member of the Zeitoun Battalion of the Izz-ad Din-al Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ military wing, directly involved in planning and executing terrorist attacks. Portraying Basal as an ‘emergency responder searching for missing Gazan civilians’ and the official spokesman for Gaza Civil Defense is misleading and destroys the credibility of the reporting.
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Here’s Mahmoud Bassal, coordinating the recovery of bodies from under the rubble in Gaza, according to @ABC.Hero? Humanitarian?
Or Hamas operative? 🧵 https://t.co/XwC8W4C9Zb pic.twitter.com/Rwhg7u7tJF
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) October 19, 2025
Since the Hamas invasion of Israel on October 7, 2023, the media’s credibility has been questioned, from their use of Hamas terrorists as spokesmen to coverage that repeatedly casts Gaza and Palestinian entities exclusively in a positive light while presenting Israel and Jewish communities in a consistently negative light.
It is time for the media to regain a modicum of credibility with the U.S. public.
We urge you to take the following actions immediately:
- Disclose your sources’ affiliations with terrorist organizations in all reporting.
- Revise internal protocols to prevent the repetition of claims originating from groups that exert coercive control over local institutions.
- Avoid narratives that systematically dehumanize Israelis or Jews or that obscure the responsibilities and actions of Hamas.
- Publicly address past missteps and outline corrective measures.
The consequences of skewed reporting continue to reverberate across the United States. Anti-American, anti-Israel, and anti-Jewish sentiment has escalated. Mainstream outlets have abandoned neutrality in favor of sensationalism and ideological alignment.
Restoring public trust requires acknowledging errors and demonstrating a clear path toward more rigorous reporting.
By correcting course, you can cease being a conduit for organizations that seek to manipulate global perception through information warfare.
We call on you as industry leaders, not to rely on a terrorist organization for your reporting. At a minimum, should you continue to platform Mahmoud Basal, identify his role with Hamas.
Your organizations wield enormous influence, and with that comes the responsibility to report with accuracy, integrity, and transparency. The public deserves and depends on transparent journalism.
We, the undersigned, respectfully request your immediate attention and action.
Sign the petition below:
With thanks to Pens for Swords for compiling this petition.
