Recently, award-winning journalist Khaled Abu Toameh visited Devlin Hall to discuss the power of journalism that communicates only facts and truth. Toameh characterizes himself as both an Israeli-Arab citizen and a Palestinian.

He has had 27 years of journalism experience and has been a producer and consultant for NBC News since 1989. Appearing in the Wall Street Journal and US News & World Report, among other notable publications, his articles relay solely the facts and strive to inform the world of Israeli-Palestinian interactions.

Having worked several years with the International media, Toameh was approached by The Jerusalem Post in 2002. The publication invited him to write on Palestinian affairs, and seeing as the Israeli media is more accepting of free speech than the Palestinian media, Toameh accepted the offer.

Frequently asked if he is considered a “traitor” by Palestinians, Toameh stressed that he simply relays the facts through the Israeli media; he in no way favors either the Israelis or the Palestinians in his reports. He admitted that he has “to go live in Jerusalem to express [himself] freely.”

Though “under heavy pressure to stop writing,” Toameh is “pro-facts and pro-truth” and will stop at nothing to expose the truth, no matter how unattractive. For example, when he learned of the financial corruption in the Palestinian government under the rule of Yasser Arafat, Toameh alerted his colleagues, many of whom were American journalists, of the corruption; to his dismay, his colleagues refused to report negative things about Palestine for fear of Arafat’s reaction. Toameh never submitted to such fear.

At the end of his talk, Toameh cautioned his audience, “whatever you read today, relate to it with reservation,” conscious of the political leanings of the mainstream media. However, he assured that he has no agenda, or rather that his only agenda is the truth; rightly communicated by Khaled Abu Toameh, the facts should speak for themselves.