Palestinian journalist who praised Hitler and advocated for the extermination of Jews stripped of award

The Thomson Reuters Foundation has stripped a journalist of an award following disturbing new information regarding her social media output.

The Foundation announced on Friday that Palestinian journalist Shatha Hammad was awarded a Kurt Schork Award, specifically the 2022 Local Reporter Award, which included a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity for her work to be “spotlighted through a multi-media campaign on the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s social media channels.”

However, shortly afterward, the award was rescinded after historic social media posts, uncovered by media watchdog HonestReporting, revealed that Ms Hammad seemingly praised Adolf Hitler and advocated for the extermination of the Jews.

One social media post, which was translated from Arabic into English by HonestReporting, stated: “Me and Hitler are friends. We have influence over each other and share the same ideology, such as the extermination of the Jews.”

In other posts, Ms Hammad allegedly signed off using the alias of ‘Hitler’. 

Following the decision to withdraw the award, the Foundation released a statement in which it said: “The decision has been made following the discovery of a social media post on Hammad’s Facebook feed that appears to quote Hitler – which, in doing so, suggests an endorsement of his ideology. The comment appeared in 2014. 

“The Thomson Reuters Foundation and the Kurt Schork Memorial Fund stand opposed to hate speech of any description. We have therefore taken this unusual step in order to protect the integrity of the Kurt Schork Awards, established to recognise and celebrate the courageous and brilliant reporting of conflict, corruption and injustice from journalists around the world, who risk their lives daily to speak truth to power. 

“We are aware of a second Facebook post using extreme antisemitic language that purports to be drafted by Hammad, also dated 2014. However, Hammad strongly denies that this post is hers.”

Image credit: HonestReporting