Kerala media academy chooses Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh as ‘Media Person of the Year’

Al-Dahdouh’s wife Amna, son Mahmoud, daughter Sham, and grandson Adam were killed in October after an Israeli air raid hit the home at the Nuseirat refugee camp where they were sheltering.

An Israeli missile strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, killed the 53-year-old veteran journalist’s eldest son Hamza, who was also an Al Jazeera journalist, earlier this month.

He was killed alongside videographer Mustafa Thuraya when a direct Israeli airstrike hit their car.

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The choice

Kerala Media Academy Chairman and veteran Malayalam journalist RS Babu told South First that the academy was honouring itself by conferring the award on Al-Dahdouh, who has now become a symbol of resilience despite huge personal losses and adversities, which makes fair reporting truly impossible.

The most remarkable fact about him is that he continues to report on what is happening in Gaza, exposing the organised lies and false propaganda by Israel, said Babu.

According to Babu, the academy’s media magazine editorial board chose Al-Dahdouh based on recommendations from the Investigative Journalists Association of Kerala.

Al-Dahdouh is currently in Qatar for medical treatment after being wounded in an Israeli attack while reporting on the conflict.

It was an Israeli drone strike in December, in which Al Jazeera Arabic’s cameraperson Samer Abudaqa was killed while they were reporting in southern Gaza.

A statement from the academy described Al-Dahdouh as: “A global face of journalistic courage who continues to work despite the significant losses suffered by his family.”

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will soon present the award, consisting of a ₹1-lakh cash prize, a citation, and a sculpture.

The statement said Al-Dahdouh was selected based on the recommendations of an association of investigative journalists and a committee of editors of media magazines.

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‘An example for journalists worldwide’

Babu said the academy contacted Al-Dahdouh over the phone and conveyed to him that he had been chosen for the award.

According to Babu, Al-Dahdouh expressed happiness over the recognition from a media institute in an area he had never visited or heard of.

Al-Dahdouh was moved by the news and the information that Kerala people, in general, strongly stand with the Palestinian people and their dignity, self-determination, and rights over the land in which they have been born, Babu said.

He added that the academy was getting enormous positive responses from Kerala for choosing Al-Dahdouh for the award, as his fearless reporting resulted in the world seeing the true picture of the catastrophe in Gaza.

“His commitment and bravery are exemplary and set an example for other journalists not only in India but worldwide,” Babu said.

According to UN reports, more than 122 journalists and media personnel were among the more than 27,000 people killed in Israel’s nearly four-month offensive in Gaza.

Babu said the award distribution function, the date of which would be decided later, would offer homages to all of them.

Press freedom watchdog Committee to Protect Journalists said last month that journalists were being killed in Gaza at a rate with no parallel in modern history.

It also said that there was “an apparent pattern of targeting of journalists and their families by the Israeli military”.