SWC: Jenin Hit Piece Must be Addressed by PBS

July 24, 2023

The Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC) recently protested to the President and CEO of PBS, Paula Kerger, over PBS News Hour’s failure to provide its viewers a balanced picture during a two-part report by special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen on the recent Israeli counter-terror raid in Jenin earlier this month.

“For decades, PBS News Hour was one of the most respected and authoritative media outlets. The Jenin report isn’t journalism, but a microphone used by a reporter crafting her report to fit pre-baked anti-Israel narrative. If PBS still has an ombudsman, this highly biased report from a key flashpoint in the world must be investigated and dealt with, with the integrity missing from the Jenin raid segment,” Rabbi Abraham Cooper, SWC Associate Dean and Director of Global Social Action, wrote in his initial correspondence. The segment failed to deal with the recent spate of Palestinian terrorist attacks that murdered and maimed Israeli civilians.

In response, Mrs. Kerger and PBS News Hour’s Senior Executive Producer Sara Just indicated that there would be a second segment that would address SWC’s concerns. Unfortunately, neither segment addressed those concerns, as the second segment dealt with Israeli politics.

Nowhere in the reports did Molana-Allen mention or put a human face on any Israeli victims of ongoing Palestinian terrorist attacks that necessitated the Jenin counter-terrorist action in the first place.

View the first letter here

View the second letter here

For further information, please email Michele Alkin, Director of Global Communications at malkin@wiesenthal.com or Shawn Rodgers at srodgers@wiesenthal.com, join the Center on Facebook, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent directly to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization. It holds consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, the OAS and the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO).