Monday, 25 May 2026
Mohamed El-Sayed El-Shazly, chair of the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee, speak during the event.
Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate hosts panel on media risks in Middle East conflicts
In a stark reminder of the perils faced by reporters in war zones, the Egyptian Journalists’ Syndicate held a discussion panel on Sunday titled “Media Under Bombardment: Assessing the Positioning of News Channels in Covering Middle East Wars.”
The event, organized by the syndicate’s Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee in collaboration with the Strategic Forum for Thought and Dialogue, highlighted the escalating dangers to journalists, particularly in Gaza, amid ongoing regional conflicts.
Khaled El-Balshy, head of the Journalists’ Syndicate, opened the session by underscoring the urgent threats to media professionals. “Journalists in Palestine have been enduring risks and blatant assaults from the brutal Israeli occupation for nearly two years,” El-Balshy said.
He noted that these efforts to convey the truth have resulted in the deaths of 230 journalists—a figure he compared to far fewer media fatalities in major historical conflicts like World War II or the Vietnam War, where fewer than 60 journalists were killed.
El-Balshy called for the prosecution of “all Zionist war criminals” who violate international conventions by targeting journalists and their families. He emphasized the need for enhanced protection measures to halt what he described as a “humanitarian massacre,” including direct killings, starvation tactics in Gaza, and a prevailing international silence.
The panel explored the broader impact of wars on media professionalism and performance, focusing on Egyptian and Arab news channels.
Participants discussed the pressures faced by journalists in conflict areas and the challenges of maintaining ethical standards under duress.
Mohamed El-Sayed El-Shazly, chair of the Arab and Foreign Affairs Committee, described the topic as a “thorny media issue,” especially given the daily reports of journalists’ deaths. “Many of our colleagues receive news of their children’s or spouses’ martyrdom live on air, or their homes being bombed, suddenly becoming part of the story rather than just reporters,” El-Shazly said.
He praised the resilience of journalists in conflict zones who continue documenting events despite deliberate attempts by occupying forces to obscure the truth.
Samir Omar, head of the news sector at the United Media Services Company, critiqued the coverage of regional conflicts, arguing that Arab media has not fully succeeded in capturing the full scope of events. “What is happening in Gaza is just one part; there are other arenas in the West Bank, Jerusalem, Yemen, Syria, and beyond,” Omar said.
He acknowledged some gains in countering the Israeli narrative through independent and grassroots voices, predicting ultimate victory for the “authentic Palestinian-Arab narrative.”
Osama Rady, head of the Nile News Channel, echoed the sentiment that Israeli actions exceed typical war reporting. “The crimes were too vast to be conveyed by any media outlet,” Rady said, noting that coverage often fixated on internal Israeli politics, casualty figures, and destruction, but failed to delve deeper into human suffering.
Media expert Dr. Yasser Abdel Aziz highlighted a perceived decline in Western media standards, drawing parallels between the Israeli-Gaza conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war. “Western media practices have crumbled or been shaken on the rocks of these wars,” Abdel Aziz said.
He argued that traditional benchmarks of professionalism have been compromised, with biases becoming evident and the global audience now better recognizing rightful claims.
Palestinian journalist Nader El-Qassir, deputy head of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate’s administrative board, drew a sharp distinction between “war” and “aggression.” “What is happening in Gaza is aggression against unarmed civilians, killed without any humanity,” El-Qassir said. He criticized Arab media for adopting Israeli framing by labeling it a “war,” which implies equality between sides, when it is instead “one-sided massacres” with over 100 daily deaths, including targeted strikes on aid zones.
El-Qassir commended Egypt’s role in averting the displacement of two million Palestinians, crediting President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi’s firm stance. He urged global media to shift from “numerizing victims” through statistics to focusing on human stories to convey the true scale of suffering.
The event marked the inaugural collaboration between the syndicate’s committee and the Strategic Forum, culminating in the signing of a cooperation protocol. Future joint activities were announced, with a diverse group of journalists, experts—including Ehab Nafea and Amr Ahmed—and committee members in attendance.
The session concluded with a screening of the documentary “The Last Field” by director Faik Jarada. The film chronicles the final moments of Palestinian journalists covering the ongoing conflict, revealing untold human stories and the existential threats they face in broadcasting the truth amid occupation forces’ efforts to silence them.
This panel comes amid heightened international scrutiny of media safety in conflict zones, with organizations like the Committee to Protect Journalists reporting unprecedented journalist casualties in the region since October 2023.