Exclusive | Al Jazeera boss warning to staffers dont join anti-Israel protests

GENEVA — The boss of Al Jazeera English warned staffers to avoid looking like they’re participating in political protests — just hours after one of the network’s reporters appeared to join a march calling for Israel to be kicked out of the Eurovision Song Contest, The Post has learned.Journalists at the Qatar-backed news outlet — long accused of being a “Hamas mouthpiece” by Israeli leaders — received the memo last month after reporter Charlie Angela broadcast a segment from a 2,000-strong march in Vienna calling for Israeli singer Noam Bettan to be kicked out of the annual music competition.In Angela’s report, hard-left demonstrators were seen carrying placards with slogans such as “no platform for Zionism and occupation!” while wearing Palestinian scarves known as keffiyehs.Angela — who initially stood in front of the passing demonstrators as she reported that they were accusing Eurovision “of normalizing war crimes by allowing Israel to participate in the competition” — began to walk alongside them after a few seconds.Israel participates in the Eurovision Song Contest because its public broadcaster is a member of the European Broadcasting Union, the organization that runs the event.As Angela continued to report, she walked with the protesters for about 20 seconds before stopping again about halfway through the segment, which was posted on X in early afternoon on May 16.A few hours later, Ibrahim Helal, news director for Al Jazeera’s English division, fired off a memo to staffers, a screenshot of which was exclusively obtained by The Post on Thursday.“It is fine for correspondents to move through demonstrations, and speak to participants if needed.

However, we should NEVER appear to march as participants ourselves,” Helal wrote.“Walking in front of, or in the middle of, a march in a way that makes us look part of it is not acceptable.”“When we cover marches, protests and demonstrations around the world, we must remembe...