The Overseas Press Club is split over a decision to honor a slain Al Jazeera reporter this month.

The Middle East conflict divides a group of international journalists.

The Overseas Press Club is at war over a new award for covering conflict. 

The 83 year-old organization which counts major US media organizations and independent journalists among its members is hosting a big fundraising awards dinner in April honoring the New Yorker editor David Remnick.

But behind the scenes the club’s board is now splintered after a fractious debate about the naming of a new award after the late Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was killed by an Israeli soldier while she was reporting for Al Jazeera.  

The club’s board members spent last week furiously arguing in a heated zoom call about the wisdom of appearing to take sides given the current sensitivities around the Middle Eastern conflict.

During a group zoom emotions ran high; someone was accused of making remarks with “racist undertones,” while another was accused of misrepresenting a fellow member’s position.

Members were asked to vote on either supporting the selection of Abu Akleh’s name or delaying the choice to a later date. The vote was 19 members for the proposal and 18 for delaying the selection. 

“Many people were caught off guard. It had been a contentious decision here with very little warning,” one person told me, explaining that some objections had been raised because, “It can only be seen as a political statement and the club has long had a reputation for objectivity in support of journalistic freedom and rights.”

Another person told me that the initial proposal was supported by The New York Times’ investigative reporter, Azmat Khan and Thomson Reuters’ Amran Abocar. Neither person responded to an email for comment at time of posting.

The choice has been a controversial one for a few reasons. Some of the members are saying they are unfamiliar with the late Abu Akleh’s work since, they say, it's mostly in Arabic. There is also tension over whether her reporting stuck to traditional definitions of impartiality which would require including views from both sides. Abu Akleh was based in Palestine and her picture hangs in the Al Jazeera offices in Ramallah.

As big media organizations scale back their coverage of international news and other Middle Eastern-based outlets such as Qatar backed Al Jazeera and Turkey’s TRT World are trying to grow their global reach, the Overseas Press Club membership is changing.

“It’s a generational conflict between old guard that is rooted in big newsroom culture and they have a certain perspective on how things go and another group of independent reporters who have come up through the system without that support and it makes a difference in how they see the world. Shireen is emblematic of that,” one member told me, referencing the tense debate.  

On Monday, the Israeli government passed a new law aimed at booting Al Jazeera from its territory along with any other media deemed a threat to its national security. In a post on X, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu described the network as a “terrorist channel.”

Al Jazeera responded saying the comments were “slanderous accusations” and accused Netanyahu of “incitement.” The organization’s own news story is here.

The Committee to Protect Journalists protested the decision and reported April 1 that 95 journalists and media workers have been killed in the conflict. They are among some 33,000 dead in the conflict, the vast majority are Palestinian.

Fears were running high that the new award could potentially affect sponsors of the dinner where the Rappler CEO and Nobel prize winner Maria Ressa is expected to speak.

“There is no recourse. The issue has become so divisive. It’s for the best that we let it lie and move on,” one person said.

A spokesperson for the organization declined comment. 

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