World
Royal Television Society accused of nominating Hamas-sympathiser for emerging talent award
Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary posted love hearts for Islamic Jihad ‘heroes’ and outed a Palestinian peace activist to Hamas
March 7, 2025 14:10
Al Jazeera reporter Hind Khoudary posted love hearts for Islamic Jihad ‘heroes’ and outed a Palestinian peace activist to Hamas
March 7, 2025 14:10The Royal Television Society (RTS) has been accused of nominating a Hamas-sympathising journalist for its “emerging talent” award.
Gaza-based freelancer Hind Khoudary suggested the death of Hassan Nasrallah was a “great loss” and called for Palestinian media to "self-censor" in the “national interest.”
The British-based educational charity, whose patron is the King, spotlit Khoudary for her work with Al Jazeera English, covering the war in Gaza. While she did not win the award, investigator and activist David Collier has highlighted a series of posts revealing her controversial views.
In a 2019 post on X (formerly Twitter), Khoudary referred to slain Islamic Jihad fighters Bilal al-Bana and Abdullah Abu al-Ata as "heroes," accompanied by a heart emoji. She also reposted a video of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issuing a threat against Israel.
That same year, in a video interview from Gaza, she responded "of course" when asked if she wanted Israel to disappear.
And a post from another account but shared by Khoudary, translated from Arabic, described “five martyrs” who had "ascended to their Lord with their weapons and intentions". It stated: "There is nothing better than to enter Paradise with a machine gun on your shoulder."
Meanwhile, in April 2020, The New York Times reported that Khoudary had posted "angry denunciations" on Facebook against Palestinian peace activist Rami Aman, who had participated in a Zoom call with Israelis. She then tagged three Hamas officials in a post about the call, including then-Hamas Interior Ministry spokesman Iyad Al-Bozom.
Following her post, Aman was subsequently charged with "holding a normalisation activity" with Israelis, a crime that Al-Bozom said amounted to "betrayal of our people and their sacrifices." He spent six and a half months in Hamas prisons and has made allegations of torture connected to his time behind bars.
Collier, who first exposed Khoudary’s activity in 2019 while she was working as a research consultant for Amnesty International in Gaza, noted a stark contrast between her Arabic and English-language posts.
“[Her] Arabic content was somewhat different. For example, she retweeted this which followed a thwarted terrorist attack. It talks about the Gazan casualties, but calls them ‘martyrs’. Notice the glorification of the violence. There is apparently nothing better than entering ‘paradise’ with machine guns,” Collier said.
Collier told the JC: “If you put someone up like this for an award, how does it look to everyone else when you are celebrating someone who has said these things?” He also accused the RTS of "legitimising talk of resistance”.
He added: “That woman should have no legitimacy whatsoever in the West just based solely on that one post where she said we should lie to protect the resistance.
“The fact that she was nominated shows what is going on with these award panels deciding the nominations.”
The Board of Deputies president, Phil Rosenberg, has shared concerns with the RTS over Khoudary’s nomination, and the royal charity said they were “reviewing its criteria and processes”.
A spokesperson for the Board of Deputies said: “In light of the concerns raised by David Collier and others about nominations for the Royal Television Society Television Journalism Awards yesterday, President Phil Rosenberg spoke today to RTS CEO Theresa Wise. We welcome the fact that RTS has confirmed that it will now be looking at its criteria and processes.”
The RTS said: “In light of the current discourse surrounding the nomination of Hind Khoudary, the RTS is reviewing its criteria and processes.”
The outrage over Khoudary comes as the RTS sparked anger over a late decision by bosses to scrap a special recognition award for journalists in Gaza. The move was a result of the controversy surrounding the BBC’s Gaza documentary.
In an email to jury chairs seen by industry site Deadline, the RTS said it did not wish to “add fuel to the fire” around Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone, which was pulled from iPlayer after it was revealed that the film’s child narrator was the son of a Hamas minister.
The Chairman of the BBC board, Dr Samir Shah OBE, admitted “serious failings” in the corporation that led to the airing of the controversial documentary.
Adrian Wells, chair of the RTS Television Journalism Awards, said of the decision pull the award: “We had planned to award it to ‘Journalists in Gaza’ to recognise their enormous efforts over the last 18 months or so of extreme pressure and endeavour. However, this award, in the end will not be given on Wednesday.
“Already this has become a political football and the RTS is keen not to add fuel to the fire in this current environment. It is a shame that this cannot proceed but rest assured there is a very strong showing and recognition of journalism from Gaza throughout the rest of the evening,” Wells said.
In a statement, an RTS spokesperson told Deadline: “Investigations have recently been launched into a number of news reports from Gaza and, as those reviews are ongoing, we didn’t feel it was appropriate to proceed with the award this year.”
Several films relating to the war in Gaza were, though, recognised during the RTS event, including the BBC investigation Gaza 1010: Emergency Rescue, BBC News Arabic coverage and Al Jazeera English’s Fault Lines – The Night Won’t End: Biden’s War on Gaza.
The JC has contacted Hind Khoudary for comment.