Famously, the slogan “All the News That’s Fit to Print” graces the front page of every New York Times edition. The slogan was coined at the end of the 19th century by the paper’s publisher, Adolph Ochs. Of course, in today’s hyper-globalized world, the slogan is wishful thinking. No paper could realistically cover all the important news stories of the day.
Still, it would be hard to argue that outlets like The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and others adequately cover even those stories they do print. They often devote precious space to emotive or opinionated claims, while omitting highly material and relevant information that sheds important new light.
Provided below are three important, but underreported, stories bearing on Israel and the Middle East that media consumers should know this week.
A Tale of Two Rapporteurs – Francesca Albanese
United Nations rapporteurs are unpaid experts dedicated to different crises. According to the U.N. Human Rights Council, there are currently 46 “thematic” and 13 country specific rapporteurs. In the past week, a couple of them have been involved in newsworthy albeit scantily covered events. The first “expert” is the antisemitic, anti-Israel rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, who lost a court challenge to remove U.S. sanctions.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio sanctioned Albanese in July of last year, stating, “Albanese has directly engaged with the International Criminal Court (ICC) in efforts to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute nationals of the United States or Israel, without the consent of those two countries.”
Because neither country is a party to the Rome Statute, which is the foundation of the court, “this action a gross infringement on the sovereignty of both countries,” he said.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled June 15 that the government may reimpose sanctions on United Nations Special Rapporteur Albanese while her family appeals the designation. The U.N. did not allow her to challenge the sanctions herself.
Albanese’s family fought the sanctions, which included the freezing of her assets and a ban from entering the United States, arguing that the action infringed on her right of free speech. In May, a judge suspended the sanctions, accepting the argument that foreign nationals have First Amendment rights if they have “substantial connections” to the U.S. Though Albanese is an Italian national living in Tunisia, her family owns a condominium in Washington D.C., and her daughter is an American citizen.
The June 15 ruling rejected the family’s “substantial connections” claim, finding that she did not have First Amendment rights, because she was being sanctioned as a foreign citizen for speech outside of the United States. This finding is consistent with a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
Hillel Neuer, head of UN Watch observed, “when appellate judges begin questioning whether the constitutional right on which your lawsuit depends applies to you at all, that is a serious warning sign.”
Disparate media outlets – including the Associated Press, The New York Times and British Vogue , which have published uncritical features about Albanese in the past, generally ignored the recent legal reversal in her case.
A Tale of Two Rapporteurs – Alice Edwards
The second U.N. Rapporteur who has been reported on briefly is Dr. Alice Jill Edwards, a barrister from Australia. She is the rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
On June 11, The Jewish Chronicle (UK) reported that Edwards sought to circulate a letter documenting the atrocities of Oct. 7, 2023. At a June 9, 2026, talk at University College London, Edwards revealed that she had endured a bullying campaign to weaken support for and water down the letter that she eventually sent.
“Some other special rapporteurs and working groups had wanted to sign on, but they also had been bullied by others not to sign on, and there was this concerted effort for this letter not to put on record some allegations that had been received,” Edwards said. In the end, only one other rapporteur – the one for “summary extrajudicial killings” – signed on to the letter.
According to the U.N., there are a total of 59 independent human rights experts under its auspices. Only two signed a letter condemning Hamas’ atrocities.
Edwards traveled to Israel at her own expense to document the atrocities. She explained, “When something of that scale occurs and it is occurring in real time… it is important to be present and to investigate.”
Edwards’ efforts to publicize the Oct. 7 atrocities have received next to no coverage in the U.S. Her charge that elements at the U.N. sought to conceal the terror of Oct. 7, is damning. Yet the media barely took note.
Following USAID Report, UNRWA Fires 70 Employees for Hamas Ties
UNRWA – the UN agency in charge of resettling the Palestinians – announced the firing of 70 employees recently. The dismissals followed the release of a USAID Inspector General’s report identifying 101 UNRWA employees who were involved in the Oct. 7, 2023 terror attack or who were affiliated with the military wing of the terrorist group, Hamas.
The USAID report noted that “[a]mong the individuals referred were UNRWA school principals, teachers, security personnel, attendants, psychosocial counselors, and medical professionals.” The summary indicates how deeply embedded Hamas is within Gaza’s civil society.
UN Watch Executive Director Hillel Neuer said that the firings marked “only a small beginning,” noting that his organization has documented at least 400 UNRWA employees with ties to Hamas. Neuer blasted UNRWA for evading responsibility, claiming that the dismissals “do not constitute in any way a validation of the claims.”
This is not the first time UNRWA was forced to fire employees for suspected involvement with Hamas and the Oct. 7, 2023, attack. In August 2024, The Washington Post reported that following an internal UN investigation, UNRWA fired nine employees who “may have been involved” in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack, .
But the Post, and most other U.S. papers have covered neither last week’s USAID report nor the Aug. 2024, UNRWA firings. (The New York Post is a notable exception)
In, addition, The Washington Post still has a paid UNRWA advertisement on its site. The ad claims that “Israel continues to amplify unsubstantiated allegations” against UNRWA and that UNRWA “has taken credible accusations against its staff members extremely seriously.” The latest firings prove that the organization’s ties with Hamas are much more extensive than the agency is willing to admit.