| | |
| Type of business | Non-profit organization |
|---|---|
Type of site | News website |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | Mountlake Terrace, Washington |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Founder | Ramzy Baroud |
| URL | www |
| Current status | Active |
The Palestine Chronicle, also known as People Media Project, [1] is an American 501(c) organization and news website that covers local and international news related to Palestine, reporting from a Palestinian perspective. [2] The organization was founded in September 1999 by Palestinian-American journalist Ramzy Baroud. [3]
Palestine Chronicle was established as a website in September 1999 by Palestinian-American journalist and writer Ramzy Baroud, who was born in a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. The site consisted of several sections: book reviews, photographs, analysis, and the "daily news" section in which Palestinians shared their experiences of life under Israeli-occupied territories. The Palestine Chronicle sought to hire "talented" writers living in the country to write their life stories for the website. [3] Ramzy Baroud works as the director and editor-in-chief of the Palestine Chronicle, he also received a PhD in Palestine studies from the University of Exeter and was a former writer for Middle East Eye and The Brunei Times . [4]
Baroud, in a 2020 interview with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, said he was motivated to create Palestine Chronicle after being frustrated by perceived excessive pro-Israeli coverage in the mainstream media. He says that when the website was founded, it was a blog run only by him, but he gradually hired more and more editors, eventually turning Palestine Chronicle into a news company. He said it became one of the main sources focused on Palestine, alongside The Electronic Intifada . He also shared that the website was available in the French language back then. [5]
Palestine Chronicle is a non-profit organization (501(c) organization) and states its mission as reporting on "human rights, national struggles, freedom and democracy". [6] It covers local and international news related to Palestine from the country's perspective. [2] Its staff consists of independent and professional writers. The editorial board of the website listed Noam Chomsky, Hanan Ashrawi and Neve Gordon as its contributors. [7] An article written by Palestine Chronicle staff said that it has journalists in the Gaza Strip and in West Bank and that it has a "very small" budget dependent on donations from readers. [8]
The Arab Media & Society journal described Palestine Chronicle as an alternative and independent pro-Palestinian outlet that does not align with any political movements in Palestine and advocates for nonviolent resistance against Israel in its reporting. [9]
In May 2014, Victoria Brittain included Palestine Chronicle in a list of news outlets she thinks successfully reported the "counter-narrative" of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict . [10] Palestine Chronicle articles have been cited by a number of organizations, including the Library of Congress and The Guardian . [11] [12] The Massachusetts Institute of Technology website listed it as a "recommended" news outlet on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [13] Common Dreams called the website "modest, independent publication" in August 2025. [14]
The website's articles were part of a case study in July 2025 by the Arab Media & Society journal, which compared it to Haaretz in its reportage of the Great March of Return. [9]
In January 2026, Palestine Chronicle joined the social media platform UpScrolled. [15]
In 2024 Republican politicians demanded a DOJ investigation and asked the IRS to revoke Palestine Chronicle's 501(c) status, accusing it of supporting Hamas due to its affiliation with freelance writer Abdullah al-Jamal, who was accused of holding Israeli hostages and was killed in the Nuseirat rescue and massacre on June 8, 2024. [1] [16] Palestine Chronicle rejected the accusation that al-Jamal held Israeli hostages and reported inconsistencies in the Israeli narrative, while CNN cited neighbors saying his family was known to have ties to Hamas. [17] [18] In July 2024, court records showed a former hostage filed a lawsuit alleging the Chronicle "aided, abetted, and materially supported" al-Jamal and Hamas. [19] In January 2025, Judge Tiffany Cartwright dismissed the suit, ruling there was insufficient evidence the Chronicle knew of al-Jamal's alleged Hamas affiliation, that his articles were protected under the First Amendment, and that the outlet had not financed or directed terrorism. [20] In October 2025, Israeli scholar Anat Alon-Beck filed a separate lawsuit alleging the Chronicle aided Hamas, which Ramzy Baroud described as an attempt to "silence" the outlet for reporting on Palestine. [21]