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The Palestine Telegraph ( Arabic : ???????? ????????? ) is the first online newspaper based in the Gaza Strip , Palestine . Its staff is composed of Palestinians and international volunteers, both professional journalists and "citizen journalists who do not take assignments from editors or paychecks from corporate controlled media." ^[1]

Sameh Habeeb , the founder of the newspaper, was then a Gaza resident and photojournalist. ^{[2] [3]} The aim, according to Habeeb, is to disseminate, "the voices of the People of Palestine, the Middle East and other indigenous people around the world." ^[2]

The newspaper began as a blog operated by 23-year-old Habeeb, which was based in the Gaza Strip throughout the three-week Gaza War in the winter of 2008-2009. ^{[ citation needed ]}

The premiere edition of the electronic newspaper format under the name The Palestine Telegraph came out on March 11, 2009. ^[4] The newspaper is a non-profit venture that relies on donor contributions for its operations. Habeeb sits on the Board of Directors as the Chair and Founder and serves as the Editor-in-chief. ^{[ citation needed ]}

In February 2010, the newspaper generated controversy when it published an article which claimed that an Israel Defense Forces emergency aid hospital in Haiti (after the 2010 Haiti earthquake ) was secretly harvesting organs and selling them on the black market . ^[5] The article, written by American blogger ^[6] Stephen Lendman, cited a video broadcast on Hezbollah 's Al-Manar television, which consisted of a warning from an individual named "T West" who claimed to represent the group AfriSynergy , but cited no evidence. In response, founding chairman Sameh Habeeb stated that Lendman’s article represents "him and his views. Some people believe in this and some don’t". ^{[7] [8]}

In the aftermath, Baroness Tonge , at this time a patron of The Palestine Telegraph , had to stand down as health spokesperson in the House of Lords on February 12, 2010. ^{[6] [9] [10] [11]} In a follow-up article by The Jerusalem Post on February 14, 2010, which denounced the claim of organ harvesting as false, Baroness Tonge called the claim "a silly allegation". ^[6]

Baroness Tonge resigned from the Board of Patrons in April 2010, after The Palestine Telegraph posted a video ? since removed ? from David Duke , former leader of the Ku Klux Klan , who claimed Israel presented a terrorism threat to the United States. ^[12]

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