Marina Samuel said Elias Rodriguez, who allegedly killed two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C., was ‘morally justified’
A journalist for THE CITY, a New York City news nonprofit hailed as a beacon of hope for local journalism, served as an organizer for the Bronx Anti-War Coalition, a virulently anti-Israel group that held vigils for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, raised money for the terrorist group Samidoun, and defended Elias Rodriguez’s alleged assassination of two Israeli diplomats in Washington, D.C., earlier this year as “morally justified.”
Marina Samuel, a data fellow at THE CITY, led a “teach-in” for Bronx Anti-War Coalition last year with leaders of the terrorist groups Samidoun and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, a Washington Free Beacon investigation has found. During the event, Samuel praised Hamas’s use of “guerrilla warfare,” and solicited donations for Samidoun, requesting that “paper checks” be sent in lieu of online donations “due to the Zionist forces working against them.”
Samuel joined THE CITY earlier this year on a data intern fellowship funded by the Charles H. Revson Foundation, the philanthropy of Revlon’s founder and donor to numerous Jewish causes. Samuel has written about the New York City mayoral and city council races for THE CITY, which launched in 2019 to widespread buzz as a potential savior of local journalism.
Bronx Anti-War, which emerged as one of the most vocal anti-Israel groups in the country after Oct. 7, has largely shielded the identity of its members.
The revelation comes at a tumultuous time for THE CITY, which has faced financial headwinds, forcing employees to take a 20 percent pay cut in 2023 to avoid mass layoffs, Semafor reported.
Major journalism organizations like the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, ProPublica, and the American Journalism Project donated a combined $1.8 million through 2023 to fund THE CITY‘s operations, according to tax filings.
Pro-Israel charities are also major donors to THE CITY, whose newsroom is overseen by former Nation editor Richard Kim. The charity of Len Blavatnik, a prolific backer of Jewish and Israeli causes, donated $400,000 in 2022 and 2023 to THE CITY, according to tax filings. The Leon Levy Foundation, which funds the Center for Jewish History, gave $750,000 to the outlet in 2022 and 2023.
Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, a major Democratic donor, was an early backer of THE CITY, and is the namesake of the City University of New York’s Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, from which Samuel graduated last year. Samuel served as vice president of its Investigative Reporters and Editors chapter, and reported for two journalism groups funded by Newmark, the Mott Haven Herald and NYCity News Service. Earlier this year, she was awarded a scholarship through the Silurians Press Club for “local accountability reporting.”
Kim said he was not aware of Samuel’s affiliation with Bronx Anti-War, but stood by her work for the outlet.
“We look rigorously at any applicant’s professional record in journalism and were more than confident based on her clips, course work, interviews and recommendations that she’d be a great intern, which she has been,” Kim told the Free Beacon.
Samuel acknowledged her involvement with Bronx Anti-War in a statement to the Free Beacon, but said she is “no longer affiliated with the group.”
“My prior involvement with the group is completely unrelated to my work as a journalist,” said Samuel, who said she covers “voting, explainers, and data” at THE CITY. Samuel did not respond to questions about her views of Israel, Hamas, or Bronx Anti-War’s activities.
The group held a vigil in the Bronx earlier this month in honor of Sinwar, the Hamas chief who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last year.
Bronx Anti-War organized a petition earlier this year in support of Elias Rodriguez, the far-left activist who allegedly murdered Israeli diplomats at the Jewish National Museum. Bronx Anti-War called Rodriguez a political prisoner whose actions were “morally righteous” and “fully justified.”
Samuel organized the February 2024 “teach-in” with Bronx Anti-War organizer Saher Al Khamash. The pair interviewed Charlotte Kates and Khaled Barakat, leaders with the terrorist groups Samidoun and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, respectively.
Video of the event was taken down after the Free Beacon contacted Samuel for comment, though an archived version is still available.
During the talk, Barakat, who the Treasury Department sanctioned last September as a fundraiser for anti-Israel terrorism, said armed resistance was “a strategic path for the Palestinian people” and said that “those who advocate for nonviolence … misread the Palestinian struggle.”
Kates hailed Oct. 7 as a “fantastic” military operation for Hamas that allowed the terrorist group “to capture prisoners of war in order to conduct an exchange for Palestinian political prisoners.”
Samuel approved of the rhetoric and solicited donations for Samidoun at the end of the talk.
“Thank you for highlighting the importance of guerrilla warfare as the chosen tactic against an occupying force,” said Samuel. She solicited donations for Samidoun, saying it was “important that we in the West do our part to support those living under Israel’s apartheid regime.”
Al Khamash praised “the vital role of armed struggle,” calling it “central” to Palestine’s liberation.
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