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Paul McGeough is an Irish Australian journalist and senior foreign correspondent for ''
The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...
''. In 2001, when covering events in Afghanistan with the
Northern Alliance The Northern Alliance ( ''Da Šumāl E'tilāf'' or ''Ettehād Šumāl''), officially known as the United National Front for the Salvation of Afghanistan ( ''Jabha-ye Muttahid-e barāye Afğānistān''), was a military alliance of groups that op ...
, he and French journalist Véronique Reyberotte survived an attack by the
Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...
which killed journalists Volker Handloik, Johanne Sutton, and Pierre Billaud.A NATION CHALLENGED: THE NEWS MEDIA; Two French Radio Journalists and a German Are Killed in Taliban Ambush of a Rebel Force
''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', 13 November 2001
He was awarded the 2003 Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership in recognition of acts of courage and bravery in the practice of journalism.


Detainment in Israel

In 2010, McGeough travelled on a Gaza-bound flotilla, reporting for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' and ''Brisbane Times'' from aboard the ''MV Samoud'' (also known as the ''MV Challenger I''). When Israeli forces boarded the flotilla's vessels on 31 May, McGeough and ''Herald'' photographer Kate Geraghty were among those detained. In an audio transmission sent shortly before the ''MV Samoud'' was intercepted, he said:
"At 4.20(am local time) (11.20am Sydney time) we realised all communications on the boat were jammed, 4.22 (am) – we see two zodiacs moving in, pressing through. Two more zodiacs. Now there are five of them astern of us. There's white wakes on black water. Search lights on one of the cargo ships and from the Turkish ferry are picking up the zodiacs now."
The following day, Fairfax confirmed that McGeough had, along with Geraghty, been detained by Israel in the city of
Beersheba Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most p ...
. According to the ''Heralds editor Peter Fray, McGeough turned down the option of being deported immediately, in return for signing a form in which he would have admitted entering Israel illegally. When meeting with Australian and Irish consular officials in Beersheba's Ela prison, McGeough told them that he intended to challenge attempts by Israeli authorities to deport him. However, Australia's
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...
and the ''Herald'' confirmed on 3 June that both McGeough and Geraghty had been taken to Ben Gurion International Airport in
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
to be deported. McGeough said that he had left "on legal advice that we will be able to appeal our deportation ''in absentia''". Speaking to the ''Herald'' from Istanbul, McGeough described his treatment as "an absolute disrespect by Israel", accusing Israeli authorities of "a total disrespect to the fundamentals of democracy, and the fundamentals of the rights of journalists under the
Geneva Convention upright=1.15, The original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are international humanitarian laws consisting of four treaties and three additional protocols that establish international legal standards for humanitarian t ...
".


Awards

* 2003 Walkley Award for Journalism Leadership and the 1997 Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year. * 2010 Douglas Stewart award and Book of the Year for "Kill Khalid" at the 2010
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...


Works

*
Infernal Triangle Conflict in Iraq, Afghanistan and The Levant – Eyewitness reports from the September 11 decade
', Allen & Unwin, 2011, *
Kill Khalid: Mossad's failed hit ... and the rise of Hamas
', Allen & Unwin, 2009,
to Baghdad : despatches from the frontline in the War on Terror''
Allen & Unwin, 2003, *
In Baghdad: a reporter's war
', Allen & Unwin, 2003,
''Mission impossible: the sheiks, the U.S. and the future of Iraq''
Black Inc., 2004,


Reviews

*''Kill Khalid'' (''Foreign Affairs''): "gem of leave-no-stone-unturned reporting". *''Kill Khalid'' (''Washington Post''): "... timely and thorough examination of Hamas, highlighting the ways in which Israel has intentionally and unintentionally aided its rise."
''The Washington Post'', GREG MYRE, 8 March 2009; Page B01


References


External links


"Q and A: Paul McGeough"
''Columbia Journalism Review'', Katia Bachko, 11 February 2009

'' Vanity Fair'', 24 March 2009
"Paul McGeough’s ‘Kill Khalid’"
''WBUR: On Point'' 29 July 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:McGeough, Paul Australian journalists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian war correspondents The Sydney Morning Herald people