Palestinian exclusion on WAMC's 'The Roundtable' is likely editorial policy, part 1: Emails, data, and a deleted social media thread
Roundtable producers covered entire Gaza war with ZERO Palestinian panelists, ignored Palestinian requests to appear, deleted complaints from social media.
Links to the data for this post (GitHub) are at the end of this piece.1
February 12, 2025
New evidence, made public here and the next post, shows WAMC’s signature daytime program The Roundtable likely enforces a discriminatory policy against Palestinian and Middle East/North African (MENA) people. Email and data discussed in this post show Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke and Joe Donahue completely excluded Palestinian panelists since the start of the Gaza war, refused to dialogue with Palestinian-Americans seeking to appear, and likely removed social media criticism of those problems. The next post shows LaDuke and Donahue did so while prominently including guests from the Democratic and Republican parties and the US military-industrial-intelligence complex — key institutions designing and implementing US policy of unconditional support for Israel’s occupation and war on Palestine.
The data and emails support two undeniable conclusions. First, the data proves The Roundtable never included any Palestinian guests since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza. Second, the emails show that the absence of Palestinian guests is a choice by Roundtable producers.
The pattern of discrimination I document fits poorly with WAMC’s popular image as a progressive source of inclusion and open-debate; an image promoted, for example, by special Roundtable episodes on DEI that also raised funds for the station (9/19/24, 1/10/25).
Donations from listeners empowered a quick close to WAMC’s latest fund-drive just last week. Thanking listeners for the rapid flow of donations, Roundtable host Joe Donahue said (2/7/25), “We know the reason and the concern and the fear, it was wanting to preserve this radio station”.2 Donahue was referring to the well-grounded fears surrounding President Trump’s threats to eliminate federal funding for public media as part of the administration’s larger ideological effort to kill DEI programs and ideologies. While there’s every reason to think Trump will follow through on that threat, Donahue’s expressed fear of elimination seems overstated: federal money constitutes less than 10% of WAMC’s $4.5M 2024 revenue, according to their most recent federal filings (Form 990, 2024, p. 9, line e).
In contrast, Palestinians face erasure. Trump not only cut off aid to Palestinian refugees but advocates ethnic cleansing of Gaza (NY Magazine, 2/4/2025). “They are trying to erase us, to pretend that Gaza can exist without Palestinians,” Ahmed Awaad told Israel’s +972 Magazine (2/5/2025). Awaad is a 23-year-old medical student in Khan Younis. Israel destroyed his university. He now works in make-shift hospitals amid conditions the International Court of Justice ruled a probable genocide. Awaad remains steadfast: “But we are still here, and we are not leaving.”
The exclusion of Palestinians on The Roundtable is a part of that erasure, Dr. Ahmad Abu-Hakmeh told me. He is a Palestinian-American area scientist working in the Capital region. He requested, along with 3 other sources (2 Palestinian, 1 Black and Jewish), to appear on The Roundtable. He told me he wanted to “give Americans a fair chance to learn about Palestine.” Neither LaDuke nor Donahue responded to those email requests (10/4/24, 2/1/25) to appear on the program.
WAMC’s refusal to even dialogue with Palestinians seeking to appear on the program, Abu-Hakmeh said, is “a microcosm of US media outlets’ concerted efforts to obfuscate the Palestinian genocide and by extension, their entire struggle for the past 100+ years.” The argument that Roundtable producers exclude Palestinian voices is supported by my comprehensive data on all Roundtable episodes since the 10/7/23 start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Data: Panelists made 1011 appearances on The Roundtable since 10/7/2023 — none of them were Palestinians
My prior research on a full-year of The Roundtable (10/9/23 - 10/8/24) found 71 panelists made 792 appearances across 232 episodes. Those hundreds of appearances across hundreds of programs included zero (0) Palestinians. MENA guests made 4 appearances across 3 episodes, accounting for 0.5% of all appearances and 1% of episodes. My new data covers the period from 10/9/24 - 1/24/2025 and finds 63 panelists made 219 appearances across 61 episodes, with zero (0) Palestinians included. Please check my data if you doubt my findings.
In short, The Roundtable completely failed to include even a single Palestinian guest across nearly 300 episodes in which other panelists appeared 1011 times. Emails published here for the first time show this exclusion was a choice exercised by Roundtable producers.
Emails: Palestinian exclusion on ‘The Roundtable’ is not an accident but a choice — a choice that WAMC likely sought to hide from the public
As WAMC increasingly depends on their area community for support, it makes poor fiscal and ethical sense that The Roundtable continues to stonewall the Middle East and Palestinian community. “Being an NPR station and on Central Ave. right next to a mosque and multiple Middle Eastern businesses, we thought just maybe [WAMC] would welcome us,” Layla Aburas-Khafaga told me. She is the founder and owner of Meezan Kitchen, local Middle Eastern Bakery servicing the greater capital region. Meezan refers to the Islamic concept of balance, fairness, and justice, her website explains.
Aburas-Khafaga is also among four local Muslim, Palestinian-American, and Jewish-American sources who first contacted Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke, in October, 2024, asking to appear on the program. (The full email thread appears following this article). The other aspiring panelists included Dr. Sohaib Chekima (Executive Director of United Muslim Alliance of Albany), Dr. Ahmad Abu-Hakmeh (Palestinian-American Scientist), Faris Amer (Palestinian-American Engineer), and Leah Penniman (Black, Jewish Food Sovereignty Educator and Co-Founder of Soul Fire Farm). After no response from LaDuke to their 10/4/24 email, they reached out to LaDuke again on 2/1/25. LaDuke again failed to reply.
When I asked her about the experience of being ignored by Roundtable producers, Aburas-Khafaga told me, “I am never surprised when we are not invited or contacted. It's business as usual. For decades, the Palestinian voice has been silenced. And quite frankly, there is only one reason for that: when you don't want people to question your agenda and find the truth.”
The evidence I present here supports Aburas-Khafaga’s conclusion that Palestinian exclusion is “business as usual,” in this case an undisclosed policy enforced by LaDuke and Donahue and possibly by WAMC management.
This wasn’t the first time Roundtable producers turned away Palestinian, MENA, and Palestine solidarity sources. Emails I made public in September show that LaDuke and Donahue acknowledged the lack of Palestinian and pro-Palestine perspectives (email of 2/28/24, 10:44am) in conversations with organizers from the Hudson Valley chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace and Palestinian Rights Committee Albany. LaDuke stopped responding to their messages by 3/18/24. The aspiring panelists reported to me that no one from WAMC reached out to them. In the end, The Roundtable never hosted the panelists proposed by the organizers — nor any other Palestinian guests.
New emails show Roundtable producers had a second chance to correct that exclusion in October, 2024 — but again LaDuke and Donahue chose not to do so. Further suggesting that their discriminatory choice is a policy, when criticism of the exclusions appeared on WAMC’s Instagram thread, station personnel redirected discussions out of public view and apparently deleted the online exchange, as I explain next.
Two weeks after I published the first set of emails, The Roundtable used Instagram to promote a 9/19/24 fundraising episode on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The JVP and PRC organizers responded on that thread with criticism of the lack of inclusion of Palestinian and MENA guests. WAMC replied to that criticism by requesting the conversation change to email — and thus outside of public view. The organizers complied and emailed the official Roundtable address on 10/4/2024 with the above discussed list of 4 sources (including Abu-Hakmeh and Aburas-Khafaga) willing and able to appear on The Roundtable. LaDuke did not respond to the 10/4/24 email, nor to a follow up on 2/1/2025. WAMC personnel then apparently deleted the Instagram thread containing PRC’s critique and the station’s request for email discussion.
Fortunately, I made a screencap of the Instagram thread prior to its removal (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Instagram thread apparently deleted by WAMC. Screencap from 10/16/24.
WAMC management refuses to publicly address these issues
I contacted WAMC CEO Sarah Gilbert by email on 2/4/25. I sent her the email threads, the deleted Instagram exchange, and the data appearing in this post. I asked her to intervene in the situation at The Roundtable and promised I would publish any statement from her office. She did not reply by the time of publication, 2/11/25, eight days after my email to her.
Refusal to respond by WAMC’s most senior official could indicate a lack of interest in enforcing the station’s public policy on inclusion in news:
“In our journalism, diversity means the inclusion in our reporting of the vastly different voices and opinions of mis or under-represented people and those often ignored. WAMC strives to include differing opinions in our content,” WAMC’s Community Representation Statement.
Worse, Gilbert’s refusal to comment could also be a strategy to avoid public awareness of and accountability for this pattern of discrimination against Palestinians. Such a strategy would of course help to maintain a policy of Palestinian exclusion on The Roundtable. The refusal to address issues of public concern, to provide public transparency, or explain documented violations of stated policy are precisely the kinds of practices that make discrimination into “business as usual,” precisely as warned by rejected Palestinian-American panelist Layla Aburas-Khafaga.
Conclusion
This post presents a pattern of evidence showing that exclusion of Palestinians on WAMC’s The Roundtable is likely a discriminatory policy enforced by Joe Donahue, Sarah LaDuke, and perhaps WAMC management. First, exclusion of Palestinians is total: not a single Palestinian appears on any of the nearly 300 episodes of The Roundtable since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, even as the ICJ ruled that war a probable genocide. One might object that sources from the Middle East/North African region, likely to sympathize with Palestinians, did appear on the program. However, MENA guests accounted for only 4 appearances out of a total of 1,011.
Second, Roundtable producer Sarah LaDuke and host Joe Donahue were aware of this problem of a lack of Palestinian guests on the program, emails show. Yet when Palestinian sources requested to appear, LaDuke and Donahue refused to put them on the show and ultimately refused to respond to their requests. Third, when faced with social media criticism of these facts, WAMC personnel acted to direct critical communications out of public view — where Roundtable producers again refused to reply — and even deleted evidence of the confrontation from the station’s social media thread.
While this evidence is damning enough, new data I share in the next post shows that while choosing to exclude Palestinians from The Roundtable, LaDuke and Donahue provided regular prominent inclusion of powerful institutional opponents of Palestinian narratives and self-determination, namely the New York Democratic Party and sources from the US-Israel military industrial complex.
Email station management and let them know you are a concerned listener who seeks fairness and inclusion on The Roundtable:
WAMC’s new CEO Sarah Gilbert can be reached at sgilbert@wamc.org
The Roundtable’s producer Sarah LaDuke can be reached at sladuke@wamc.org
Roundtable host Joe Donahue can be reached at jdonahue@wamc.org
Full email thread:
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <csotirop@nmu.edu>
Date:Sat, Feb 1, 11:32 AM
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Hello Sarah on Feb 1, 2025.
I realize I did not request a reply in my email of October 4, 2024. I have received confirmation of the following: (a) that none of the four potential guest panelists whose names and contact information I shared with you have been contacted by you or anyone at the station; (b) that no Palestinians or Middle East / North African guest panelists have appeared on the show since October 9th 2024 [sic, Palestinian absence extends to 10/9/23]. Given US involvement in the ever devolving conditioins in that region, this shows the kind of outright bias that I and countless others in the WAMC listening audience had hoped WAMC would prove itself immune. I fail to understand the station's position. Perhaps you could at least explain why, after you asked for potential guest participants, the station failed to contact them or to invite others who would be willing to participate.
Thank you,
Carol S (Strauss Sotiropoulos)
[address redacted]
Landline [phone redacted]
Mobile [phone redacted]
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <csotirop@nmu.edu>
Date: Fri, Oct 4, 2024 at 3:42 PM
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Hi Sarah,
Well, it's been many months since we corresponded about the need for voices of Palestinians and allies on The Roundtable. I understand that others have reached out with names, positions, and contact information of potential participants. Here is a list that's been shared with me. Many in the WAMC listening audience ought not have cause to continue being disappointed and hope you can be counted on to rectify this.
Sincerely,
Carol S (Strauss Sotiropoulos)
Dr. Sohaib Chekima- Executive Director of United Muslim Alliance of Albany- [email, phone redacted]
Ahmad Abu-Hakmeh- Palestinian-American Scientist in the Capital Region- [email, phone redacted]
Layla Aburas- First Generation Palestinian-American Entrepreneur, Owner of Meezan Kitchen- [email, phone redacted]
Faris Amer- Palestinian-American Engineer at Regeneron- [email redacted]
Leah Penniman- Black, Jewish Food Sovereignty Educator and Co-Founder of Soul Fire Farm- [email redacted]
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <csotirop@nmu.edu>
Sent: Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 4:29 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
Seriously! John Fasso AGAIN, today, with his abhorrent apologia for Israel?! Really??
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <csotirop@nmu.edu>
Sent: Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 11:16 AM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
I understand, thank you, I'm rolling this squeaky wheel as weeks/months pass and the issue grows ever more timely.
From: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Date: Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 11:05 AM
Subject: RE: Will you please play fair?
To: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Hi Carol,
The people you’ve suggested aren’t the only people we’re pursuing. Joe is out this week and I’m dancing as fast as I can.
Sarah LaDuke
Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206
Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show
Instagram: @wamcradio
she/her
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <csotirop@nmu.edu>
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2024 10:52 AM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
I suggest moving in to the others:
Dara Silverman
[email redacted]
[Phone redacted]
Keren Carmeli
[email redacted]
[Phone redacted]
From: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Date: Thu, Mar 14, 2024, 7:59 AM
Subject: RE: Will you please play fair?
To: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
I’m waiting on a reply from Abdallah.
Sarah LaDuke
Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206
Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show
Instagram: @wamcradio
she/her
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Thursday, March 14, 2024 7:58 AM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
Good Thursday morning, Sarah. Has a date been arranged with Abdallah, and/or have either of the suggested Jewish Voice for Peace members been contacted?
Carol S.
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 12:28 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Very good. I think it would be even more effective to have a member of Hudson Valley Jewish Voice for Peace on with him.
From: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 12:08 PM
Subject: RE: Will you please play fair?
To: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Carol,
I’m emailing with Abdallah Qotate [Palestinian source] to find a date that works.
Best,
Sarah LaDuke
Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206
Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show
Instagram: @wamcradio
she/her
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 12:03 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Fwd: Will you please play fair?
Good Monday morning, Sarah,
Please let me know if you have been able to contact the recommended individuals representing Jewish Voice for Peace and the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community. Or, let me know if the station does not wish to hear other voices at this critical juncture.
Thank you,
Carol S.
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Date: Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 1:25 PM
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Hello Sarah on Friday afternoon,
Just left a voicemail --- wondering if you've contacted any of the individuals I was able to recommend. As of Tuesday evening, none had heard from you. Please let me know what I can do to help make this happen as soon as possible, given current events in the Middle East
Carol S.
Landline [phone redacted]
Mobile. [phone redacted]
On Mon, Mar 4, 2024, 3:47 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:
Thank you, Sarah, and foremost I hope you're feeling much better!
On Mon, Mar 4, 2024 at 3:12 PM Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org> wrote:
Hi Carol,
I was out sick last week and am doing the inevitable race to catch up today. I need to talk to Joe about your suggested guests. We are working on it.
Best,
Sarah LaDuke
Producer - The Roundtable and The Book Show
WAMC Northeast Public Radio
318 Central Ave. Albany NY 12206
Twitter: @WAMCRoundtable @The_Book_Show
Instagram: @wamcradio
she/her
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Monday, March 4, 2024 3:08 PM
To: Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org>
Subject: Re: Will you please play fair?
Greetings Sarah on Monday March 4th,
I just now left a message on your voicemail, to inquire as to whether you've been able to reach out to any of the recommended individuals who can speak to the issues at hand from the perspective of Palestinian justice. The matter is beyond timely, it is urgent, and I hope it is at or near the top of your priorities to provide listeners a countering voice to that of John Fasso last week.
Please let me know if I can be of any assistance.
Sincerely,
Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos
mobile [phone redacted]
landline [phone redacted]
On Thu, Feb 29, 2024, 3:53 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:
Hello again Sarah,
I've received confirmation on the third person prepared to present the contrasting narrative to the one voiced by John Faso and other Israeli apologists for whom WAMC has given air time. Below are all three:
1) Abdallah Qotate of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]
2) Dara Silverman of Jewish Voice for Peace-Hudson Valley email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]
3) Keren Carmeli, Israeli-American and prominent in Jewish Voice for Peace email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]
On Thu, Feb 29, 2024 at 1:49 PM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:
Hello Sarah,
Two people I highly recommend and who have agreed to be contacted. I am waiting to hear back from a third. It would be terrific. i.e., most impactful, if Abdallah Qotate and a member of Jewish Voice for Peace.could both be invited. Thank you and I'll be in touch with the name & contact info of the third individual, who has spoken widely and is, I believe, Israeli-American. I promised to get back within a day, so I'm sending the two below forthwith, with the hope that you can move forward on this important issue.
Thank you, Carol S.
1) Abdallah Qotate of the Mid-Hudson Islamic Community email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]
2) Dara Silverman of Jewish Voice for Peace-Hudson Valley email [email redacted] tel [phone redacted]
On Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 11:32 AM Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]> wrote:
Thank you, Sarah, I will definitely get back to you within a day!
Carol
On Wed, Feb 28, 2024, 10:44 AM Sarah LaDuke <sladuke@wamc.org> wrote:
Hello Carol,
Do you know anyone? We have been looking.
Best,
Sarah
From: Carol Strauss Sotiropoulos <[email redacted]>
Sent: Wednesday, February 28, 2024 10:42 AM
To: Panel <Panel@wamc.org>
Subject: Will you please play fair?
You had an apologist for Israeli on today (John). You then did not respond to listeners' dismay at the lack of pushback.
Why not invite a guest panelist who can speak to the Palestinian narrative?? This is sorely needed!
Carol Sotiropoulos
This is not the only instance of WAMC staff making on-air suggestions about the threat of elimination by the federal government. On the 1/31/25 program, Donahue reminded listeners of the Trump’s threat to kill CPB funding by saying, “Summon up everything you have to make this happen. . . . Things are pretty tense in public radio world. We have to take care of ourselves and figure what we are going to do and we need your help.”
Data for this project is on GitHub. The table documenting daily panels for variables of race, ethnicity, US defense/intelligence backgrounds, and political party for 10/9/23-10/8/24 is here. The table documenting that data for 10/9/24-1/24/25 is here. The legend key for datasets is in the ReadMe file here.
Thanks for doing this work.