(JNS.org) The Newseum, a non-profit museum of news and journalism in Washington, D.C., said it will “re-evaluate” its controversial decision to commemorate Hussam Salama and Mahmoud al-Kumi, two cameramen who worked for the Hamas-run Al-Aqsa TV in Gaza, after considerable outrage from leading Jewish organizations. The cameramen were to be commemorated as part of a memorial service on Monday, May 13 for reporters who died or were killed in the pursuit of news over the past year. Salama and al-Kumi were both killed in an Israeli airstrike during Operation Pillar of Defense in November 2012. Both were reported to be Hamas operatives by the Palestinian news site Palestinian Information Center. Al-Aqsa TV, which is run by Hamas, according to the U.S. Department of the Treasury, is banned in many Western countries, including the U.S.

Leading Jewish organizations slammed the Newseum’s original decision to honor the Hamas cameramen. “The Newseum board of directors should be ashamed of themselves for saluting two individuals who were integral to the propaganda machine of the Hamas terrorist organization,” said American Jewish Committee Executive Director David Harris in a statement. “We are astonished that the Newseum did not reconsider its stance after initial concerns were raised.”