Clayton Swisher

Clayton Swisher is an American journalist and author, currently working as the Manager of Investigative Journalism for the Al Jazeera Media Network in Doha in Qatar.

He is the author of two non-fiction books on the Arab–Israeli conflict.

Career

Swisher is currently the head of the Al Jazeera Investigative Unit, based at the network's headquarters in Doha. He has worked for Al Jazeera English, and other parts of the Network, since 2007.

The Palestine Papers

In 2011, Swisher obtained thousands of confidential documents of the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations and helped break the story for Al Jazeera. These documents became known as the "Palestine Papers," and are the largest ever leak of confidential documents related to Israeli–Palestinian negotiations. The leak led to the temporary resignation of Dr. Saeb Erekat, Chief PLO Negotiator.^[1]

The Arafat case

In 2012, he delivered the documentary investigation: What Killed Arafat? This won the

• 2013 CINE Golden Eagle Award for: Best Investigative Journalism.

It was also a nominee for the:

• 2013 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA): Best TV Current Affairs Documentary.
• 2013 Royal Television Society (RTS): Scoop of the Year.
• Monte Carlo Television Festival: Best News Documentary.
• the Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE): Long-form Documentary Film – for which it was a finalist.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The nine-month investigation revealed high levels of radioactive Polonium-210 in articles left behind by Yasser Arafat, the first President of the Palestinian National Authority. This led to a French criminal investigation and the exhumation of Arafat's body.^[8][9] The secondary investigation, conducted by experts from France, Switzerland, and Russia, reached differing conclusions. The Swiss team said the elevated levels of Polonium and lead on Arafat's clothing, and that the time frame of his illness and death were consistent with ingesting Polonium. However, the French and Russian scientists said the Polonium on his clothing was of "natural environmental origin" and that Arafat had died of natural causes.^[10]

Publications

In 2004, Swisher's first book, The Truth About Camp David, was published to favorable reviews in Foreign Affairs and the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.^[11][12]

In 2011, Swisher's second book, The Palestine Papers: The End of the Road? was released, examining the themes of the more than 1,600 leaked documents on the Israeli–Palestinian negotiations, that Swisher had obtained for Al Jazeera.

References

1. "Erekat quits over Palestine Papers". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
2. "Clayton Swisher: Ask Me Anything on Arafat". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
3. "Spring 2013 CINE Golden Eagle Award Recipients". CINE. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
4. "BAFTA Television Awards". British Academy Television Awards. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
5. "RTS Announces Winners For Television Journalism Awards". Royal Television Society. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
6. "Nominees - News Documentaries". Festival de Television de Monte Carlo. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
7. "2012 IRE Award Winners". Investigative Reporters & Editors. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
8. "What Killed Arafat?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
9. "Yasser Arafat exhumed and reburied in six-hour night mission". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
10. Isachenkov, Vladimir (27 December 2013). "Russia: Arafat's death not caused by radiation". WTOP. Associated Press. Retrieved 19 August 2014.
11. "The Truth About Camp David: The Untold Story About the Collapse of the Middle East Peace Process". Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
12. "They didn't do their homework". Haaretz. Retrieved 18 September 2013.