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The role played by the media network Al Jazeera in the wake of the October 7th attack on Israel cannot be underestimated. It is an arm of the Qatari regime, a safe haven and benefactor of Hamas, which carried out the largest single-day massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
In a new report from the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Yigal Karmon outlines how the Qatari-owned media empire is promoting Islamist terrorism around the world. The cooperation between Hamas and Al Jazeera is no more clear than how they covered the October 7 attacks.
The network aired an “exclusive” clip of the attack, with Carmon saying, “This footage could only have been obtained from Hamas itself. Al Jazeera’s reporters abandoned any pretense of neutrality, saying, “The settler wall…has collapsed…arrogance. It’s a steely image of the Occupation Forces.”
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators disrupt Adam Schiff’s victory speech and demand ceasefire in Gaza
The rules and regulations for obtaining press credentials in the U.S. House of Representatives state that “They may not act on behalf of or be employed by any federal, state, local, or foreign government, or any representative thereof. “Nothing will happen.” ” These are generally rules regarding media eligibility across the government, including the U.S. Senate and the White House.
This image, made from undated body camera video footage shot by a Hamas terrorist shot down on October 7, 2023, and released by the Israel Defense Forces, shows a house at an undisclosed location in southern Israel. Photos of Hamas terrorists roaming the streets. (Israel Defense Forces, via AP)
Still, Al Jazeera retains this access, and in 2020 the U.S. Department of Justice required the media network to register as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) law.
Former Congresswoman Iliana Ros-Lehtinen explained why in a report she prepared for Congress, saying that the network “supports extremist groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas, al-Qaida, and the Islamists. “It has repeatedly undermined U.S. interests in the region.” [the] Al Nusra [Front]. […] Additionally, Qatar uses the state-owned, state-funded, state-led, and state-controlled Al Jazeera media network to communicate this vision to the American public. ”
Since October 7 and the ensuing conflict, Al Jazeera has clearly acted as an official mouthpiece for Hamas. In a report to MEMRI, Carmon said: “Since October 7, Al Jazeera has been broadcasting official military announcements and threats by Hamas spokesmen and other terrorist organizations on a near daily basis, acting as a semi-official amplifier. It’s working.” The content of Hamas messages often features outlandish claims about the group’s military successes. ”
Al Jazeera operates beyond the Middle East, putting Americans and Jews around the world at risk. “Al Jazeera itself has already been used by the state of Qatar to the detriment of members of the Jewish community who actively support strong relations between the two countries,” Michigan Republican Rep. Jack Bergman wrote in a November op-ed for The Hill. “We are carrying out monitoring activities to ensure that this is true.” “The United States and Israel – this is a worldview widely shared by the overwhelming majority of Congress. The conclusion is inescapable. Al Jazeera is clearly a Qatari-run intelligence operation.”
Bergman added: “However, while our Arab allies have no problem identifying Al Jazeera as a pro-terrorism propaganda arm of the Qatari government (a major Hamas financier), the network remains objective and independent. “They enjoy a strange and unwarranted reputation as Arabs who have done so.” The voices of many people in Western countries…
Members of the media network not only support Hamas in the field of public relations, but also provide concrete support. Their support is not only ideological, but also material.
In 2021, the Israel Defense Forces bombed a Hamas-controlled building that housed AJ’s office in the Gaza Strip at the time. But since war broke out in Gaza following the brutal attack on October 7, even more damning information has come to light.
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The IDF said Al Jazeera journalist Mohamed Washa was a member of Hamas and was linked by a laptop discovered by the IDF. Information on the laptop revealed that Washa, 37, from the Braei district in central Gaza, was a “prominent commander” of Hamas’ anti-tank missile unit. He began working on research and development in the terrorist group’s air force at the end of 2022. Two years ago, he posted a photo of himself shaking hands with Oct. 7 ringleader Yahya Sinwar.
Since October 7 and the ensuing conflict, Al Jazeera has clearly acted as an official mouthpiece for Hamas. In a report to MEMRI, Carmon said: “Since October 7, Al Jazeera has been broadcasting official military announcements and threats by Hamas spokesmen and other terrorist organizations on a near daily basis, acting as a semi-official amplifier. It’s working.” The content of Hamas messages often features outlandish claims about the group’s military successes. ”
In January, the Israel Defense Forces presented evidence that two Palestinian journalists killed in the Gaza Strip in an Israeli airstrike were terrorist operatives, saying they were operating drones that endangered soldiers.
On February 13, another Al Jazeera reporter was injured. On the day of the attack, he reportedly posted a comment referring to the Israeli victims and asking Palestinian children to “play with their heads.” Israel described him as “deputy company commander of Hamas’s Khan Yunis Eastern Battalion.”
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Bergman is one of many members of Congress who remains deeply concerned about Al Jazeera’s role, telling me, “Al Jazeera’s role in Hamas/Qatar’s intelligence operations against the United States… “It is clear to me and to my colleagues that its activities are aimed not only at promoting and protecting Hamas, but also at spreading vicious anti-Semitism. Congress should take immediate action.”
The Hamas attack on October 7 was historic: never since the Holocaust had so many Jews been killed in a single day. Terrorist groups rampaged through music festivals and small villages in border areas. It has murdered, kidnapped, raped, and brutalized not only Israelis but thousands of other people of dozens of nationalities. Six American citizens and two more bodies are still being held by terrorists in the Gaza Strip, where dozens of American citizens have died in the attack. It is time to recognize the role that Al Jazeera has played, and continues to play, in these atrocities.
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