Yesterday, I read a disheartening article about Israel bombing an area and killing a journalist named Anas Al-Sharif (I am capitalizing his name only because the article did).
It is, to say the least, not good news when that happens. Certainly not for the victim and certainly not for Israel, because it is another reason for its enemies to attack the country and its leaders.
I was going to write about this. But, knowing how much anti-Israel “news” turns out to be absolute BS, I decided to wait and see.
Good thing that I did.
From David Strom’s article at hotair.com (among many other sources):
Last night, the Israeli Defense Forces eliminated a Hamas terror cell leader who led a rocket battalion.
There is no doubt that he was a member of Hamas. He is on their rolls, posted photos of himself laughing it up with Hamas leadership, and celebrated October 7th on social media.
In a sane world, journalists would be outraged that terrorists (or members of any military) would claim a status as a “journalist” in order to make themselves immune from attack. After all, that places all journalists at risk. Just as it is a war crime to pose as a doctor and use ambulances as mobile fighting bases, station soldiers at hospitals, schools, and among civilians, or to use civilians as human shields, journalists should value their neutral status as a partial shield. The “Press” label is not a magic shield–covering a war is dangerous–but it is supposed to mark the wearer as a noncombatant.
So if combatants hide as journalists, they make “Press” fair game. They should applaud the elimination of fakers.
Anas Al-Sharif wasn’t a secret Hamas operative. He was pretty open about it, actually. There is paperwork, and his social media is filled with pro-Hamas propaganda. It’s just that Pravda is on Hamas’ side, so they don’t see a problem with his dual role as a propagandist.
Sure, they don’t want YOU to know that they know–they understand that the facts undermine their own credibility, to the extent they have any left–but just as the New York Times uses a Hitler-admiring reporter to cover Gaza, the AP is happy to share offices with Hamas, and UNRWA employees moonlight as hostage takers, everybody is in on the scam.
And if what you just read is not convincing enough, how about Eliana Fleming’s article for jfeed.com? Here is its headline and sub-head:
Former Hostage Shlomi Ziv Speaks Out: “I Was Held Captive by a Hamas Member Posing as a Journalist”
A former Israeli hostage criticized Al Jazeera for defending a Hamas operative posing as a journalist, revealing his captor’s similar deception. The IDF exposed the operative’s role in coordinating attacks, raising concerns about media outlets employing terror supporters.
So now we have the true story. anas al-sharif was no “journalist”, he was a hamas operative. And a hamas propagandist whose lies have been happily accepted and published by countless media venues.
Thus we see again – and again and again and again – that we cannot believe that lies that are so prolifically being spewed against Israel…
…and that this is what Israel has to deal with. Every day of every week of every month of every year.
