Staff Reports
Surprise, surprise, it has come to light that freelance writers in Gaza worked with Hamas during the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. This news has led to criticism of the mass media's ties to terrorism, and its effects are being felt all over the world.
When the watchdog group Honest Reporting wrote an article called "Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions," it revealed that Hassan Eslaiah, Yousef Masoud, Ali Mahmud, and Hatem Ali, who work as independent photojournalists in Gaza, have ties with Hamas. Because of these ties, they lost some news sites because they made them feel uncomfortable with their morals.
Unearthed footage and images of freelance journalists in Gaza embedded with Hamas as it attacked Israel on Oct. 7 are renewing criticism of the legacy media's terror ties and sending shockwaves throughout the world.https://t.co/9TEMjEvhDO
— Conservative News Daily (@ConservNewsDly) November 9, 2023
When the truth came out, The Associated Press (AP) and CNN cut ties with Hassan Eslaiah, who was working for them as a contractor. Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for the AP, said that they were committed to making sure that freelance photos were real, but they said they had no idea about the attacks on October 7. CNN cut all ties with Eslaiah as well, showing that the media business is becoming more worried about ties to terrorist groups.
As these things happened, the number of deaths in the Israel-Gaza war kept going up, and antisemitism rose sharply in the US and other places. Over 1,400 people were killed in the attacks on Israel on October 7. They were one of the greatest attacks on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
It's not the first time that the media has been questioned about possible ties to terrorism. In 2021, it was found that the Associated Press and Al-Jazeera's offices in a tower in Gaza were being used by Hamas. This led the Israeli Defense Forces to destroy the tower. In another case, Idris Mukhtar Ibrahim, a former CNN reporter, said he supported Hamas and Hitler, which led CNN to cut ties with him.
Hassan Eslaiah's since-deleted Facebook video post of him riding a motorcycle in Gaza with someone holding a bomb went viral, which made things much worse. These disturbing pictures and videos have made people really wonder about the honesty and morality of these reporters' work.
The New York Times said in a statement that the watchdog group's claims about freelance writer Yousef Masoud were not true and that there was no evidence to back up their claims. Reuters also said they didn't know about the attack ahead of time and put space between themselves and the journalists who were accused.
The reactions to these findings have been anger and calls for responsibility. Former Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that media who knew about the killings but did nothing about it were like terrorists and wanted them to be treated as such. Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, also spoke out against the photographers who did nothing but film and take part in the crimes, saying that they would be held responsible along with the terrorists.
The situation is still developing, but one thing is certain: the fact that journalists are working with terrorist groups has caused a huge stir of debate and raised serious questions about the honesty and responsibility of journalists.
