RSS
Bloomberg News Calls Imprisoned Hamas Terrorists ‘Political Prisoners’
Hamas terrorists kidnapping Israeli women at the Nahal Oz base near the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: Screenshot
In her Aug. 26 Bloomberg Brief broadcast, Joumanna Bercetche erroneously reported about Palestinian prisoners to be released in a possible Israel-Hamas ceasefire.
She stated (18:50):
The goal here, which the US Administration and international community has been pressing for, is a cessation of hostilities but also the exchange of hostages and Palestinian political prisoners. [Emphasis added.]
Palestinian prisoners who would be released under the ceasefire proposal are in no way “political prisoners.”
Political prisoners are those held for their beliefs or political activity like participation in legal, non-violent demonstrations.
In the ceasefire negotiations, Hamas is holding hard and fast for its demands for the release of its terrorists and operatives — i.e., members of a designated terror organization. Hamas operatives are not “political prisoners.”
Palestinian journalist Abd Al-Bari Fayyad has made clear that Hamas is demanding the release of its members. He wrote:
… It seems that Hamas’ rigid position is closing the window on the negotiations for the release of the Israeli hostages, because it adheres to [its demand] to release all its operatives from Israel’s prisons in exchange [for the hostages]. [emphasis added]
Western nations do not regard incarcerated terrorists as political prisoners, as the European Council definition makes clear.
Palestinians who carry out terror attacks against Israeli citizens are not protesting their own (Palestinian) government with non-violent activity.
Hamas’ Ali Baraka has said that Hamas also seeks the release of Hamas prisoners held in the United States and Europe. Does Bloomberg believe that Hamas terrorists held in jail in the US and Europe are also “political prisoners”?
As Bloomberg itself has previously reported, among the prisoners released in earlier deals include Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre, and Ahmed Yassin.
Hamas also demands the release of Marwan Barghouti, a former head of the Tanzim terror organization, who was convicted for the murder of five Israelis and the wounding of many more. Barghouti, like is colleagues in the rival terror organization of Hamas, is also no political prisoner.
Media outlets that have previously corrected erroneous references to imprisoned Palestinian terrorists as “political prisoners” include The Guardian, Independent, Christian Science Monitor, and Deadline Hollywood.
In response to communication from CAMERA, editors added the following problematic clarification to its webpage carrying the broadcast:
(In referring to an outcome of talks, our correspondent referred to the release of Palestinian political prisoners. Prisoners being held may not necessarily be for political reasons and may be operatives in the conflict.)
The post Bloomberg News Calls Imprisoned Hamas Terrorists ‘Political Prisoners’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei speaks during a meeting with government officials in Tehran, Iran, April 15, 2025. Office of the Iranian Supreme Leader/WANA (West Asia News Agency)/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Donald Trump on Saturday of lying when the US president said during his Gulf tour this week that he wanted peace in the region.
On the contrary, said Khamenei, the United States uses its power to give “10-ton bombs to the Zionist (Israeli) regime to drop on the heads of Gaza’s children.”
Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One after departing the United Arab Emirates on Friday that Iran had to move quickly on a US proposal for its nuclear program or “something bad’s going to happen.”
His remarks, said Khamenei, “aren’t even worth responding to.” They are an “embarrassment to the speaker and the American people,” Khamenei added.
“Undoubtedly, the source of corruption, war, and conflict in this region is the Zionist regime — a dangerous, deadly cancerous tumor that must be uprooted; it will be uprooted,” he said at an event at a religious center in Tehran, according to state media.
Earlier on Saturday, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Trump speaks about peace while simultaneously making threats.
“Which should we believe?” Pezeshkian said at a naval event in Tehran. “On the one hand, he speaks of peace and on the other, he threatens with the most advanced tools of mass killing.”
Tehran would continue Iran-US nuclear talks but is not afraid of threats. “We are not seeking war,” Pezeshkian said.
While Trump said on Friday that Iran had a US proposal about its nuclear program, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi in a post on X said Tehran had not received any such proposal. “There is no scenario in which Iran abandons its hard-earned right to (uranium) enrichment for peaceful purposes…” he said.
Araqchi warned on Saturday that Washington’s constant change of stance prolongs nuclear talks, state TV reported.
“It is absolutely unacceptable that America repeatedly defines a new framework for negotiations that prolongs the process,” the broadcast quoted Araqchi as saying.
Pezeshkian said Iran would not “back down from our legitimate rights”.
“Because we refuse to bow to bullying, they say we are source of instability in the region,” he said.
A fourth round of Iran-U.S. talks ended in Oman last Sunday. A new round has not been scheduled yet.
The post Iran’s Supreme Leader Says Trump Is Lying When He Speaks of Peace first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday
Doha, Qatar. Photo: StellarD via Wikimedia Commons.
A new round of Gaza ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel is underway in Qatar’s Doha, Hamas official Taher al-Nono told Reuters on Saturday.
He said the two sides were discussing all issues without “pre-conditions.”
Nono said Hamas was “keen to exert all the effort needed” to help mediators make the negotiations a success, adding there was “no certain offer on the table.”
The negotiations come despite Israel preparing to expand operations in the Gaza Strip as they seek “operational control” in some areas of the war-torn enclave.
The return to negotiations also comes after US President Donald Trump ended a Middle East tour on Friday with no apparent progress towards a new ceasefire, although he acknowledged Gaza’s growing hunger crisis and the need for aid deliveries.
The post Hamas Confirms New Gaza Ceasefire Talks with Israel in Qatar on Saturday first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe
International Criminal Court Prosecutor Karim Khan speaks during an interview with Reuters in The Hague, Netherlands, Feb. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Karim Khan has stepped down temporarily as an investigation into his alleged sexual misconduct by United Nations investigators is nearing its final phase, Reuters reported on Friday citing sources from the international court.
Khan allegedly forced sexual intercourse upon a member of staff on multiple occasions, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, linking the allegations to Khan’s decision to issue arrest warrants for Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-defense minister Yoav Gallant.
A statement is expected later today announcing that Khan is going on administrative leave, according to a source in the prosecutor’s office.
The post Report: ICC’s Khan Goes on Administrative Leave Amid Sexual Misconduct Probe first appeared on Algemeiner.com.