RSS
CNN Platforms Biased Journalists in Coverage of Iran, Gaza
CNN recently published articles by two journalists who are better described as anti-Israel mouthpieces.
Tamara Qiblawi, a Senior Investigations Writer, and Khader Al Za’anoun, a Gaza-based journalist, are both platformed despite CNN being aware of the former’s anti-Israel social media posts and the latter’s position as a staffer for Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency.
Qiblawi’s anti-Israel comments on social media were previously exposed by HonestReporting last year, when she was Senior Digital Middle East Producer at CNN.
Some of her now-removed posts labeled Israel as an “ethno-religious exclusive state” and supported a “resistance axis,” the term used to refer to Iranian-backed terrorist organizations that seek Israel’s destruction.
Yet none of this seemed to bother CNN last week, as Qiblawi published a genius-in-hindsight analysis describing Iran’s unprecedented attack on the Jewish state as a mere “fireworks display.”
No, @CNN, Iran’s attack was intended to maximize Israeli deaths, not “to minimize casualties,” as claimed by Tamara Qiblawi, who has gotten in trouble for sharing offensive, anti-Israel and pro-terror comments on social media:https://t.co/Coz37lk9FUhttps://t.co/YeA73SFTXW
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) April 14, 2024
What would have Qiblawi written had the more than 300 Iranian aerial weapons fired at Israel caused more damage? No one, not even military experts, could have predicted the scale of the attack nor the success of the defense.
But Qiblawi, who is not an intelligence expert and does not even try to quote one in her tilted report, made claims like:
Tehran’s operation was highly choreographed, apparently designed to minimize casualties while maximizing spectacle.
Yet it was an operation that seemed designed to fail — when Iran launched its killer drones from its own territory some 1,000 miles away, it was giving Israel hours of advance notice.
The lead time meant that Israel and its regional partners could ready Israel’s defenses, and the operation amounted to little more than a terrifying fireworks display.
Qiblawi’s need to make the world’s most antisemitic regime look like it cares about Jewish lives can only be explained by her underlying anti-Israel bias.
And CNN owes its audience an explanation as to why she is still allowed to cover the region.
No Hidden Agenda
But the network’s standards seem to have deteriorated to the point where it doesn’t even hide its journalists’ agendas.
On April 1, the network proudly described one of its Gaza reporters, Khader Al Za’anoun, as a staffer with the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.
CNN didn’t tell its audience that the Palestinian agency’s stated mission is: “Telling the Palestinian narrative with speed, accuracy and efficiency.”
Unfortunately, while Wafa may be fast and efficient, accuracy is not its strong point, with a reputation for embellishing stories to paint the worst possible picture of Israel.
Al Za’anoun was indeed quick and efficient in providing CNN with false details blaming Israel for the killing of dozens of Gazans waiting for aid last February amid the Israel-Hamas war.
In fact, he was so efficient that he even quoted himself in the story carrying his byline.
And CNN didn’t have any qualms referring to him in its coverage of the story as both eyewitness and contributor, who just happens to also be “a journalist with Wafa:”
Didn’t CNN editors think something might be fishy with Al Zanoun’s journalistic ethics?
And didn’t someone at the network think it was a bad idea to let Qiblawi write about the Jewish state’s arch-foe after she shared offensive, anti-Israel comments on social media?
CNN must not let its supposedly respectable platform be so shamelessly exploited.
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post CNN Platforms Biased Journalists in Coverage of Iran, Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
RSS
Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
RSS
Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.