FILE PHOTO: Activist Greta Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid, in this picture released on June 2, 2025 on social media. Photo: Freedom Flotilla Coalition/via REUTERS/File Photo

On June 1, Swedish climate change activist turned anti-Israel agitator Greta Thunberg and 11 fellow travelers attempted to sail their way to the Gaza Strip. Packed with less than a single truck’s worth of aid, this tiny boat should not have garnered the international media’s attention. But over the course of the crew’s nine-day vacation, Greta and her friends made headlines everywhere.

 

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The media were happy to give a platform to this performance. The Irish Times was quick to increase the scale of the vessel, referring to it as a “charity boat” — as if a handful of activists with a token supply of aid were spearheading a major humanitarian operation.

Most notably, CNN gave Greta and German activist Yasemin Acar airtime, effectively legitimizing the stunt with a mainstream spotlight. Not once in the two-minute interview are the two activists questioned about the practicality of their stunt or how they would distribute the meager amount of aid they brought with them.

Most glaringly, the two were not questioned about how exactly they would navigate Gaza, an active war zone in which the Israeli army is fighting a terrorist organization that has embedded itself within the civilian infrastructure.

The activists’ lack of coordination with recognized humanitarian organizations underscores how little faith they had in actually reaching Gaza to safely distribute aid, further proving the flotilla was never about aid, but about publicity.

As the yacht began to sail its way closer to Israel, the IDF successfully and safely intervened, taking control of the ship in order to bring the crew to Israel.

As the takeover was occurring, Greta posted a pre-recorded video, claiming the crew was being “kidnapped” by the IDF. Of course, Greta and her activist friends did not once think about the lack of aid or the dire situation of the 55 Israeli hostages who are still being held in Gaza. Unsurprisingly, Sky News quickly gave yet another platform to Greta’s performative skit.

Newsweek‘s headline gave her claim even more legitimacy.

The Israelis who are held hostage do not have the luxury of sandwiches, water, and a flight home.

Greta Thunberg has not been kidnapped. We most definitely know that, @Newsweek. pic.twitter.com/HvD3rj1jQB

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 9, 2025

As the IDF took control of the ship, sharing online that the crew members were all safe and accounted for, outlets moved on from amplifying the activist-led voyage to casting doubt on Israel’s documented actions.

Despite the Israeli Foreign Ministry publishing a video of the activists being provided food and water, The Washington Post claimed the footage merely “appeared to” show what was described.

Meanwhile, unverified claims from Greta Thunberg’s ship were reported without hesitation or scrutiny. The contrast is striking: when it comes to Israel, even video evidence is treated with skepticism, while activist narratives are accepted at face value.

The Israelis who are held hostage do not have the luxury of sandwiches, water, and a flight home.

Greta Thunberg has not been kidnapped. We most definitely know that, @Newsweek. pic.twitter.com/HvD3rj1jQB

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 9, 2025

The BBC never misses an opportunity to demonstrate its skewed attitude towards Israel. In reporting that the IDF would show the activists footage from October 7th, the corporation placed the word “massacre” in scare quotes, casting doubt on the very nature of one of the most well-documented atrocities in recent history.

Sickening: Scare quotes around the October 7 massacre.

Just when you thought @BBCNews couldn’t sink any lower. pic.twitter.com/PCuUltvgYr

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 9, 2025

While the BBC subsequently updated its post after being publicly humiliated, with a full quote from Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz, the fact that it initially focused on that one word from Katz speaks volumes.

For nine days, the media propped up the Madleen crew members as heroic activists who could save Gaza. All the while, truckloads of humanitarian aid were entering Gaza daily in full coordination with the IDF and legitimate humanitarian organizations.

The coordinated media effort to amplify a voyage with no logistical plan and no credible partners did nothing to help Gazan civilians. Instead, it served only the interests of a few narcissistic activists chasing headlines and a curated Instagram story.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post All Aboard the ‘Selfie Yacht’: How the Media Fueled a PR Stunt Masquerading as Activism first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The charred remains of the Israeli bus hijacked by Palestinian terrorists in 1978 Coastal Road massacre, which was masterminded by female terrorist Dalal Mughrabi. Photo: MathKnight via Wikimedia Commons.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has turned arch-terrorist Abu Jihad (Khalil Al-Wazir) into one of the greatest role models for Palestinian society. He headed the PLO terror organization’s military wing and planned many deadly Fatah terror attacks from the 1960s to the 1980s, in which 125 Israelis were murdered.

These “achievements” are a source of eternal pride for Palestinians, and the PA and all PA institutions commemorate and glorify Abu Jihad on the anniversary of his death.

Affectionately hailing Abu Jihad as “the Prince of Martyrs,” the PA praised him in its official daily earlier this year, highlighting the numerous terror attacks he planned. The paper even stated how many Israelis were murdered in some of Abu Jihad’s “military operations,” among them the Coastal Road massacre that, prior to Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, was the most lethal in Israel’s history with 37 murdered Israelis, among them 12 children:

The article in the official PA daily included a picture of terrorist Khalil Al-Wazir “Abu Jihad.”

Abu Jihad, the deputy general commander of the revolution forces and engineer of the first Intifada …

Among the military operations [i.e., terror attacks] that Abu Jihad planned: the Zohar reservoir bombing in 1955; the operation to blow up the Israeli National Water Carrier pipelines (Eilabun tunnel) in 1965; the Savoy Hotel operation in Tel Aviv and the killing of 10 Israelis in 1975; the operation to blow up a truck bomb in Jerusalem (15 murdered – ed.) in 1975; the operation to kill Albert Levy, the senior sapper and his assistant, in Nablus in 1976; the Dalal Mughrabi operation, in which more than 37 Israelis were killed, in 1978; the operation to shell the Eilat Port in 1979; and the Katyusha fire on the northern settlements )in 1981.

In addition, he also planned the infiltration of the headquarters of the Israeli military governor in Tyre and its bombing, leading to the deaths of 76 officers and soldiers, including 12 senior officers, in 1982; he led the war of attrition during the years 1982-1984 in southern Lebanon; and he planned the Dimona Reactor operation [i.e., Mothers’ Bus attack, 3 murdered] in 1988, which was the principal reason for his assassination. [emphasis added]

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 16, 2025]

Palestinian Media Watch documented last year that the PA named a new hall in Ramallah after Abu Jihad.

The Palestinian National Council (the legislative body of the PLO) elevated Abu Jihad to the status of “a symbol and paradigm of the Palestinian revolution,” owing to the many murderous terror attacks he planned against Israelis that it praised as “quality operations”:

Posted text: ” On this date in 1988, the malicious hands of the occupation’s [i.e., Israel’s] arms and its security forces succeeded in killing a symbol and paradigm of the Palestinian revolution, unique leader Khalil Al-Wazir ‘Abu Jihad,’ … He was one of the first founders of the Fatah Movement and a member of its [Fatah] Central Committee, the mastermind behind the quality operations [i.e., terror attacks] in the history of the revolution, a sharp politician and military man who combined wisdom in leadership and determination in confrontation.” [emphasis added]

[Palestinian National Council Chairman Rawhi Fattouh, Facebook page, April 16, 2025]

PA educational institutions also mark the day of Abu Jihad’s death.

Fatah’s Shabiba High School Movement arranged a “cultural competition” called “Remaining Loyal to the Path” at schools in Nablus. The top of the competition registration form features a picture of terrorist Abu Jihad and a picture of former PLO and PA Chairman Yasser Arafat, making it clear that students are being encouraged to remain loyal to their path of terror:

Former Israeli Arab Member of Parliament and Head of the High Follow-Up Committee for the Arab Citizens of Israel Muhammad Barakeh credited Abu Jihad — together with Arafat — with initiating and “managing” the first Intifada, which resulted in “unprecedented achievements”:

Muhammad Barakeh: “The [first] Intifada – which was initiated by Abu Jihad and his comrades, foremost among them [former PLO Chairman and PA President] Yasser Arafat – made unprecedented achievements for the Palestinian people and was managed under the supervision of Abu Jihad from abroad.”

[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, April 17, 2025]

Another great “hero” of Palestinian society is imprisoned terrorist and member of the PA parliament and Fatah Central Committee, Marwan Barghouti, who orchestrated three shooting attacks in which five people were murdered.

While Barghouti is serving five life sentences, he is also the PA’s “national symbol and model of inspiration for the masses,” according to Abbas’ deputy in Fatah, Mahmoud Al-Aloul. In fact, he is so popular that Barghouti often comes out at the top of polls when Palestinians are asked who they would elect for PA chairman.

On the anniversary of Barghouti’s arrest, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah Party praised him as “the engineer of the Al-Aqsa Intifada” — the PA’s five-year terror campaign during which more than 1,100 Israelis were murdered:

Posted text: “The 23rd anniversary of the arrest of the engineer of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and Fatah Movement Central Committee member commander prisoner Marwan Barghouti” [emphasis added]

[Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Facebook page, April 15, 2025]

Fatah also praised terrorist Barghouti as “a shining example on the path of the Palestinian struggle and an awe-inspiring symbol for our people.” Abbas’ party then stressed that it endorses Barghouti’s path of murder and terror, stating that it is “committed to the principles outlined by its leaders, founders, and fighters.”

The author is a senior analyst at Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article was originally published.

The post Palestinian Authority: Mass Murderers Are ‘Awe-Inspiring Symbols for Our People’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

The New York Times building in New York City. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

The child in Hans Christian Andersen’s folktale The Emperor’s New Clothes says the truth when he sees it — that the vain ruler being paraded through town in his “new clothes” is actually naked.

But when The New York Times’ Patrick Kingsley saw the naked truth as the Israeli army led him into a Hamas tunnel underneath a Gaza hospital, he went out of his way to twist the facts and avoid embarrassing the terror group.

Instead of questioning the legality of Hamas head Mohammed Sinwar hiding under the European Hospital in Gaza, Kingsley’s article includes biased premises and unprofessional use of quotes that delegitimize Israel’s targeting of the top terrorist.

And it’s all the more alarming because Kingsley is the Times’ Jerusalem bureau chief, responsible for leading the coverage of Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank for the once-respected newspaper.

Biased Premises

Kingsley’s bias is exposed in two main issues: one is obvious and the other covert.

The first one is displayed in the sub-header. It casts immediate doubt on the simple fact — which Kingsley saw with his own eyes — that Hamas violates international law by using Palestinians as human shields:

Unbelievable. A @nytimes journalist is taken into a tunnel underneath a hospital, and this is his morally subverted takeaway?

Instead of questioning the legality of Hamas head Sinwar hiding there, @PatrickKingsley goes out of his way to delegitimize Israel’s targeting of him. pic.twitter.com/1pYqgbFoXG

— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) June 9, 2025

The bias is also on display in the fourth paragraph, which follows three opening paragraphs that accurately describe the facts. In it, Kingsley likens the terror tunnel he saw to a Rorschach test, a psychological assessment in which people give different interpretations to a series of inkblots:

What we saw in that dark and narrow tunnel is one of the war’s biggest Rorschach tests, the embodiment of a broader narrative battle between Israelis and Palestinians over how the conflict should be portrayed.

A journalist who thinks that a terror tunnel underneath a hospital has more than one interpretation is performing reality-denying mental gymnastics.

Kingsley, it seems, may have a severe case of anti-Israeli tunnel vision. Because instead of seeing the truth about Hamas, he looked at a Rorschach’s inkblot and saw Israel as the terrorists.

But his most damning bias is covert. Throughout the entire article, which seems to care about the loss of Palestinian lives, Kingsley doesn’t wonder even once why the tunnels aren’t used to shelter civilians. He takes for granted that only terrorists can use them.

This reveals that Kingsley does not expect Hamas to show any mercy for their own people, which is exactly what he demands from Israel.

Unprofessional Use of Quotes

What makes all of this possible is Kingsley’s unprofessional use of quotes.

In four instances, Kingsley uses the vague term “Palestinians” to cement his claim — or opinion — that to them, Israel’s actions show disregard for civilian life.

But only one Palestinian is quoted saying that, in paragraph 14 — Dr. Salah al-Hams, the official spokesman of the hospital under which Sinwar was hiding.

Any journalist worth his salt should know that spokespeople of official institutions in Gaza are most likely Hamas-approved, and anyway won’t say anything against the terror group because of fears of reprisal.

But this should come as no surprise; HonestReporting has already exposed how The New York Times relies on Gaza photojournalists who were awarded as “work partners” by Hamas.

Kingsley also quotes the chief Israeli military spokesman, Brigadier General Effie Defrin. But he twists his words like he twists the facts: Defrin is quoted as saying he could not provide a definitive answer as to Sinwar’s death, and speculates it may have been the result of suffocation or a shockwave unleashed by the explosions.

Despite Defrin’s complete denial, Kingsley takes this to mean that the top terrorist may have been “intentionally poisoned by gases released by such explosions.” He dedicates three paragraphs to this blood libel, which borders on comparison of Israel’s actions to those of the Nazis.

He does the same with the accusation, also denied by the IDF spokesperson, that the army has been using Palestinians as human shields.

Ironically, Kingsley did not ask Hamas for comment. He only pressed the IDF for answers, even though it’s Hamas that was exposed in its nakedness.

The reason for this ethical and journalistic failure is that, unlike the child in Andersen’s folktale, Kingsley and The New York Times are foolish or willfully blind.

Either way, they are morally and professionally bankrupt.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The New York Times’ Anti-Israeli Tunnel Vision first appeared on Algemeiner.com.