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Mariam Elsayeh: Influential British Journalism Union Activist & Peddler of Anti-Israel Extremism Online

The body of a motorist lies on a road following a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel October 7, 2023. REUTERS/Ammar Awad
One of the main British organizations spearheading campaigns against Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), one of the top trade unions representing media workers in the United Kingdom.
From demonstrations and memorial services, to petitions and media appearances, the NUJ has been incredibly vocal about its opposition to Israel’s conduct in the Gaza Strip.
One of the individuals at the forefront of the NUJ’s anti-Israel campaign is Mariam Elsayeh, a freelance journalist for Al Jazeera, who has also contributed to BBC Arabic and the New Arab. Elsayeh also serves as a training officer for the freelance branch of the NUJ, and sits on the NUJ’s Ethics Council.
As a member of the Ethics Council, Elsayeh is tasked with working to “improve standards of journalism,” “to educate the public about the role of journalists,” and to educate journalists and students “about better practice.”
However, Elsayeh’s social media activity calls into question her ability to serve as an authority on professional journalistic standards. Instead of exemplifying journalistic integrity, Elsayeh’s social media is full of misinformation, the whitewashing of terrorism, and the platforming of extremist voices.
Fake News: Mariam Elsayeh’s Misinformation
Since the October 7 Hamas massacre and subsequent war between Israel and the terror group, Mariam Elsayeh’s social media has been interspersed with misinformation about the Jewish State and its fight against Palestinian terror groups.
For example, at the beginning of the war, an explosion rocked Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. Hamas officials initially claimed that an Israeli strike on the hospital had killed 500 people. It was later determined that the explosion had been caused by an errant Islamic Jihad rocket, that it had occurred in the courtyard of the hospital, and that the number of casualties was lower than first reported.
Although many mainstream media organizations initially echoed Hamas’ unsubstantiated claims as fact, Elsayeh took it one step further, ludicrously tweeting that 1,000 people had been killed at the hospital, essentially doubling Hamas’ fake casualty count.
#Gaza 1000 killed by #Israel at Alahly church hospital in Gaza pic.twitter.com/VzIxN7KLzV
— Mariam Elsayeh (@mariam_elsayeh) October 17, 2023
In another instance in October 2023, Elsayeh tweeted about an Israeli counter-terror operation in the West Bank, claiming that there was, “No Hamas in west bank [sic],” implying that Israel was going after normal Palestinians and not terrorists.
Any observer of the region (which Elsayeh appears to be) would know that this claim is completely false and that Hamas is one of several terror organizations embedded within Palestinian areas of the West Bank.
Along with her misinformation, Elsayeh has also used her social media presence to mischaracterize Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
As far back as November 2023, Elsayeh referred in a post on X (formerly Twitter) to Israel’s conduct in Gaza as a “genocide,” a legal term that Israel’s counter-terror operation in the enclave does not qualify for.
Even more heinously, Elsayeh later referred to it as the “Gaza Holocaust” (which she even misspelled). Not only is this an example of ahistoric Holocaust inversion, but it is a breach of the widely accepted IHRA working definition of antisemitism.
My latest for the #journalist is Covering War Zones, from experienced Journalists Reporting #Gaza to War Zone Reporters. #GazaWar #GazaHoloucast pic.twitter.com/Qs2rQTPcIA
— Mariam Elsayeh (@mariam_elsayeh) December 14, 2023
See No Evil: Mariam Elsayeh’s Whitewashing of Terrorism
One of the most insidious aspects of Elsayeh’s social media presence is her whitewashing of terrorists, presenting them in a positive light or downplaying their terrorist activities.
For example, early in the war, Hamas released two elderly female Israeli hostages near the end of October 2023. In the video of her release, Yocheved Lifschitz shook hands with the Hamas terrorist who released her to the Red Cross.
Elsayeh tweeted twice about this handshake (here and here), in an attempt to create the impression that Hamas terrorists were on good terms with their hostages.
In the second tweet, Elsayeh shared a clip from an interview with Lifschitz where she said that she was “treated kindly” and provided for. Elsayeh misquoted Lifschitz (who she referred to as a “prisoner”) as saying that she was “treated with respect” but also conveniently omitted the negative comments that Lifschitz made about her abduction, referring to it as “hell” and suffering elements of physical abuse.
In another instance, Elsayeh valorized Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera journalist who is accused of being a member of Hamas’ elite Nukhba force.
A journalist asks the recently released Israeli prisoner, “Why did you shake hands with the Hamas officer?”
She responded decisively: They treated us well and with respect during the captivity #Gaza_Genocide #Gaza #Gazabombing #GazaWar #israel pic.twitter.com/EX4nZSrXNK— Mariam Elsayeh (@mariam_elsayeh) October 24, 2023
During the first ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in November 2023, Elsayeh profiled three female Palestinian prisoners who were released as part of the deal, referring to two as “holy prisoners” and portraying them as innocent victims of Israeli tyranny.
However, all three were convicted and served prison time on terror charges. Shorouk Dawyat, Aisha Afghani, and Fadwa Hamada had all committed stabbing attacks against Israelis.
In a particularly grotesque example, Elsayeh’s Instagram post about Dawyat shared an invented story where she was on her way home when a “settler pig” tried to remove her veil and shot her. In reality, Dawyat approached two Jewish men in the Old City of Jerusalem, stabbed one, and attempted to stab the other before she was shot.
For Elsayeh to acclaim a terrorist as a “holy prisoner” — and to also spread a fantastical story that absolves the terrorist of all crimes — is not only heinous, but also the height of journalistic malpractice.
Jackson Hinkle & Neturei Karta: Mariam Elsayeh’s Platforming of Extremists
Along with her misinformation and whitewashing of terrorism, Mariam Elsayeh has also platformed extremist voices on social media.
For example, Elsayeh has retweeted a couple of posts by Jackson Hinkle, an influencer who peddles in antisemitism, disinformation, and propaganda that supports authoritarians like Russia’s Vladimir Putin and Syria’s now-deposed leader Bashar al-Assad.
Elsayeh has also retweeted Mohammed El-Kurd, a poet-activist who has shared antisemitic material and admitted to spreading libels about Israel, and Anastasia Maria Loupis, a conspiracy theorist known for spreading antisemitic messaging online.
Elsayeh also enjoys platforming the most extreme anti-Zionist voices within the Jewish community, including Neturei Karta and Jews for Palestine, in her writings and on social media.
By doing so, Elsayeh seeks to create the false impression that there is a strong anti-Israel voice within the Jewish community, when this is just wishful thinking detached from reality on her part.
My latest for Aljazeera, Jewish for Palestine interview reveals a lot about the actual anti-semitesm and how anti-semitesm started in the west by not accepting the Jews to live in their countries and encouraging them to immigrate and more in this link
— Mariam Elsayeh (@mariam_elsayeh) March 12, 2023
How can Mariam Elsayeh fulfill her role on the Ethics Council of the National Union of Journalists when her social media presence exemplifies the antithesis of what that position is supposed to stand for?
Instead of upholding journalistic standards and serving as an authority on best journalistic practices, Elsayeh has stooped to the morally repugnant position of peddler of misinformation, promoter of extremism, and whitewasher of terrorism.
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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.