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Media Ignore and Distort Account of Hostage Mia Schem
The mother of Mia Schem holds up a picture of her daughter who was kidnapped into the Gaza Strip, following a deadly infiltration by Hamas gunmen from Gaza, in Tel Aviv, Israel, October 17, 2023. Hamas has released a video of Schem. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
In mid-October, when many Israeli families didn’t yet know whether their loved ones had been slaughtered or kidnapped by Hamas, media outlets rushed to cover the first Gaza hostage video distributed by the terrorist group.
That hostage was Mia Schem.
But when Schem shared her own account of her captivity in local television interviews after being freed, these media outlets ignored or inaccurately reported it.
The result was the omission and distortion of the testimony of a woman who experienced Hamas’ atrocities firsthand, and has been featured through the lens of terrorist propaganda.
Giving Platform to Hamas
Newsweek was one of the media outlets that dedicated lengthy coverage to Schem’s plight when her hostage video was released on October 16:
The magazine, like most media outlets, was responsible enough to describe the video rather than show it in full.
But nowhere did Newsweek say that the video may have been taken under duress.
Instead, the magazine parroted Hamas propaganda by mentioning twice in one paragraph that in the video, Schem was being treated for her injury. It also included a direct quote of her plea to return home:
In the 60-second long clip, the woman can be seen being treated for a wound above her right elbow by a person off camera, who’s wrapping her arm in bandages. In the next part of the video, Schem addresses the camera directly, speaking in Hebrew. She says that she’s in the Gaza Strip, where she has been treated for her injury, and that she wants to go home.
“I just ask that I am returned as fast as possible to my family, to my parents, and to my siblings,” she said. “Please get us out of here as quickly as possible.”
Despite mentioning the Israeli army’s criticism of the video, Newsweek failed to take an independent stand that questioned its validity, leaving its audience with what Hamas wanted them to hear.
The Guardian’s report wasn’t better.
Although it included criticism of the video by various officials and added a weak caveat suggesting it was “unclear” whether it had been taken under duress, the outlet gave a wide platform to Schem’s words about receiving medication and being “well treated”:
In the video, the first released by Hamas of a hostage allegedly speaking from captivity, Schem said she was being held in Gaza, was being well treated and appealed for her release.
But all the questions that may have initially arisen about Schem were answered last weekend, when she shared her own account of events on local Israeli media.
In her interviews aired on December 29 on Israeli channels 12 and 13, Schem emphasized that she had been forced to make the video, and that the medical “treatment” in it was a mere show.
She said she didn’t receive any painkillers for her arm injury, and that she had to change bandages by herself throughout her time in captivity.
Yet both Newsweek and The Guardian, which echoed her Hamas-controlled narrative, chose to ignore her story as a free person. Since the outlets didn’t think this merited an update to their original pieces, whoever reads those stories will still gets the false impression that Hamas treats its hostages humanely.
Other media outlets that covered Schem’s hostage video made the right decision to report on her interviews with Israeli channels.
But some outlets, while detailing her harrowing account, either distorted what she had said about her fear of being raped, or omitted it altogether.
AP reported that Schem said she was afraid that her captor “might try to harm her,” when she actually used the word “rape:”
.@AP reports that Israeli hostage Mia Schem was afraid that her captor “might try to harm her.”
Her actual words described her fear of being raped. Not “harmed.”
How, AP, is diminishing the threat of a Palestinian sexual crime acceptable reporting?https://t.co/VAcdCoHGSQ pic.twitter.com/VvQ4XbbZwV
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) December 31, 2023
The New York Times did not mention her saying it at all, but it should have highlighted it, especially after the publication of the newspaper’s investigative piece regarding Hamas’ sexual violence during its October 7 massacre in southern Israel.
In her interviews, Schem made several points that deserved to be mentioned — from her injury, to her starvation and constant fear in captivity.
But in light of recent criticism over the blindness to Hamas’ sexual violence, her comments about fear of rape deserved special attention — as they indeed received from Reuters.
When media outlets choose to cover a subject — like the first publication of a sign of life from a Gaza hostage — they should be committed to following up on it. Failing to do so leaves their audience with a partial story, which in Schem’s case was Hamas’ story.
When media outlets distort or omit essential details from a personal testimony, they undermine the witness’ narrative and rob their audience of the full picture.
But the worst is that media, in all these instances, betray their commitment to the truth.
The post Media Ignore and Distort Account of Hostage Mia Schem first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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North London Synagogue, Nursery Targeted in Eighth Local Antisemitic Incident in Just Over a Week
Demonstrators against antisemitism in London on Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: Campaign Against Antisemitism
A synagogue and its nursery school in the Golders Green area of north London were targeted in an antisemitic attack on Thursday morning — the eighth such incident locally in just over a week amid a shocking surge of anti-Jewish hate crimes in the area.
The synagogue and Jewish nursery were smeared with excrement in an antisemitic outrage echoing a series of recent incidents targeting the local Jewish community.
“The desecration of another local synagogue and a children’s nursery with excrement is a vile, deliberate, and premeditated act of antisemitism,” Shomrim North West London, a Jewish organization that monitors antisemitism and also serves as a neighborhood watch group, said in a statement.
“This marks the eighth antisemitic incident locally in just over a week, to directly target the local Jewish community,” the statement read. “These repeated attacks have left our community anxious, hurt, and increasingly worried.”
Local law enforcement confirmed they are reviewing CCTV footage and collecting evidence to identify the suspect and bring them to justice.
This latest anti-Jewish hate crime came just days after tens of thousands of people marched through London in a demonstration against antisemitism, amid rising levels of antisemitic incidents across the United Kingdom since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
In just over a week, seven Jewish premises in Barnet, the borough in which Golders Green is located, have been targeted in separate antisemitic incidents.
According to the Metropolitan Police, an investigation has been launched into the targeted attacks, all of which involved the use of bodily fluids.
During the incidents, a substance was smeared on four synagogues and a private residence, while a liquid was thrown at a school and over a car in two other attacks.
As the investigation continues, local police said they believe the same suspect is likely responsible for all seven offenses, which are being treated as religiously motivated criminal damage.
No arrests have been made so far, but law enforcement said it is actively engaging with the local Jewish community to provide reassurance and support.
The Community Security Trust (CST), a nonprofit charity that advises Britain’s Jewish community on security matters, condemned the recent wave of attacks and called on authorities to take immediate action.
“The extreme defilement of several Jewish locations in and around Golders Green is utterly abhorrent and deeply distressing,” CST said in a statement.
“CST is working closely with police and communal partners to support victims and help identify and apprehend the perpetrator,” it continued.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) also denounced the attacks, calling for urgent measures to protect the Jewish community.
“These repeated incidents are leaving British Jews anxious and vulnerable in their own neighborhoods, not to mention disgusted,” CAA said in a statement.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, the United Kingdom has experienced a surge in antisemitic crimes and anti-Israel sentiment.
Last month, CST published a report showing there were 1,521 antisemitic incidents in the UK from January to June of this year. It marks the second-highest total of incidents ever recorded by CST in the first six months of any year, following the first half of 2024 in which 2,019 antisemitic incidents were recorded.
In total last year, CST recorded 3,528 antisemitic incidents for 2024, the country’s second worst year for antisemitism despite being an 18 percent drop from 2023’s record of 4,296.
In previous years, the numbers were significantly lower, with 1,662 incidents in 2022 and 2,261 hate crimes in 2021.
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Germany to Hold Off on Recognizing Palestinian State but Will Back UN Resolution for Two-State Solution
German national flag flutters on top of the Reichstag building, that seats the Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, March 25, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisi Niesner
Germany will support a United Nations resolution for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but does not believe the time has come to recognize a Palestinian state, a government spokesman told Reuters on Thursday.
“Germany will support such a resolution which simply describes the status quo in international law,” the spokesman said, adding that Berlin “has always advocated a two-state solution and is asking for that all the time.”
“The chancellor just mentioned two days ago again that Germany does not see that the time has come for the recognition of the Palestinian state,” the spokesman added.
Britain, France, Canada, Australia, and Belgium have all said they will recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly later this month, although London said it could hold back if Israel were to take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and commit to a long-term peace process.
The United States strongly opposes any move by its European allies to recognize Palestinian independence.
Last week, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US has told other countries that recognition of a Palestinian state will cause more problems.
Those who see recognition as a largely symbolic gesture point to the negligible presence on the ground and limited influence in the conflict of countries such as China, India, Russia, and many Arab states that have recognized Palestinian independence for decades.
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UN Security Council, With US Support, Condemns Strikes on Qatar
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations Security Council on Thursday condemned recent strikes on Qatar’s capital Doha, but did not mention Israel in the statement agreed to by all 15 members, including Israel‘s ally the United States.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with the attack on Tuesday, escalating its military action in what the United States described as a unilateral attack that does not advance US and Israeli interests.
The United States traditionally shields its ally Israel at the United Nations. US backing for the Security Council statement, which could only be approved by consensus, reflects President Donald Trump’s unhappiness with the attack ordered by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Council members underscored the importance of de-escalation and expressed their solidarity with Qatar. They underlined their support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar,” read the statement, drafted by Britain and France.
The Doha operation was especially sensitive because Qatar has been hosting and mediating negotiations aimed at securing a ceasefire in the Gaza war.
“Council members underscored that releasing the hostages, including those killed by Hamas, and ending the war and suffering in Gaza must remain our top priority,” the Security Council statement read.
The Security Council will meet later on Thursday to discuss the Israeli attack at a meeting due to be attended by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani.