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Media Ignore Hamas’ Praise for the UN After Gaza Ceasefire Resolution
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks at the UN headquarters in New York City, US, before a meeting about the conflict in Gaza, Nov. 6, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs
On December 12, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) demanded an immediate ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Its resolution has been widely covered in the news.
But mainstream media outlets didn’t report that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on a televised broadcast the next day, thanked the UN Secretary-General and welcomed the UN General Assembly’s move.
By omitting that fact, as well as other connections between the UN and anti-Israel forces, media outlets have misrepresented reality and framed it in a way that effectively undermines Israel’s position.
A survey of last week’s coverage by major media outlets reveals that the narrative had already been set on December 12, the day of the UN vote. It included reporting on the “overwhelming” ceasefire vote of the General Assembly, and comments from Israeli, US, and Palestinian diplomats.
These reports were not updated to include Haniyeh’s comments on December 13, in which he praised the ceasefire efforts of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and welcomed the UNGA resolution. Almost no one wrote individual stories about this. Instead, some media outlets included a short reference to Haniyeh in their ongoing war stories, claiming that any solution in Gaza without Hamas was a “delusion.”
Here is what Haniyeh said:
We also express our appreciation for the positions of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, especially his message to the Security Council concerning the situation in the Palestinian territories, regarding it as a threat to international peace and security, in implementation of Article 99 of the United Nations Charter.
Accordingly, a draft ceasefire resolution was presented, but like its predecessors, it met an American veto. We also welcome the resolution issued by the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, which stipulates a ceasefire by an overwhelming majority. We are certain that the brutal aggression will end and the resistance will remain a faithful guardian of the rights and legitimate aspirations of our people.
And here’s what some media outlets actually chose to mention:
I say that any bet concerning arrangements in Gaza or in the Palestinian issue in general without Hamas and the resistance factions are nothing but illusion and mirage. Illusion and mirage. Illusion and mirage.
Reuters, AP, and AFP Reframe Reality
For example, the world’s major wire services all ignored Haniyeh’s praise for the UN and its Secretary-General.
Reuters’ article on the ceasefire resolution, which preceded Haniyeh’s statement, has not been updated to include his later comments. It still quotes the Palestinian Authority’s UN envoy as a representative of the Palestinian side:
Palestinian Palestinian U.N. envoy Riyad Mansour, citing large pro-Palestinian protests around the world, said the U.S. could not continue “to ignore this massive power.” He described the General Assembly vote as a culmination of public sentiment.
Another relevant Reuters story did add a comment from a Hamas official, but it wasn’t updated later to include the statement of the terror group’s leader.
Only a day after Haniyeh spoke, in the middle of an ongoing news story about the war, did Reuters include one line referring to what Haniyeh had said regarding Hamas:
In a televised address, Hamas Chief Ismail Haniyeh said any future arrangement in Gaza without Hamas was a “delusion.”
Did the Reuters crew in charge of monitoring such statements choose to highlight only this part? Did an editor bother to demand a translation of the whole statement to make sure nothing was missed? Either way, important facts were left out.
What makes this omission and minimization even more disturbing is that last month Reuters published an entire piece featuring Haniyeh as an important figure:
The AP went down a similar route. Its story on the UN vote has not been updated to include Haniyeh’s comments. It still quotes only the Palestinian Authority representative as a Palestinian voice. A later, ongoing news story that was used by ABC News, includes a short reference to what Haniyeh said about a future without Hamas as an “illusion”:
Late Wednesday, Hamas’ supreme leader, Ismail Haniyeh, said any plans for Gaza that do not involve Hamas are an “illusion and mirage,” though he said the group is open to halting the fighting. Speaking to Al-Masira TV, a channel linked to Yemen’s Houthi militant group, he claimed Hamas had dealt a “resounding blow” to Israel. Haniyeh lives in exile in Qatar, but it was not clear where he was when he made those comments.
The AFP at least published a separate story on Haniyeh’s statement, but included the same quote about Hamas with no mention of the terror group leader’s warm words for the UN and its Secretary-General.
Unfortunately, none of the major news agencies (although there was a fuller report on the Chinese Xinhua) gave its consumers the full picture they deserved.
And it seems that other media outlets, whether they rely on the wire services (like hundreds of news outlets) or not, didn’t make an independent effort to report on Haniyeh’s public comments, as is clear from the lack of coverage in The New York Times, Washington Post or BBC, to name a few.
The wire services distorted the picture, and this skewed narrative was picked up by other media outlets: They erased the fact that a brutal terror group celebrated the UN ceasefire resolution.
Could it be that media outlets didn’t realize how important it was to report that the leader of a barbaric group that massacred and kidnapped innocent Jews on October 7, was happy with the United Nations? Isn’t it worth noting how embarrassing it is for the UN to be flattered by genocidal terrorists who couldn’t care less about international law? Or did it not “fit” the narrative?
At the very least, it seems that these outlets didn’t serve their audience or fulfill their mission of accurately representing reality.
The post Media Ignore Hamas’ Praise for the UN After Gaza Ceasefire Resolution first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s Sharaa Says Talks With Israel Could Yield Results ‘In Coming Days’

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa speaks at the opening ceremony of the 62nd Damascus International Fair, the first edition held since the fall of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, in Damascus, Syria, Aug. 27, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Khalil Ashawi
Syria’s President Ahmed al-Sharaa said on Wednesday that ongoing negotiations with Israel to reach a security pact could lead to results “in the coming days.”
He told reporters in Damascus the security pact was a “necessity” and that it would need to respect Syria’s airspace and territorial unity and be monitored by the United Nations.
Syria and Israel are in talks to reach an agreement that Damascus hopes will secure a halt to Israeli airstrikes and the withdrawal of Israeli troops who have pushed into southern Syria.
Reuters reported this week that Washington was pressuring Syria to reach a deal before world leaders gather next week for the UN General Assembly in New York.
But Sharaa, in a briefing with journalists including Reuters ahead of his expected trip to New York to attend the meeting, denied the US was putting any pressure on Syria and said instead that it was playing a mediating role.
He said Israel had carried out more than 1,000 strikes on Syria and conducted more than 400 ground incursions since Dec. 8, when the rebel offensive he led toppled former Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.
Sharaa said Israel’s actions were contradicting the stated American policy of a stable and unified Syria, which he said was “very dangerous.”
He said Damascus was seeking a deal similar to a 1974 disengagement agreement between Israel and Syria that created a demilitarized zone between the two countries.
He said Syria sought the withdrawal of Israeli troops but that Israel wanted to remain at strategic locations it seized after Dec. 8, including Mount Hermon. Israeli ministers have publicly said Israel intends to keep control of the sites.
He said if the security pact succeeds, other agreements could be reached. He did not provide details, but said a peace agreement or normalization deal like the US-mediated Abraham Accords, under which several Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic ties with Israel, was not currently on the table.
He also said it was too early to discuss the fate of the Golan Heights because it was “a big deal.”
Reuters reported this week that Israel had ruled out handing back the zone, which Donald Trump unilaterally recognized as Israeli during his first term as US president.
“It’s a difficult case – you have negotiations between a Damascene and a Jew,” Sharaa told reporters, smiling.
SECURITY PACT DERAILED IN JULY
Sharaa also said Syria and Israel had been just “four to five days” away from reaching the basis of a security pact in July, but that developments in the southern province of Sweida had derailed those discussions.
Syrian troops were deployed to Sweida in July to quell fighting between Druze armed factions and Bedouin fighters. But the violence worsened, with Syrian forces accused of execution-style killings and Israel striking southern Syria, the defense ministry in Damascus and near the presidential palace.
Sharaa on Wednesday described the strikes near the presidential palace as “not a message, but a declaration of war,” and said Syria had still refrained from responding militarily to preserve the negotiations.
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Anti-Israel Activists Gear Up to ‘Flood’ UN General Assembly

US Capitol Police and NYPD officers clash with anti-Israel demonstrators, on the day Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint meeting of Congress, on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC, July 24, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Umit Bektas
Anti-Israel groups are planning a wave of raucous protests in New York City during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) over the next several days, prompting concerns that the demonstrations could descend into antisemitic rhetoric and intimidation.
A coalition of anti-Israel activists is organizing the protests in and around UN headquarters to coincide with speeches from Middle Eastern leaders and appearances by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstrations are expected to draw large crowds and feature prominent pro-Palestinian voices, some of whom have been criticized for trafficking in antisemitic tropes, in addition to calling for the destruction of Israe.
Organizers of the demonstrations have promoted the coordinated events on social media as an opportunity to pressure world leaders to hold Israel accountable for its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, with some messaging framed in sharply hostile terms.
On Sunday, for example, activists shouted at Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
“Zionism is terrorism. All you guys are terrorists committing ethnic cleansing and genocide in Gaza and Palestine. Shame on you, Zionist animals,” they shouted.
BREAKING: PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTORS CONFRONT “ISRAELI” AMBASSADOR DANNY DANON AT THE UNITED NATIONS
1/5 pic.twitter.com/4G1VYEMGzV
— Within Our Lifetime (@WOLPalestine) September 14, 2025
The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM), warned on its website that the scale and tone of the planned demonstrations risk crossing the line from political protest into hate speech, arguing that anti-Israel activists are attempting to hijack the UN gathering to spread antisemitism and delegitimize the Jewish state’s right to exist.
Outside the UN last week, masked protesters belonging to the activist group INDECLINE kicked a realistic replica of Netanyahu’s decapitated head as though it were a soccer ball.
US activist group plays soccer with Bibi’s mock decapitated HEAD right outside NYC UN HQ
Peep shot at 00:40
Footage posted by INDECLINE collective just as UN General Assembly about to kick off
‘Following the game, ball was donated to Palestinian Genocide Museum’ pic.twitter.com/TQ84sgZhKr
— RT (@RT_com) September 9, 2025
Within Our Lifetime (WOL), a radical anti-Israel activist group, has vowed to “flood” the UNGA on behalf of the pro-Palestine movement.
WOL, one of the most prolific anti-Israel activist groups, came under immense fire after it organized a protest against an exhibition to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 massacre at the Nova Music Festival in southern Israel. During the event, the group chanted “resistance is justified when people are occupied!” and “Israel, go to hell!”
“We will be there to confront them with the truth: Their silence and inaction enable genocide. The world cannot continue as if Gaza does not exist,” WOL said of its planned demonstrations in New York. “This is the time to make our voices impossible to ignore. Come to New York by any means necessary, to stand, to march, to demand the UN act and end the siege.”
Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM), two other anti-Israel organizations that have helped organize widespread demonstrations against the Jewish state during the war in Gaza, also announced they are planning a march from Times Square to the UN headquarters on Friday.
“The time is now for each and every UN member state to uphold their duty under international law: sanction Israel and end the genocide,” the groups said in a statement.
JVP, an organization that purports to fight for “Palestinian liberation,” has positioned itself as a staunch adversary of the Jewish state. The group argued in a 2021 booklet that Jews should not write Hebrew liturgy because hearing the language would be “deeply traumatizing” to Palestinians. JVP has repeatedly defended the Oct. 7 massacre of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel by Hamas as a justified “resistance.” Chapters of the organization have urged other self-described “progressives” to throw their support behind Hamas and other terrorist groups against Israel
Similarly, PYM, another radical anti-Israel group, has repeatedly defended terrorism and violence against the Jewish state. PYM has organized many anti-Israel protests in the two years following the Oct. 7 attacks in the Jewish state. Recently, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AK) called for a federal investigation into the organization after Aisha Nizar, one of the group’s leaders, urged supporters to sabotage the US supply chain for the F-35 fighter jet, one of the most advanced US military assets and a critical component of Israel’s defense.
The UN General Assembly has historically been a flashpoint for heated debate over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Previous gatherings have seen dueling demonstrations outside the Manhattan venue, with pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups both seeking to influence the international spotlight.
While warning about the demonstrations, CAM noted it recently launched a new mobile app, Report It, that allows users worldwide to quickly and securely report antisemitic incidents in real time.
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Nina Davidson Presses Universities to Back Words With Action as Jewish Students Return to Campus Amid Antisemitism Crisis

Nina Davidson on The Algemeiner’s ‘J100’ podcast. Photo: Screenshot
Philanthropist Nina Davidson, who served on the board of Barnard College, has called on universities to pair tough rhetoric on combatting antisemitism with enforcement as Jewish students returned to campuses for the new academic year.
“Years ago, The Algemeiner had published a list ranking the most antisemitic colleges in the country. And number one was Columbia,” Davidson recalled on a recent episode of The Algemeiner‘s “J100” podcast. “As a board member and as someone who was representing the institution, it really upset me … At the board meeting, I brought it up and I said, ‘What are we going to do about this?’”
Host David Cohen, chief executive officer of The Algemeiner, explained he had revisited Davidson’s remarks while she was being honored for her work at The Algemeiner‘s 8th annual J100 gala, held in October 2021, noting their continued relevance.
“It could have been the same speech in 2025,” he said, underscoring how longstanding concerns about campus antisemitism, while having intensified in the aftermath of Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, are not new.
Davidson argued that universities already possess the tools to protect students – codes of conduct, time-place-manner rules, and consequences for threats or targeted harassment – but too often fail to apply them evenly. “Statements are not enough,” she said, arguing that institutions need to enforce their rules and set a precedent that there will be consequences for individuals who refuse to follow them.
She also said that stakeholders – alumni, parents, and donors – are reassessing their relationships with schools that, in their view, have not safeguarded Jewish students. While supportive of open debate, Davidson distinguished between protest and intimidation, calling for leadership that protects expression while ensuring campus safety.
The episode surveyed specific pressure points that administrators will face this fall: repeat anti-Israel encampments, disruptions of Jewish programming, and the challenge of distinguishing political speech from conduct that violates university rules. “Unless schools draw those lines now,” Davidson warned, “they’ll be scrambling once the next crisis hits.”
Cohen closed by framing the discussion as a test of institutional credibility, asking whether universities will “turn policy into protection” in real time. Davidson agreed, pointing to students who “need to know the rules aren’t just on paper.”
The full conversation is available on The Algemeiner’s “J100” podcast.