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Politico Hired an Anti-Israel Journalist, Then Ran Her Stories on the Middle East
Israeli soldiers and emergency responders attend the scene of a suspected Palestinian shooting attack on an Israeli bus that, according to Israeli emergency services, killed a child and wounded others, near Beit Jala in the West Bank, Dec. 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Dedi Hayun
In the wake of the Gaza ceasefire, a new narrative painting Israel as an aggressor is subtly infiltrating mainstream media.
Biased reporters, like Politico’s Dalia Hatuqa, try to depict Israel’s ongoing anti-terrorism operations in the West Bank as a new onslaught against innocent Palestinians.
To that end, any means is justified — including distorted or even made-up terminology, one-sided sources, and omission of crucial facts.
In a recent piece published by the magazine, Hatuqa interviews residents of the Jenin refugee camp who were displaced due to Israel’s operation. The accounts are obviously heartbreaking, and only one paragraph is dedicated to Israel’s stated aim of uprooting murderous Jihadis.
Without any mention of terror casualties on the Israeli side, Hatuqa goes on to platform a Jenin hospital director, as well as Diana Buttu, a former PLO official with a track record of spreading falsehoods about Israel.
And then, attentive readers understand Hatuqa’s trick: her entire piece, including the headline — “The ‘Gaza-ification’ of the West Bank” — is parroting the words of these one-sided sources.
One of these words is “revenge,” as if Israel is now unleashing its anger over October 7 not on Gaza but on poor West Bank residents:
Many here in the West Bank believe this operation is a way for Israelis, still angry about the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks, to continue to take revenge on the Palestinian population despite the Gaza cease-fire.
Other words are used to mask who Israel is really fighting against. The made-up term “traditional Palestinian factions,” for example, is used instead of naming the proscribed terror groups that threaten Israel, such as Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
And the phrase “Palestinian armed resistance” appears in a distorted background paragraph about Israel’s 2002 military operation in Jenin. The paragraph completely omits the fact it was Israel’s reaction against the terror wave of the Second Intifada that targeted Israelis with suicide bombs on buses and in cafes.
Sadly, none of this is surprising if one takes a quick look at Hatuqa’s X account (formerly Twitter). She doesn’t even try to hide her pro-Palestinian, anti-Israeli bias.
In a tweet last week, she called a protester who raised a Palestinian flag during the Super Bowl halftime show “a king.”
This is who @politico published.
No surprise that someone who sees terrorism as “armed resistance” also considers an attempt to disrupt the Super Bowl halftime show as a heroic act. https://t.co/DfHQ3P5Qdw pic.twitter.com/6WjP8XqcYX
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 10, 2025
And last year, she ridiculed Israel’s proven claim that UNRWA staff and Gazan journalists participated in Hamas’ October 7 atrocities:
How can Politico see Hatuqa as a credible journalist? What she writes is not news but propaganda, and it’s quite easy to check her social media activity.
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 Politico Hired an Anti-Israel Journalist, Then Ran Her Stories on the Middle East first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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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.