RSS
Sickening: Why Did Western Media Outlets Praise Hassan Nasrallah?
“Charismatic.” “Revered.” A grandfatherly figure?
According to many media outlets, Hezbollah’s former leader, Hassan Nasrallah, was all “live, laugh, and love.”
But let’s not get it twisted. Nasrallah was an evil terrorist with blood on his hands — and not just of Jews.
Major media outlets are describing Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah as “charismatic” and “shrewd,” even using smiling photos to soften his image. But Nasrallah’s real legacy? Deadly bombings, rocket attacks, and civilian deaths—including the U.S. Embassy bombing and the Buenos… pic.twitter.com/YH1tleNo5P
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 28, 2024
Despite his track record of killing Americans, Israelis, Lebanese (including the country’s former president), Sky News chose to memorialize the butcher of Syria’s Sunni population with a sweet, smiling picture of him:
Hey, @SkyNews, do you always use stock images of terrorist leaders that make them look like benign grandfatherly figures? Or is it only when they’ve been eliminated by Israel? pic.twitter.com/VFEhakqlkB
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 28, 2024
The same thing happened with the media’s coverage of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination.
Some of the world’s most evil and oppressive figures are receiving moments of silence and fawning obituaries in commemoration of their lifetime achievements — and it’s being done by the biggest media outlets in the world.
Distortion of facts and truth is a common thread:
Hezbollah has been committing terrorist attacks against Americans and the west for decades. The “region” launched a genocidal war against Israel 12 months ago.
Fighting back doesn’t create a “region full of people who hate them.” The mere existence of Israel does. https://t.co/0R4Js4aBun
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) September 28, 2024
Needless to say, reactions across the social platform X (formerly Twitter) called out this complete distortion of the truth.
The Associated Press has since changed its headline, but not before it was exposed:
.@AP I’m sorry for your loss.
“Charismatic and shrewd…. an astute strategist… considered a pragmatist… idolized by his Lebanese Shiite followers… respected by millions across the Arab and Islamic world… ” https://t.co/bezopcUSTe
Maybe next time, speak to his victims. pic.twitter.com/qUb3EbRMri
— Hillel Neuer (@HillelNeuer) September 28, 2024
The Guardian did not hold back either. This tweet sums up how we all feel while reading this sentence:
Also the @guardian: “Adolf Hitler was a gifted painter, compelling public speaker and competent organizer.” pic.twitter.com/tcDrMF5HA3
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) September 28, 2024
This profile on Nasrallah by The New York Times, may as well be a love letter. Since its publication, words have been changed to appear vague, but are still rather favorable towards a killer:
He often referred to Israel as “the Zionist entity” and maintained that Jewish people who arrived from other countries over decades should return to their nations of origin, and said that Israel should be replaced by the state of Palestine, with equality for all residents.
The writer was caught portraying Nasrallah as a believer in coexistence for one state for Jews, Christians, and Muslims in “Palestine,” and framed as a responsible leader concerned with the needs of his people:
Are you kidding me, @nytimes? pic.twitter.com/XL08ksucoD
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) September 29, 2024
Unfortunately, the bizarre obituary did not stop there. It is filled with respectful descriptions of Nasrallah and his popularity amongst the suffering Shiite Lebanese population. Almost as if he was progressive:
He came across as less dour than most Shiite clerics, partly because of his roly-poly figure, a slight lisp and a propensity to crack jokes. He never pushed hard-line Islamic rules, like veils for women in the neighborhoods that Hezbollah controls. Analysts attributed that to his exposure in his youth to many of Lebanon’s 17 religious sects and his desire not to isolate Lebanese outside of Hezbollah’s religious Shiite base.
And publications like Le Monde came out with an obituary describing his features almost lovingly, and accentuating his “heroic” nature. It almost seems cool to be Israel’s biggest adversary, and the Middle East’s “object of fascination.”
With his black turban, reserved for descendants of the Prophet, thin glasses and thick salt-and-pepper beard, Hassan Nasrallah has been the face of Hezbollah for over three decades. At the head of this militia dedicated to armed struggle against Israel, which has become a state above the Lebanese state, the Shiite leader has held the fate of the country in his hands, in war and in peace.
But quite frankly, it’s embarrassing to read.
Nasrallah, an evil murderer, was granted obituaries he didn’t deserve. While he may have been seen as a heroic and revered figure by his followers, why should this matter when he has so much blood on his hands over the course of decades?
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 Sickening: Why Did Western Media Outlets Praise Hassan Nasrallah? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
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.”
RSS
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.
RSS
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.