RSS
Terrorist Mouthpiece? Hamas Shared Anti-Israeli Message by France24 Correspondent
Former Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh speaks during a press conference in Tehran, Iran, March 26, 2024. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
What do you call a person who delivered an anti-Israeli message that was quoted in an official Hamas pamphlet, received honors from top Hamas terrorists, shared the “genocide” libel against Israel, and mourned terrorists? A mouthpiece, not a journalist.
Yet, the France24 correspondent in Gaza, Maha Abuelkas, can take credit for all of the above, casting doubt on her objectivity and the journalistic standards of her publicly funded network.
The veteran journalist, who has been working for France24 since 2013, was quoted in a 2021 Hamas propaganda pamphlet that promoted the terror movement’s “Day of Loyalty to the Palestinian Journalist.”
Her message blamed “the Israeli occupation” for “severe assaults and violations against human rights, land, and sacred sites”:
“On the 31st of December, we, as journalists, media professionals, and official institutions, commemorate the #Day_of_Loyalty_to_the_Palestinian_Journalist in remembrance and appreciation of all colleagues working in the Palestinian territories, which continuously suffer from severe assaults and violations against human rights, land, and sacred sites by the Israeli occupation.”
Maha Abuelkas, FRANCE 24 Arabic Correspondent.
And the event she was promoting was not merely professional. According to the Hamas Media Office’s Facebook page, where the pamphlet was published, the “Loyalty” event is aimed at supporting “the professional and national significance of the field’s knights and truth-seekers — those masters of words and images who wielded the lens of the camera and the tip of the pen, making them the most powerful tools of resistance against the occupier.”
Abuelkas also received special honors in 2014 from top Hamas figures, and was proud to share it on her Instagram page.
Here she is honored by Hamas’ spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum (left) and Taher al-Nunu (middle), the advisor to former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh:
And here she is joined by none other than senior Hamas official Mushir al-Masri (right), who has vowed to “uproot the Zionists with our axes, knives, guns”:
It doesn’t matter whether Abuelkas truly shares Hamas’ agenda or not. Her unethical reciprocal relationship with Gazan rulers — whom she needs to cover objectively — automatically compromises her journalistic credibility.
The same applies to all the other “journalists” who were exposed by HonestReporting for actively participating in Hamas’ events and honorary ceremonies.
But one can glean what Abuelkas’ true opinions are from a Facebook post she shared on July 2024, showing US lawmaker Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) holding up a sign reading “Guilty of Genocide” during Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent speech to Congress:
In another post, Abuelkas laments the death of an Al Jazeera “reporter” Ismail Al-Ghoul (left), a Hamas terrorist who participated in the October 7 massacre in southern Israel:
Given the evidence above, how can Abuelkas objectively report from Gaza?
And worse, might France24’s Gaza coverage have been seriously compromised by Abuelka’s connection to Hamas figures?
How can any editor or news consumer trust the news that Abuelkas delivers, if at the end of the day, she is nothing but a Hamas mouthpiece?
HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
The post Terrorist Mouthpiece? Hamas Shared Anti-Israeli Message by France24 Correspondent first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Trump, Harris Tied 47%-47% in Final CNN Poll
Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump points towards Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, during a presidential debate hosted by ABC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and his Democratic rival Kamala Harris are tied at 47% each among likely voters, according to CNN’s last nationwide poll before the Nov. 5 election.
The poll, conducted by telephone Oct. 20-23 among 1,704 registered voters and released on Friday, had a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points among likely voters and plus or minus 3.2 percentage points among the full sample of registered voters.
The post Trump, Harris Tied 47%-47% in Final CNN Poll first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
2 Dead, Several Seriously Wounded After Hezbollah Rocket Hits Arab Israeli Town
The attack’s victims. Photo: i24 News
i24 News – Two Arab Israelis were killed by rocket shrapnel following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah on the Galilee town of Majd al-Krum.
The victims were named as Hassan Suad, 21, and Arjwan Manaa, 35.
The post 2 Dead, Several Seriously Wounded After Hezbollah Rocket Hits Arab Israeli Town first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
RSS
Israel and Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Lebanon Border, Blinken Calls for Urgent Resolution
A view shows damage at a site hit by an Israeli strike that killed a few journalists and wounded several others as they slept in guesthouses used by media, Lebanon’s health ministry and local media reported, in Hasbaya in southern Lebanon, October 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Stringer
An Israeli strike killed three journalists in southern Lebanon on Friday, Lebanese officials said, while Israel said Hezbollah killed two people in a strike in its north as Washington pressed for a ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was an urgent need to get a diplomatic resolution to the conflict, a day after he said Washington did not want to see a protracted campaign in Lebanon by its ally Israel.
Israel launched its major offensive in Lebanon a month ago, saying it was targeting the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah group to secure the return home of tens of thousands of Israelis evacuated from the north due to cross-border rocket attacks.
Beirut authorities say Israel’s Lebanon offensive has killed more than 2,500 people and displaced more than 1.2 million, sparking a humanitarian crisis.
Friday’s strike killed two people in Majd al-Krum in northern Israel, according to Israeli media, and followed a statement from Hezbollah saying that it targeted the northern Israeli town of Karmiel with a large missile salvo.
“The world must stop Iran now – before it’s too late,” Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz said on X.
The conflict was sparked by the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israel which triggered Israel’s offensive in Gaza, where Palestinian officials said Israeli strikes had killed at least 72 people since Thursday night.
The journalists killed in south Lebanon were Ghassan Najjar and Mohamed Reda of the pro-Iranian news outlet Al-Mayadeen and Wissam Qassem, who worked for Hezbollah’s Al-Manar, the outlets said in separate statements. Several others were wounded.
They had been staying at guesthouses in Hasbaya, a town not previously targeted, when it was hit around 3 a.m. (midnight GMT).
Five journalists have been killed in previous Israeli strikes while reporting on the conflict, including Reuters visual journalist Issam Abdallah on Oct. 13, 2023.
“This is a war crime,” Lebanese Information Minister Ziad Makary said. At least 18 journalists from six media outlets, including Sky News and Al-Jazeera were using the guesthouses.
“We heard the airplane flying very low – that’s what woke us up – and then we heard the two missiles,” Muhammad Farhat, a reporter with Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, said.
His footage showed overturned and damaged cars, some marked “Press.” There was no immediate comment from Israel, which in general denies deliberately attacking journalists.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said Israeli forces had fired at their troops in an observation post in southern Dhayra on Tuesday, leading them to leave the post though they remained at the base.
Israel has denied deliberately targeting the force but says Hezbollah has built strongholds in close proximity to UNIFIL sites. Its previous strikes on UNIFIL posts have drawn international condemnation.
BORDER CROSSING STRUCK
Israel has used airstrikes to pound southern Lebanon, the Bekaa Valley and Beirut’s southern suburbs, and has also sent ground forces into southern Lebanon against Hezbollah.
The military said it struck weapon production sites and Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters in Beirut as well as Hezbollah targets around the Jousieh border crossing in the northern Bekaa Valley.
It said Hezbollah used the crossing, controlled by the Syrian military, to transfer weapons into Lebanon.
Lebanon’s transport minister Ali Hamieh said the Israeli strike had knocked the Jousieh crossing out of service, leaving the northern route as the only way to Syria.
The UN refugee agency said the strikes were hindering refugees’ attempts to flee. UNHCR spokesperson Rula Amin said some 430,000 people have crossed to Syria since Israel’s campaign started. Lebanon has previously been a major destination for refugees from the Syrian civil war.
“The attacks on the border crossings are a major concern,” Amin said. “They are blocking the path to safety for people fleeing conflict.”
‘REAL URGENCY’
The Israeli campaign spiraled out of a year of cross-border hostilities with Hezbollah, which opened fire on Oct. 8, 2023, in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas, a day after it launched the Oct. 7 attack.
“We have a sense of real urgency in getting to a diplomatic resolution and the full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, such that there can be real security along border between Israel and Lebanon,” Blinken said in London.
He said it was important so “people at both sides of the border can have the confidence to… return to their homes”.
Hezbollah has kept fighting despite heavy blows, including the killing of its leader Hassan Nasrallah. Israel said five of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, after announcing on Thursday the deaths of five others.
The Israeli military said it had uncovered an underground command center in a village close to the border with Israel and a site concealed in wooded terrain where Kornet anti-tank missiles, launchers, hand grenades and rifles were stored.
Washington has expressed hope that the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, a mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks, could provide an impetus for an end to fighting.
Officials said on Thursday that US and Israeli negotiators will gather in Doha in the coming days to try and restart talks toward a deal for a ceasefire and the release of hostages in Gaza.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, who met Blinken in London, said “ethnic cleansing” was taking place in northern Gaza. Israel denies such accusations, saying it is separating civilians from Hamas terrorists and moving them to safer areas.
Safadi said: “We are at the moment now where nothing justifies the continuation of the wars. Guns have to go silent.”
The post Israel and Hezbollah Trade Fire Across Lebanon Border, Blinken Calls for Urgent Resolution first appeared on Algemeiner.com.