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The Guardian Publishes Claim That Terror-Loving Palestinian-American Woman Was ‘Kidnapped’ By IDF
“The IDF kidnapped my mother.”
That is the absurd claim from Ibrahim Hamed, a US-based man whose Palestinian mother was recently arrested in Israel.
Even more absurd, however, is the fact that The Guardian (and others) printed the allegation without doing even a modicum of journalistic due diligence — due diligence that would have shown precisely why she was arrested.
According to The Guardian, Hamed wants US President Joe Biden to intervene after Samaher Esmail, who is a US citizen, was taken into custody from a home in the West Bank town of Silwad, where she lives part-time.
Referencing the IDF’s statement that Esmail had been arrested for “incitement on social media,” the outlet detailed Hamed’s unsubstantiated claim that his mother was beaten, handcuffed, and blindfolded, as well as his assertion that she was arrested merely for being “critical of Israel’s West Bank occupation” on social media:
He said he feared comments which she posted on social media that were critical of Israel’s West Bank occupation may have brought her unwanted attention from the IDF. But he said it was ‘bogus’ for Esmail to be arrested for them.
However, a quick search of Esmail’s Facebook profile reveals the posts that most likely led to her arrest were those in which she praised the October 7 Hamas massacre, posted photos holding an automatic weapon, and glorified infamous Hamas terrorists who have murdered hundreds of innocent civilians.
Indeed, had The Guardian journalist who wrote the piece, Ramon Antonio Vargas, actually bothered to look at Esmail’s social media profile — something that took less than 20 seconds for HonestReporting to find — he would have found it awash with disturbing messages and imagery.
For example, on the day that Hamas terrorists rampaged through southern Israeli communities, killing and raping scores of civilians, Esmail wrote numerous comments online praising the terrorists responsible and calling for more violence.
Dear @guardian, we think you’ll find that the IDF arrested, not “kidnapped” his mother.
It took us 15 seconds of online research to find just this one social media post below, which could reasonably illustrate why.
Shame your reporter couldn’t do the same due diligence. https://t.co/q62NaABQe2 pic.twitter.com/QeOonzRn8X
— HonestReporting (@HonestReporting) February 8, 2024
In one post, Esmail, who describes herself as an educator within Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish Public School System, included footage of Hamas terrorists kidnapping an Israeli grandmother and asked for God to “bless” them, adding: “Don’t play with your tails, this day will be witnessed in the history, remember it very well 07/10/2023.”
In another October 7 post, she wrote: “7/10/2023, date of a rich history, we do not know when it will be repeated, whether it will happen in our time, or the time of our children, or the time of our grandchildren. But the victory is coming no doubt with God’s will. Victory or martyrdom. We are the children of Palestine who don’t know surrender. Don’t play with us, bastards the sons of Zion.”
In further posts, she warned that Palestinians will take the Israeli city of Tel Aviv “back from the hands of the rapists” and describes the “joy” of terrorists filmed breaking across the Gaza border.
Seemingly in the United States at the time of the massacre, Esmail also apparently graffitied her car in support of Hamas, showing off photos of a vehicle daubed in slogans including “Freedom to Palestine!” and “Today is the victory day, promised and memorable for Gaza 7/10/2023.”
Other posts written by Esmail include her praise for Yahya Ayyash, a Hamas terrorist dubbed “The Engineer,” who introduced the tactic of suicide bombings and orchestrated attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, and current Hamas spokesman Abu Obaida, whose picture she once used as her own profile photo.
Meanwhile, her son, Ibrahim Hamed, who painted a picture of his mother as a harmless woman to The Guardian, commented beneath one photo of his burka-clad mother aiming a rifle: “Walla, let me go hide kill em.”
Unfortunately, The Guardian wasn’t the only outlet to be taken in by what it described as Hamed’s “mother’s plight.”
The Washington Post published a piece that quoted the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), an organization previously found to have ties to Hamas, and its demand that as “an American citizen, Samaher Esmail deserves the full protection and support of her government.”
And CBS News went even further, printing her son’s ludicrous claim that none of his mother’s posts “support Hamas specifically.”
Perhaps CBS News should have tried doing some actual journalism and checking to see if she had expressed support for Hamas.
Sadly, it seems that even the most basic journalistic standards have been abandoned by so many leading news organizations when it comes to reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The latest tale of injustice toward Palestinians that has transpired to be anything but, is evidence of that.
Update: The Guardian amended its story after HonestReporting revealed Samaher Esmail’s Facebook posts with the following paragraph: “The statement did not elaborate, but a Facebook profile that matches Esmail’s name and likeness – with fewer than 110 followers – contained an image of her smiling next to text spelling out the date of Hamas’ 7 October attack on Israel. At least two images displayed her posing with a rifle.”
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 The Guardian Publishes Claim That Terror-Loving Palestinian-American Woman Was ‘Kidnapped’ By IDF first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students
Haredi Jewish men look at the scene of an explosion at a bus stop in Jerusalem, Israel, on Nov. 23, 2022. Photo: Reuters/Ammar Awad
Israel’s military said it would issue 54,000 call-up notices to ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students following a Supreme Court ruling mandating their conscription and amid growing pressure from reservists stretched by extended deployments.
The Supreme Court ruling last year overturned a decades-old exemption for ultra-Orthodox students, a policy established when the community comprised a far smaller segment of the population than the 13 percent it represents today.
Military service is compulsory for most Israeli Jews from the age of 18, lasting 24-32 months, with additional reserve duty in subsequent years. Members of Israel’s 21 percent Arab population are mostly exempt, though some do serve.
A statement by the military spokesperson confirmed the orders on Sunday just as local media reported legislative efforts by two ultra-Orthodox parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition to craft a compromise.
The exemption issue has grown more contentious as Israel’s armed forces in recent years have faced strains from simultaneous engagements with Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Houthis in Yemen, and Iran.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders in Netanyahu’s brittle coalition have voiced concerns that integrating seminary students into military units alongside secular Israelis, including women, could jeopardize their religious identity.
The military statement promised to ensure conditions that respect the ultra-Orthodox way of life and to develop additional programs to support their integration into the military. It said the notices would go out this month.
The post Israel to Issue 54,000 Call-Up Notices to Ultra-Orthodox Students first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich attends an inauguration event for Israel’s new light rail line for the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, in Petah Tikva, Israel, Aug. 17, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Amir Cohen
Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich sharply criticized on Sunday a cabinet decision to allow some aid into Gaza as a “grave mistake” that he said would benefit the terrorist group Hamas.
Smotrich also accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of failing to ensure that Israel’s military is following government directives in prosecuting the war against Hamas in Gaza. He said he was considering his “next steps” but stopped short of explicitly threatening to quit the coalition.
Smotrich’s comments come a day before Netanyahu is due to hold talks in Washington with President Donald Trump on a US-backed proposal for a 60-day Gaza ceasefire.
“… the cabinet and the Prime Minister made a grave mistake yesterday in approving the entry of aid through a route that also benefits Hamas,” Smotrich said on X, arguing that the aid would ultimately reach the Islamist group and serve as “logistical support for the enemy during wartime”.
The Israeli government has not announced any changes to its aid policy in Gaza. Israeli media reported that the government had voted to allow additional aid to enter northern Gaza.
The prime minister’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The military declined to comment.
Israel accuses Hamas of stealing aid for its own fighters or to sell to finance its operations, an accusation Hamas denies. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe, with conditions threatening to push nearly a half a million people into famine within months, according to U.N. estimates.
Israel in May partially lifted a nearly three-month blockade on aid. Two Israeli officials said on June 27 the government had temporarily stopped aid from entering north Gaza.
PRESSURE
Public pressure in Israel is mounting on Netanyahu to secure a permanent ceasefire, a move opposed by some hardline members of his right-wing coalition. An Israeli team left for Qatar on Sunday for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
Smotrich, who in January threatened to withdraw his Religious Zionism party from the government if Israel agreed to a complete end to the war before having achieved its objectives, did not mention the ceasefire in his criticism of Netanyahu.
The right-wing coalition holds a slim parliamentary majority, although some opposition lawmakers have offered to support the government from collapsing if a ceasefire is agreed.
The post Influential Far-Right Minister Lashes out at Netanyahu Over Gaza War Policy first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks to the media during a press conference with New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, Aug. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Tracey Nearmy
Australian police have charged a man in connection with an alleged arson attack on a Melbourne synagogue with worshippers in the building, the latest in a series of incidents targeting the nation’s Jewish community.
There were no injuries to the 20 people inside the East Melbourne Synagogue, who fled from the fire on Friday night. Firefighters extinguished the blaze in the capital of Victoria state.
Australia has experienced several antisemitic incidents since the start of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023.
Counter-terrorism detectives late on Saturday arrested the 34-year-old resident of Sydney, capital of neighboring New South Wales, charging him with offenses including criminal damage by fire, police said.
“The man allegedly poured a flammable liquid on the front door of the building and set it on fire before fleeing the scene,” police said in a statement.
The suspect, whom the authorities declined to identify, was remanded in custody after his case was heard at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday and no application was made for bail, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Authorities are investigating whether the synagogue fire was linked to a disturbance on Friday night at an Israeli restaurant in Melbourne, in which one person was arrested for hindering police.
The restaurant was extensively damaged, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an umbrella group for Australia’s Jews.
It said the fire at the synagogue, one of Melbourne’s oldest, was set as those inside sat down to Sabbath dinner.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog went on X to “condemn outright the vile arson attack targeting Jews in Melbourne’s historic and oldest synagogue on the Sabbath, and on an Israeli restaurant where people had come to enjoy a meal together”.
“This is not the first such attack in Australia in recent months. But it must be the last,” Herzog said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the incidents as “severe hate crimes” that he viewed “with utmost gravity.” “The State of Israel will continue to stand alongside the Australian Jewish community,” Netanyahu said on X.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese late on Saturday described the alleged arson, which comes seven months after another synagogue in Melbourne was targeted by arsonists, as shocking and said those responsible should face the law’s full force.
“My Government will provide all necessary support toward this effort,” Albanese posted on X.
Homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles in Australia have been targeted by antisemitic vandalism and arson. The incidents included a fake plan by organized crime to attack a Sydney synagogue using a caravan of explosives in order to divert police resources, police said in March.
The post Australia Police Charge Man Over Alleged Arson on Melbourne Synagogue first appeared on Algemeiner.com.