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The Washington Post’s Flawed Investigation Into American Activist’s Death Leaves More Questions Than Answers
Less than a week after Aysenur Eygi was killed while attending a demonstration outside the Palestinian town of Beita in the West Bank, The Washington Post has published what it deems to be an exclusive investigation into the Turkish-American activist’s death.
Based on witness testimony and video evidence, the Post has called into question the IDF’s preliminary finding that it is “highly likely that [Eygi] was hit indirectly and unintentionally by IDF fire which was not aimed at her, but aimed at the key instigator of the riot.”
However, rather than prove its case, the Post’s investigation leaves open questions regarding both the events of the day in question and the newspaper’s investigatory process.
The Washington Post headlined its investigation “New video, witnesses challenge Israel’s account of US activist’s killing,” centering its case around witness testimony and video evidence.
Yet, despite the impression left by this headline, there is no new video evidence that dramatically upends the IDF’s claims. Rather, it appears to be the lack of video evidence that the Post finds to be the most relevant proof to help make its case.
In its investigation, the Post reviewed more than 50 videos and photos provided by the International Solidarity Movement and Faz3a, both pro-Palestinian activist groups that are active in the West Bank.
Yet, of all the visual evidence published in this investigatory piece, there’s no “new video” or smoking gun that can be said to really “challenge Israel’s account.” Rather, readers are exposed to a variety of video snippets and images of the lead-up to the protest as well as the clashes that ensued between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators and their allies.
In addition, one video clip shows a brief moment of chaos after the moment that Eygi was shot.
To support its claim that there was no rioting happening at the time that Eygi was shot and, thus, no “key instigator” for the IDF to have targeted, the Post points to the fact that there is no video of the moment of the shooting.
According to the activists and local Palestinians who were interviewed for this investigative piece, since nothing was happening, it’s natural that there’s no visual evidence of the fatal moment in question.
However, to claim that no evidence is somehow proof for the inaccuracy of the IDF’s claims is purely speculative and in no way definitively proves the assertion that the Israeli claim is wrong and there was no violence happening at the time that Aysenur Eygi was killed.
Another key element of the Post’s “challenging” of Israel’s narrative regarding the death of Eygi is its reliance on 13 “eyewitnesses and Beita residents” who were in the vicinity at the time that she was killed.
The key flaw in this aspect of the investigation is that all these “eyewitnesses” are not unbiased observers but are active members of organizations that are ideologically opposed to the activities of Israel and the IDF in the area.
Yet, at no point, does the Post inform its readers that these witness statements might be tinged by bias, instead presenting them as reliable and unimpeachable sources.
The questionable reliability of these activists is made even more clear in light of the fact that a report by the Tazpit Press Service (TPS) found that foreign activists are told to deceive Israeli authorities about their intentions when they arrive in the country so as not to raise any red flags with the Israeli immigration authorities.
For an organization that encourages deception on behalf of a political goal, it’s not absurd to suggest they also might not be totally honest in their witness accounts in order to muddy the waters and besmirch the IDF’s reputation.
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee’s instructions for foreigners coming to Israel during the upcoming olive harvest. Screenshot by TPS-IL
Further, as seen in a video that can be found here, which is composed of clips taken by ISM activists, these activists are known to seek out confrontations with IDF soldiers and intentionally disrupt Israeli security operations, using their foreign citizenship as a “shield” for these raucous activities.
Yet, despite their encouragement of deception and their history of anti-Israel activities that descend into violence, the Post treats the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and Faz3a as purely reliable sources.
One example of the questionable nature of the Post’s sole reliance on the activists’ narrative is its claim that since the closest Israeli forces to the local Palestinians and foreign activists were roughly 200 yards away, it would have been absurd for the Israeli soldiers to feel under threat even if someone among them was engaged in violence. As Israeli activist Jonathan Pollak is quoted as saying, “Even an Olympic stone thrower cannot make half that distance.”
However, instead of taking this claim as the gospel truth, the Post could have noted that a projectile launched by a slingshot can make that distance. Since the Post earlier noted that there were Palestinians with slingshots present during the initial clashes with IDF soldiers, it would be within the realm of possibility that IDF forces would feel threatened by someone using a slingshot 200 yards away from them.
Yet, since the Post’s “investigation” only parroted activist claims with no critical analysis on the part of its authors, it erroneously took the assertion that no Israeli soldier would have been threatened from that distance for granted.
As the IDF continues to investigate the killing of Aysenur Eygi in order to determine potential criminal liability on the part of Israeli forces, The Washington Post has chosen to conduct an investigation of its own.
However, rather than provide its readers with a well-constructed and nuanced look at the event in question, the Post has created a flimsy report bent on impugning the Israeli narrative while relying on conjecture, circumstantial evidence, and biased witness statements.
For a newspaper with such a storied history of investigative reporting, this latest report is further proof of the decline in journalistic standards.
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.
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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events
A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
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