Six Al Jazeera ‘journalists’ exposed as Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists – when will Washington take action against Al Jazeera and Qatar, its host?
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL — Al Jazeera is the most anti-American and anti-Israel news media outlet in the entire Arab world.
After the terrorist attacks against the U.S. on September 11th, 2001 – attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans – the satellite TV network began giving Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda organization free access to broadcast their radical Islamist speeches and messages on its airwaves.
Now it appears that Al Jazeera may have actual radical Islamist terrorists on their payroll.
Is there a point at which Washington will no longer tolerate the hostile actions of Al Jazeera and the government of Qatar, its host and main sponsor?
Will Members of Congress speak out?
Will they call for sanctions, or even other actions?
There is growing evidence that they should.
DAMNING DOCUMENTS RELEASED BY IDF
At 5 p.m. Israel time on Wednesday, the spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces released damning new documents that were recently discovered in the Gaza Strip.
The documents – all in Arabic – purportedly expose six so-called “journalists” working for the Al Jazeera satellite TV network as simultaneously working for Hamas and the Islamic Jihad organizations in Gaza.
The six were identified as:
• Anas Jamal Mahmoud Al-Sharif
• Alaa Abdul Aziz Muhammad Salama
• Hossam Basel Abdul Karim Shabat
• Ashraf Sami Ashour Saraj
• Ismail Farid Muhammad Abu Omar, and
• Talal Mahmoud Abdul Rahman Aruki
“The terrorist-journalist Ismail Farid Muhammad Abu Omar was struck and injured a few months ago in Gaza,” noted the IDF in its statement.
“The documents once again confirm his involvement in terrorist activities.”
“The Al Jazeera network has attempted to disassociate itself from Omar's terror activities,” the IDF added.
The documents include personnel tables, lists of terrorist training courses, phone directories, and salary documents for terrorists.
“These provide unequivocal proof that these individuals serve as military operatives for the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip,” the IDF stated.
“These documents serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network,” it added.
“Most of the journalists that the IDF has exposed as operatives in Hamas's military wing spearhead the propaganda for Hamas at Al Jazeera, especially in the northern Gaza Strip.”
ISRAEL SHUT DOWN AL JAZEERA OPERATIONS IN GAZA AND THE WEST BANK IN MAY
Based in Doha, the capital of the tiny but rich Gulf country of Qatar, Al Jazeera is certainly the most controversial news media outlet in the Arab world.
It is also one of the most influential TV networks in the region, having a massive audience among Arab speakers in the Middle East, North Africa and around the world.
In May of this year, ALL ISRAEL NEWS reported that the Israeli coalition government cabinet headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voted unanimously to suspend Al Jazeera’s license to broadcast within Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
Walid Omary, Al Jazeera television network bureau chief in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, told Reuters at the time that Israel’s decision was politically motivated and said the network was examining its options to respond legally.
"Israel's suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty," Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Hamas released a statement at the time saying the decision by Netanyahu and the coalition government to shutter the Qatari network's broadcasts is a "flagrant violation of press freedom, and a repressive and retaliatory measure against Al Jazeera's professional role in exposing the crimes and violations of the occupation... as a culmination of the declared war against journalists who face systematic Zionist terror aimed at hiding the truth.”
The Foreign Press Association condemned Israel’s decision, saying it is a “cause for concern for all supporters of a free press.”
WHAT WILL WASHINGTON DO?
At the time, the Biden-Harris administration criticized Israel’s move and said it respected Al Jazeera’s work.
However, as evidence mounts that Israel was right to take action against Al Jazeera, the critical question is this: Why does the U.S. maintain an active alliance with Qatar when its government allows the leaders of the Hamas terrorist organization to live in luxury in Doha, when the Qatari government provides of millions of dollars to Hamas, when Qatar is a close ally of the Iranian regime, and when Qatar hosts and supports Al Jazeera as it spews its rabid anti-American and anti-Israel propaganda?
As ALL ARAB NEWS reported last October, “Qatar also became one of Hamas’ largest sponsors over the years, transferring monthly payments of up to $30 million to Gaza’s civil servants, most of whom are Hamas members.”
How long will Washington tolerate this?
How long will other governments turn a blind eye?
OTHER GOVERNMENTS HAVE TAKEN ACTION AGAINST QATAR AND AL JAZEERA OVER THE YEARS
Not every capital has been silent or unwilling to act.
In 2002, Bahrain’s government banned Al Jazeera from operating in the kingdom because it said the network posed a threat to the security of the moderate, pro-American society.
In 2013, the Iraqi government banned Al Jazeera because it said the network was fomenting sectarian violence.
In 2013, Egypt’s government arrested several Al Jazeera journalists as a threat to national security as the network became a mouthpiece for the Muslim Brotherhood forces that had tried to take control over Egypt, had nearly provoked a full-blown civil war, and were burning and destroying Egyptian churches.
In 2017, the Egyptian government blocked the Al Jazeera website from being seen in its country.
“Between 2017 and 2021, a Saudi-led coalition of 13 nations severed relations with Qatar for its close ties with Iran and its backing of the Muslim Brotherhood,” noted Joseph Epstein of the Endowment for Middle East Truth in a column for Newsweek.
“The coalition then implemented a de facto blockade of the country. A U.S.-Kuwait resolution ended the crisis in 2021.”
In 2017, Epstein noted that “Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates all closed down local Al Jazeera offices for spreading extremism by supporting the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood.”
“That's because the countries who receive Al Jazeera's Arabic language coverage are aware of the threat it poses and how it manipulates its audiences to spread extremism and accomplish Qatar's foreign policy goals.”
Epstein also noted that, in 2020, “the U.S. Department of Justice found that Al Jazeera's U.S. affiliate AJ+ engaged in ‘political activities’ on behalf of Qatar's government and ordered it to register as a foreign agent,” the Newsweek columnist reported. “To date, AJ+ has ignored these calls without penalty.”
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS OR A TRUE SECURITY THREAT?
Let me be clear: I am a fierce advocate of freedom of the press.
My colleagues and I started ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS to counter lies, misinformation, and outright propaganda coming from too much of the so-called “mainstream media.”
But let’s also be clear: Al Jazeera and its Qatari hosts and benefactors are not interested in journalism. They are not practicing freedom of the press. Nor are they engaged in free speech.
The evidence increasingly suggests they are actively encouraging radical Islamist terrorists, giving them a platform to speak, a platform to recruit, a platform to spread their hateful lies.
Now are they hiring radical Islamists to pose as journalists for genocidal terrorist organizations, too?
When will the leaders of the Free World say, “Enough is enough”?
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
