Considering how much attention it receives in the American media, it’s surprising how much actual, incredible subversive activity goes on.
It is the Al Jazeera network, founded, funded and run by the terrorist-sponsoring state of Qatar.
Last month, the Washington Post published a dark report saying that the Israeli government had suspended the Al Jazeera network from broadcasting in Israel because of its reporting from the Gaza Strip.
The Washington Post described it as a “dark day” for press freedom.
In fact, Israel had many valid reasons for halting the operation of the network within Israel.
First, many of the Al Jazeera journalists reporting on Israel’s war against terrorists in Gaza were, yes, terrorists.
Take Muhammad Washa, who Al Jazeera profiled as an outstanding member of its reporting corps that reports only the truth.
Unfortunately for them, their subordinates are also senior Hamas commanders.
He previously served in Hamas’ anti-tank missile unit, but since 2022 has been in charge of research and development of aviation weapons.
To you and me it is known as “The Rocket.”
That’s quite something.
On the other hand, Washa could spend his days building rockets to fire at Israel.
But in the evening he can report on the horrific destruction caused by the “Zionist state” in Gaza.
As if there is no explanation for why Israel would attack targets in the Gaza Strip.
He might have continued to evade punishment if IDF soldiers in the Gaza Strip had not obtained his laptop.
It was a testament to the Al Jazeera man’s true loyalty.
So too were the two Al Jazeera “journalists” killed in an airstrike in Rafah in January.
Hamza Wael Dahdou was the son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza correspondent Wael al-Dahdou.
The station complained that Israeli forces had attacked the vehicle they were travelling in, but did not mention that the “journalists” were in a vehicle with a Hamas drone operator when the vehicle was targeting Israeli soldiers.
Oh, and the young Wael wasn’t just a “journalist” – he was also a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad who was “actively involved in attacks” against Israel.
Or take Al Jazeera “journalist” Ismail Abu Omar.
In February, his employers reported that their “correspondent” had been seriously injured in Khan Younis.
You might have thought this was a tragic example (not the first) of a journalist being caught up in a war.
But Al Jazeera went further.
The agency claimed that their “correspondent” had been “deliberately targeted” and that this was a common tactic used by their journalists.
Al Jazeera claimed the “intimidation” was aimed at preventing journalists from reporting on Israeli “heinous crimes.”
It did not state that Ismail Abu Omar was not a “correspondent.”
Or at least, that’s not all he is.
He is also the deputy commander of Hamas’ Eastern Battalion in Khan Yunis.
Journalist Hostage
On October 7, the Al Jazeera employee entered Israel with Hamas terrorists and was filmed praising the massacre.
In one community (Nir Oz, which I interviewed for The Washington Post last November), Abu Omar said, “My friends are [Hamas] “We have made progress, may Allah bless us,” he said, bragging that Palestinian children would “play with the heads” of slaughtered Israeli civilians.
Still, Al Jazeera has the power to surprise you.
Earlier this month, in a daring operation, Israeli forces rescued four hostages from a house in the Gaza Strip where they were being held captive.
One of the hostages in the home was Abdallah al-Jamal.
Abdallah spent his days writing about the humanitarian plight inside the Gaza Strip.
It was the kind of event that would be easily picked up and reported by much of the world’s media.
However, while he was filing these articles, he was imprisoning and torturing three Israelis in his home.
And it turns out he, too, was a contributor to none other than Al Jazeera.
It takes quite an effort to shock me, but even by Al Jazeera standards, this is a new low.
This Monday I was in Toronto for a discussion with Mehdi Hasan, another Al Jazeera contributor.
Hasan began his career at Al Jazeera.
But a few years ago, MSNBC gave him a show.
It also recorded the lowest ratings on MSNBC.
This meant the show was only broadcast in homes where people accidentally left the TV on.
But after October 7, even MSNBC was tired of him.
His views, always extreme, became even more extreme.
This may be one of the reasons why he is now forced to return to Al Jazeera.
Apartheid in Qatar
It was fun sparring with him this week.
Because, naturally, he tried to throw all sorts of blame at the IDF.
And to me too.
In the end, it got a bit difficult.
There was a guy here who worked for the Qataris.
And Qatar is an actual apartheid state, where hundreds of thousands of its citizens are forced to serve a slave class of foreign workers with no human rights.
The capital, Doha, is home to not only the head of Al Jazeera but also friends of Hamas.
Most of the terrorist leaders who are not in Gaza live under protection in the slave state of Qatar.
So when Mehdi complained about the war that followed Hamas’ invasion of Israel, I pointed out that things would have been rather more palatable if one of his fellow Al Jazeera contributors had not been found holding Israeli hostages in his home.
After all, if my coworkers were repeatedly found hanging out with people in the basement, I think I’d keep my head down for a while.
But that’s not the case. That’s Al Jazeera.
The “journalists” of that “network” seem to be one step away from terrorism and yet they don’t seem to face any criticism for it.
As for the Washington Post, which lamented the Israeli government’s ban on Al Jazeera, one of the reasons it has maintained an anti-Israel stance over the past eight months is that it has six journalists in its overseas bureaus alone who formerly worked for Al Jazeera.
When people wonder why the media gets it so wrong, this is a textbook example of how it “gets it done.”
