Al-Jazeera Accepts Award From Hamas for Anti-Israel Coverage

The “Palestinian” Islamic terror group Hamas presented an award on Wednesday to the Qatar-based network Al-Jazeera for the “high professionalism” it displayed in its anti-Israel news coverage during the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, which fired thousands of rockets at the innocent Israeli populace.

In a paid visit to Gaza’s current Al-Jazeera bureau, Hamas deputy chairman Khalil al-Hayya presented a certificate of appreciation honoring the network’s “affiliation” with and support of the Palestinians and their cause.

“The Qatari channel Al-Jazeera worked with high professionalism during its coverage of the ‘Sword of Jerusalem’ [11-day] battle and demonstrated its affiliation with the cause of the oppressed Palestinian people,” al-Hayya wrote in a statement on the Hamas website. “We are proud of Al-Jazeera’s active crews, who proved to be the knights of word and sacrifice while covering the events. What distinguishes the Palestinian journalist is that he has a national message. We were seeing a high level of nationalism and a national tone during Al-Jazeera coverage.”

“That a major media outlet has accepted an award for its news coverage from a designated terrorist group should raise alarm bells among all who are concerned about freedom of the press,” American Jewish Committee (AJC) managing director Avi Mayer told Fox News on Friday.

“When a terror organization like Hamas praises your ‘professionalism’ and ‘nationalistic coverage and commitment’ of the recent fighting, you’re probably not in the business of journalism,” wrote IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus.

“Hamas at least is open and honest about its genocidal agenda,” tweeted the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “@AlJazeera_World thinks it can fool the world into treating it as a reliable news source. It is reliable—to whitewash crimes of #HamasTerrorists against Israel and the people of Gaza.”

Al Jazeera (AJ)

18 Known Connections

Al Jazeera and the Arab Spring

According to The New York Times, AJ’s “aggressive coverage” of the so-called “Arab Spring” uprisings of 2011—when mass demonstrations began to topple several Arab governments and facilitated the political ascendancy of the Muslim Brotherhood—“helped propel insurgent emotions from one capital to the next.” The Times added that the station’s “galvanizing early reports” lent invaluable assistance to the Tunisian revolt that was the first of the Arab revolts, and that AJ “helped to shape a narrative of popular rage against oppressive American-backed Arab governments (and against Israel).” “The notion that there is a common struggle across the Arab world is something Al Jazeera helped create,” says Marc Lynch, a professor of Middle East Studies at George Washington University. “They did not cause these events, but it’s almost impossible to imagine all this happening without Al Jazeera.”

To learn more about Al Jazeera, click here.

EDITORS NOTE: This Discover the Networks column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

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