Al-Jazeera caught censoring Gazans who dare to denounce Hamas

By Hugh Fitzgerald, Frontpage Magazine

Al-Jazeera is owned by Qatar, that provides Hamas with both money and sanctuary for its leaders, who live luxurious lives in Doha.

So it is no surprise that Al-Jazeera reporters in Gaza are determined not to report any negative views expressed by Gazans about Hamas, cutting off interviewees who express anger at the terror group.

More on this censorship by Al Jazeera reporters can be found here: “‘May Allah reckon with you’: Al Jazeera caught censoring Gazan criticism for Hamas,” by Ohad Merlin, Jerusalem Post, June 16, 2024:

Social media in the Arab world found itself in a tempest as outlets belonging to Al-Jazeera, mouthpiece of Hamas leaders’ haven Qatar, were caught red handed censoring Gazan contempt for Hamas.

Last week, Al-Jazeera Palestine, a tributary of Al-Jazeera, posted a video of a Gazan doctor who claimed he was injured in Nuseirat during Operation Arnon to rescue the four hostages, in which the doctor was seen crying and screaming about the casualties, saying: “it is true that we are steadfast;” but then the video suddenly cut, and the man was seen crying again.

However, in a longer uncut version of the video circulating online, the reason for the cutting and editing became clear.

During his original speech, the man also said: “this rotten leadership will end up blaming us that we … it is true that we are steadfast, however our leadership are scum. Our leadership got used to this bloodshed, may Allah reckon with them! …swear to me that this video will reach the Palestinian leadership. This massacre at Nuseirat – we could have prevented it!”

This part of the interview, so furious in its condemnation of Hamas’ “rotten leadership” who are “scum,” was not shown on Al-Jazeera television, but it had been recorded by others at the scene and was uploaded by persons unknown to social media, where it has gone viral, much to the chagrin of Al-Jazeera and Hamas.

It is unclear how the man meant for the so-called “massacre” to be prevented, and some speculated that he was referring to the fact that civilians from the area knew about the holding of Israeli hostages in their neighbors’ home.

In any case, this was not the only time Al-Jazeera attempted to censor or silence Gazan criticism of Hamas.

In November, a viral video circulated of an elderly injured Gazan who was interviewed in a Gaza hospital by an Al-Jazeera reporter, saying: “and regarding the resistance (meaning: Hamas), they hide among the people. Why do they hide among the people?”

The reporter could then be seen immediately cutting the interview and trying to end the broadcast, leaving the interviewee surprised and attempting to get back to his interview….

When the interviewee dares to question — that is, to criticize — Hamas’ policy of using human shields (“Why do they hide among the people”) he is promptly cut off, but he has already said quite enough.

And his telling outburst was also posted on social media.

Clearly the Israeli government is within its rights in shutting down Al-Jazeera’s operations in the Jewish state. Al-Jazeera is not, and has never been, a legitimate news-gathering organization.

Funded by the Hamas-supporting government of Hamas, it is the propaganda arm of the terror group. Its reporters in Gaza promptly cut off interviewees who dare to call Hamas’ behavior into question.

When someone in Gaza criticizes Hamas, whether it be to complain of the danger Hamas puts civilians in, as in its placement of the hostages in private houses, or the harm it does them by seizing so much of the aid that, as the elderly woman put it, goes “down to the tunnels” rather than to the ordinary Gazans, that interviewee is promptly cut off.

People in Gaza have been uploading their own live broadcasts, as well as posts on social media, to express their fury at Hamas both for endangering their lives and for seizing so much of the aid for its own operatives and their extended families.

They know that this is the only way for the truth to get out; the traditional media in Gaza, with Al-Jazeera in the lead, will never permit such criticism of Hamas.

Also in November, Hezbollah-affiliated channel Al-Mayadeen interviewed a Gazan girl asking what she wants to say about the so-called “resistance”, and the girl responded: “The resistance is under the tunnels and they leave the people alone.”…

The girl’s remark that Hamas is “under the tunnels” means its operatives are in hiding, while we ordinary Gazans are the ones who bear the brunt of the IDF’s assault.

HAMAS LIES ARE ‘REGURGITATED’ BY MEDIA OUTLETS: EX-IDF SPOKESMAN
And when she says “they [Hamas operatives] leave the people alone,” she means that they do not give a damn about the people, do not help them in any way, do not allow them to receive the full amount of the aid to which they are entitled but instead seize so much of it for themselves.

All those journalists in Gaza working for Al-Jazeera, the disseminator of propaganda for Hamas, and for other Arab and Western media outlets as well, do not report the truth about the fury at Hamas expressed by ordinary Gazans.

If they dared to do so, Hamas would shut them down. So now the real reporting from Gaza is done by individuals, who post their videos of such outbursts against Hamas on social media.

These anti-Hamas videos, after being posted on social media, have been taken up by media in countries hostile to Hamas, including Saudi Arabia. The Saudi channel Al-Arabiya has broadcast several of these videos.

Despite these instances of brave criticism under Hamas’s oppressive regime, records show that reality is more complex and that many in Gaza still support the terrorist organization.

A poll published recently by renowned Palestinian pollster Khalil Shikaki showed that some 46% of Gazans want the terror group to remain in power after the war, and that 57% of Gazans still support the October 7th attacks….

But the support for the October 7 attacks expressed by a slight majority of Gazans does not mean that Gazans approve of the way that they have been treated by Hamas.

It is they who have suffered thousands of casualties because of Hamas’ practice of embedding its operatives, and hiding their weapons, in civilian areas.

It is they who are not getting the aid — food, medicine — that they are entitled to because Hamas operatives have taken so much of it for themselves. And less than half of Gazans — 46% — want the terror group to remain in power after the war ends.

Shikaki explained the disparity between the Palestinians from the West Bank who want Hamas to remain in power after the war and those in Gaza (71% and 46% respectively), by explaining that, while Gazans can see for themselves the situation on the ground, 83% of West Bankers get their news updates from Al-Jazeera, and thus “seem to come to certain conclusions that are somewhat different than those in Gaza,” tacitly implying that Al-Jazeera’s reports may tend to be unrepresentative of reality.

Shikaki means, in words carefully chosen, that the better the Palestinians know Hamas, the less likely they are to support it.

The Gazans see for themselves how Hamas treats them, with many of its “fighters” hiding in tunnels, while others in the terror group endanger Gazans on the ground above by placing themselves, their weapons, and the hostages, in civilian areas and buildings.

They see, too, how Hamas appropriates — steals — aid for its own members.

This behavior is not observed by the Palestinians living in the West Bank, who rely completely on Al-Jazeera for their news from Gaza, which explains why they are much more favorably inclined toward Hamas than the Gazans themselves.