๐งตProbably the most sophisticated Al Jazeera "journalist" psy-op yet:
You may have seen the headlines today about Al Jazeera journalist Ismail al-Ghoul, who was apprehended by the IDF in Shifa Hospital while it was battling terrorists.
Given the multiple instances since October 7th of Al Jazeera journalists moonlighting as Hamas operatives (or vice versa), I figured Iโd take a look into al-Ghoul as well.
What I found was a highly sophisticated, concerted effort to โ for lack of a better word โ manufacture a "legitimate journalist" out of whole cloth.
2/ Here are al-Ghoul's official journo social media accounts on telegram, x, and facebook. They were all created between November 2023 โ February 2024.
And here are his first posts on his official Instagram and TikTok accounts.
In other words, unlike many of the Al Jazeera journalists who have been exposed as terrorists or terror supporters since October 7th due to their social media activity, much of this guy's social media activity was inaccessible.
Or so I initially thought.
4/ Turns out he has a personal Facebook, on which he loves to post his love for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar
5/ He also glorifies terrorism, like in the cases of Basel al-Arraj, the head of a PFLP cell who was killed in a gun battle in the West Bank in 2017, and Diya'a al-Sabarini, an al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades terrorist who was killed in a gunfight with the IDF
6/ I then found an old disabled X account of his using internet sleuthing stuff.
He used to be a journalist at the Hamas-run news outlets Felesteen and Al-Resalah
7/ I also found that after working for Hamas news outlets, al-Ghoul worked for several "media production companies" in Gaza before moving over to Al Jazeera right after October 7th.
8/ Although al-Ghoul's old X account is disabled and his posts can be seen, I did some more internet sleuthing stuff and managed to find some of his old posts in which he demonstrates his antisemitism and support for terror.
For example:
"The greatest epidemic is the Israeli entity and every Arab trying to normalize it as a reality to coexist with them...
72 years of continuous crime and abuse against Palestinians, the most recent being exposing Palestinian prisoners to the global pandemic.
#Covid48"
9/ Translation:
"Alternative tools are a treasure in the hands of all the young people of the West Bank
#DownWithTheAnnexation_Decision"
10/ To clarify: al-Ghoul's prior TikTok, X, and Instagram accounts were deleted. We know this because the usernames of his new accounts on the platforms all end with the number 2.
Itโs no small feat to erase much of someone's social media presence, create new profiles, and then amass hundreds of thousands of followers in just a few months, as seen with al-Ghoul.
The orchestrator of this psy-op invested considerable effort to conceal al-Ghoulโs connections to Hamas and his malevolent beliefs. They recognized the importance of meticulously shaping an image that aligns with the standards of โrespectedโ news sources like Al Jazeera.
Ultimately, they transformed a Hamas operative into an ostensibly "legitimate" journalist, yet whose primary goal is to disseminate Hamas propaganda and demonize the State of Israel, whether through his reporting or now, by elevating his status to that of a martyr following his arrest.
Judging by the public response to al-Ghoul's arrest, it's evident that their strategy was wildly successful.
11/ If you haven't done so yet, I would appreciate if you share my thread to spread the word about this type of nefarious public manipulation.
And while you're at it, please share the legendary @mishtal's thread about the Ghoul as well!
This past week, hedge fund manager Joseph Edelman resigned from Brown Universityโs board of trustees over the institution's handling of antisemitism.
So with Brown's antisemitism once again in the headlines, I thought Iโd take the opportunity to introduce you to its new director of the Center for Middle East Studies, Elias Muhanna.
During the height of the Israel-Hamas War in 2014โinstigated after Hamas terrorists kidnapped three Israeli teenage hitchhikersโwrote what can only be described as a masterclass in Hamas apologia
Elias has no problem with students trespassing as long as it's for anti-Israel purposes, seems to think that Israel has turned Gaza into an "assassination factory," and likes to tout his BDS bona fides
๐งต Anyone who doesn't believe that Gazan "journalist" Amr Abu Ridah is a PFLP operative โ despite his own admission โ is welcome to look at his Telegram channel, which is literally filled to the brim with PFLP propaganda and murderous incitement
๐จHUGE๐จ: Georgetown Qatar to Host Hamas Member
In two weeks, @GUQatar โ a branch of Americaโs top school for diplomacy โ is hosting a conference titled "Reimagining Palestine."
Among the antisemitic and terror-supporting speakers is one name I hadn't seen before: Wadah Khanfar
This is Wadah Khanfar, photographed in Gaza circa 2013.
But who is he exactly? Well, "officially," he was a board member and Director General of Al Jazeera, the Qatari government-controlled media empire, between 2006-2011.
However, according to numerous Arabic-language news outlets, Khanfar is not just a renowned figure in the Arabic media landscape, but a senior member of the Hamas terrorist organization and part of the Muslim Brotherhood.
For example, the Palestinian Raya Media Network writes that Khanfar:
๐ธโWas active in the Hamas movement and was one of its most prominent leaders in the movement's office in Sudanโ
๐ธโIs considered one of the senior political leaders of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). He held the position of Head of Hamas' Political Office for (South and North Africa) in the South African city of Johannesburg, where he operated under the name 'The African Middle East Center for Studies and Research.'"
Last, but certainly not least in our series of @NPR journalists covering the Israel-Hamas War, is Abu Bakr Bashir.
His Facebook account shows him to be quite the jokester. But not all of the jokes land โ like this one๐งต
Translation of the above โฌ๏ธ
"He tricked him by saying: I will sell you the car for 100,000, with a down payment of 50,000, and monthly payments of 10,000. The buyer agreed, happy to have made a good deal, and when he was leaving, the seller said: And 500 for D."
Although Emmy-nominated Bisan Owdaโs PFLP ties donโt concern pro-Palestinian supporters, many were upset at her for promoting conspiracy theories against the polio vaccine.
Gazan influencer Nour Alsaqa shared a particularly spicy video condemning Bisan
Here's Nour's sister, whom she references, commenting on Bisan's initial anti-polio vaccine video
As well as a follow-up video in which Nour calls Bisan out for exploiting the suffering of Gazans for personal gain
Introducing Anas Baba, an @NPR journalist from Gaza paid with American tax dollars.
Baba's social media presence is scant, but he does appear to have an old Facebook account where his "biases" are front and center ๐งต
Translation:
"Allah is the greatest. The volleys of the resistance's rockets, without exception, are music to my ears, with bursts surpassing fifty. May Allah guide your shooting; avenge our martyrs.... oh warriors of the homeland and the cause. O you who hold on to the rifle"