🧵Probably 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 I’d take a look into al-Ghoul as well.
What I found was a highly sophisticated, concerted effort to – for lack of a better word – 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 — 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.
It’s 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-Ghoul’s connections to Hamas and his malevolent beliefs. They recognized the importance of meticulously shaping an image that aligns with the standards of “respected” 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!
Breaking: I've uncovered a series of posts in which @majedalansari — advisor to the Qatari PM and Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry — openly called for Tel Aviv to burn and praised suicide bombings.
This was posted on the night terrorists fired +100 rockets into Istael🧵
In one blog post, Al-Ansari praised the Second Intifada — the 2000-2005 Palestinian terror campaign — against the “Zionist enemy” and its “martyrdom operations,” a euphemism for terrorist attacks. He credited the intifada with leading Israel to pull out of Gaza in 2005.
On what appears to be his Facebook post, al-Ansari repeatedly called then-presidential candidate Trump a racist
Phenomenal reporting by @DailyMail: Undercover journalists checked into the Marriott’s Renaissance Cairo Mirage City and photographed Palestinian terrorists who've been housed there.
Unsuspecting families can still book rooms at the hotel. So who did they see at the hotel?🧵
But first:
The Daily Mail understands that the convicted terrorists will apply for local visas and residence permits to be able to melt back into society, although they will be monitored by local security services.
A former Israeli intelligence officer known as Guy C added: ‘There are no restrictions on their movements in these countries.
‘They can walk freely, travel to Europe – even the UK – receive donations from naive supporters, and gain backing from protestors who already sympathise with them.
Those staying at the resort include Mahmoud Issa, 57, who founded Special Unit 101 of the Izz a-Din al-Qassam Brigades, a Hamas special forces unit in Hamas which specialises in kidnappings
This is Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a senior fellow at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
If I told you Abdulkhaleq loved dead Jews, would you believe me? 🧵
Abdulkhaleq holds a PhD from Georgetown, where he was also a Fulbright Scholar and visiting professor at the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies. He occasionally teaches at Qatar University.
I noticed him when I read his piece in The Hill yesterday.
Abdulkhaleq loves dead Jews.
On October 7th, he wrote that the mass slaughter of 1200 people was a "legitimate right" and that the perpetrators were "heroes of the resistance."
In light of the U.S. government’s insane decision to let Qatar open a military base on American soil, I’m re-upping my viral article from last week on the massive scope of Qatari influence in the U.S. — and its FARA activity in D.C. especially.
Let’s break down some key facts 🧵
Qatar is the single largest foreign funder of . universities at $6.3 billion. The D.C.-based Georgetown has received $1 billion since 2005.
Qatar's total U.S. footprint is $93.7B, including $30B in business investments, $29B in weapons purchases, $20B in energy projects, $8B for Al Udeid Air Base, and $6.3B in higher education.