CNN was the latest international news agency to poke holes in the Israeli version of events concerning the Nuseirat massacre and the rescue operation of four Israeli captives on Saturday.
What is the story?
The Israeli army had accused a local Palestinian journalist, Abdallah Aljamal, of taking hostages inside his apartment in one of the houses that the Israeli army raided, executing most of its civilian inhabitants.
As soon as the allegations were made, linking Aljamal to Aljazeera, many pro-Israeli supporters on social media began an organized campaign attacking any organization that had published Aljamal’s works throughout the years.
Al-Jazeera responded by accurately stating that Aljamal is not one of its staff.
The Palestine Chronicle took the same position as indeed, Aljamal was a freelance writer who contributed articles to the Palestine Chronicle on a voluntary basis, mostly since the start of the Israeli genocide in Gaza.
Why did Israel single out Aljamal?
It is unclear why Israel decided to place most of its focus on a local journalist with no militant affiliation.
This may have started with a viral post by Ramy Abdu, chairman of the EuroMed Monitor, who wrote on an X post on June 9 that “In an initial testimony documenting the killings committed by the Israeli army in the Nuseirat camp today, the @EuroMedHR reported that the Israeli army used a ladder to enter the home of Dr. Ahmed Al-Jamal.”
“The army immediately executed 36-year-old Fatima Al-Jamal upon encountering her on the staircase. The forces then stormed the house and executed her husband, journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal, 36, and his father, Dr. Ahmed, 74, in front of his grandchildren. The army also shot their daughter, Zainab, 27, who sustained serious injuries,” Abdu’s post added.
The word ‘journalist’ in Abdu’s post was immediately exploited by pro-Israeli users, with Visegrad 24 linking Aljamal to Al Jazeera and Eitan Fischberger linking him to the Palestine Chronicle.
See Visegrad 24 tweet here:
Israeli hostage Noa Argamani was being held in the house of Al Jazeera journalist Abdallah Aljamal.
Read that again.
Gaza-based photojournalist and reporter Abdallah Aljamal was holding Noa Argamani hostage in his “spare time”.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) June 9, 2024
See Fischberger’s tweet here:
🚨 WILD: Was a journalist working for the US-bazed 501(c)(3) organization, The Palestine Chronicle, helping hold Israelis hostage in Gaza? pic.twitter.com/UhZLjsgYf6
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 9, 2024
The truth is that Aljamal neither worked for Aljazeera nor the Palestine Chronicle. He was a freelance writer whose work has appeared in these, but many other publications throughout the years.
By exploiting the issue, and creating a large and growing narrative of false information, these social media users tried to distract from the fact that at least 274 Palestinians were killed and 800 others were wounded in the Israeli operation.
By doing so, they also hoped to provide a wider justification of the intentional Israeli targeting of Palestinian journalists, 150 of whom have been killed or assassinated since the start of the war.
What is the true version of events?
It is not yet possible to provide exact details of what has actually taken place, since the Israeli military has killed and wounded everyone in sight and destroyed many homes, containing any possible evidence.
What we are able to tell, however, is that the Israeli story has been inconsistent from the very start.
First, they accused Aljamal’s family of holding a single hostage without providing any evidence.
Second, then they claimed that the family was holding three hostages, again, without providing any evidence.
Clarification: Aljamal did not WORK for Al Jazeera – he did co-author one article in 2019.
That said, he did work for the US-based 501c3 Palestine Chronicle AND Hamas. Which is absolutely insane.
And Al Jazeera is still an evil Hamas propaganda outlet https://t.co/oEXUnHRdOs
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) June 9, 2024
Third, they also made the claim that Aljamal had an official affiliation with Aljazeera, the Palestine Chronicle and others, which is entirely untrue.
But even more important is what CNN has itself reported on Monday.
In an article entitled ‘Israel alleges journalist held hostages in Gaza, without providing evidence’, CNN wrote that “without providing evidence, the Israeli X account also claimed that Argamani was held in Aljamal’s home, before later saying the three men were held captive there.”
“Aljamal lived on the first floor of a multi-story building, according to Euro-Med. The IDF said the hostages were found on the third floor,” it added.
More information continues to indicate that Israel chose to indict a local journalist for purely strategic reasons, similar to all allegations they have made against other journalists, including those killed in the Shifa Hospital and many other massacres throughout Gaza since October 7.
The lies are being exposed, even by CNN. Check out this article: https://t.co/eIiDW1nzYp
— Ramzy Baroud (@RamzyBaroud) June 11, 2024
Ongoing Genocide
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 37,124 Palestinians have been killed, and 84,712 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
How can you tell an Israeli official spokesperson’s lying? His/her lips are moving.