Al Jazeera says Israel’s claim that six of its journalists are terrorists is a ‘baseless fabrication”

Published

2 weeks ago

October 25, 2024

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Al Jazeera has accused Israel of a “baseless fabrication” after six of its journalists were accused of being “terrorists”.

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) claims it has found documents and computer files proving that the six, who are all based in Gaza, have long-standing links to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.

It has published what it claims are details of their training, military rank, salaries and even injuries that they sustained.

The IDF says these documents “serve as proof of the integration of Hamas terrorists within the Qatari Al Jazeera media network”. However, the documents have not been independently verified.

Al Jazeera, which is the only international news company to have staff permanently based in Gaza, has denied the accusations, defending the journalists and insisting that Israel is simply trying to block all coverage of its military operations in the north of Gaza.

The journalists named by the IDF are Anas al-Sharif, Hossam Shabat, Ismael Abu Omar, Talal Arrouki, Ashraf and Alaa Salameh.

In an interview with Sky News, Mr Shabat described the documents as “false and against international law”.

“The Israelis included me in this list because they are targeting journalists and influencers whose voices are being shared widely, particularly on the conditions in northern Gaza.

“I am not affiliated with any Palestinian militant group or wing. Me and my colleagues are independent journalists. We represent the voice of the people, and work among civilians to cover the Israeli army’s ongoing crimes.

“The Israeli army is trying to stop the truth from getting out. It is trying to silence the north, to silence those who share the truth.

“I have lost family members already because they were targeted because I am a journalist. I carry guilt in my heart.”

Tamer Almisshal is a Palestinian journalist who works as a presenter for Al Jazeera and insists the broadcaster is resolutely behind its reporters.

He told me: “Israel is targeting our journalists in the Gaza strip to stop them covering what is happening in the north.

“We consider these allegations to be baseless, unfounded and fabricated. We are the sole international media organisation that is reporting from Gaza because Israel has closed all the crossings that would allow journalists to get into Gaza. So we are the only people reporting from inside the strip.

“We consider that Israel has made these allegations to try to make the journalists too fearful to continue reporting, especially from the north where most of the casualties have been in the past three or four weeks.

“We still commit to maintaining the highest professional standards, and to keep going with our coverage from the ground.”

The IDF claims the documents show that the journalists had held roles including sniper, captain and training co-ordinator.

It has denied fabricating any of the documents, saying the information was found on databases maintained by groups in Gaza.

However, while labelling the six as “terrorists” it has not provided any details of specific allegation of any activities.

Relations between Israel and Al Jazeera have been tense for years, with Israel accusing the Qatar-based network of being a mouthpiece for Hamas and Hezbollah.

In May 2022, Israeli forces shot and killed Shireen Abu Akleh, a well-known Al Jazeera journalist, as she reported from the West Bank.

Four Al Jazeera journalists have been killed following Israeli airstrikes in Gaza over the past 12 months.

In May, an Israeli court ordered that the network should stop broadcasting from Israel, the first time the country had ever closed down the operations of a foreign news outlet.

Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists, said: “I am deeply disturbed by this, and unfortunately it is part of a pattern by Israel, not just here but also in preceding conflicts, where they label journalists as terrorists but never produce any credible evidence.

“We are concerned that this is an attempt to excuse any future attacks on these journalists. We have looked at the documents they have produced and they don’t appear to be credible. But even if they were credible, they do not prove these individuals are active combatants, which is the only reason for targeting people. Journalists are civilians and must not be targeted in a war. To do so is a war crime.”

World

Ireland’s Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

Published

3 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Ireland's Prime Minister Simon Harris reveals planned date for general election

Ireland’s prime minister has announced the planned date for a general election to be held this month.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said he hopes the election will take place on 29 November, formally kicking off a truncated campaign which will last mere weeks.

Mr Harris, 38, was appointed Irish prime minister – the youngest in the country’s history – after Leo Varadkar’s shock resignation in March.

He will travel to Aras an Uachtarain on Friday, the official residence of the Irish president, to seek the dissolution of Ireland’s Dail parliament.

Speaking to RTE News on Wednesday, Mr Harris said: “As I would have discussed with the other coalition leaders, it’s my hope that we will have polling day on this country on November 29.”

He added: “I’m looking forward to the weeks ahead and asking the people of Ireland for a mandate.”

There’s a clear reason why this election has been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Its leader Mary Lou McDonald – once seen as Ireland’s first female taoiseach in waiting – has been battling a serious decline in support for a year, and is bogged down in firefighting a damaging series of internal party scandals, north and south of the border.

Why wait until next March for an election?

You can read Stephen Murphy’s full analysis here

After refusing to be drawn on the election date for weeks, Mr Harris made the announcement less than an hour after his coalition partner-turned-campaign rival Micheal Martin revealed that the election would be called on Friday.

Mr Harris could have waited until March when the coalition’s five-year term comes to an end to go to the polls, but he has been paving the way for an election in recent weeks, announcing 10.5bn euros (£8.75bn) in tax cuts and spending increases last month.

The election will bring to an end the historic coalition that brought together Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, who had been rivals dating back to the civil war.

It saw Mr Martin, the Fianna Fail leader, taking the taoiseach role for the first half of the lifetime of the government, later replaced by then-Fine Gael leader Mr Varadkar.

The last election was seen as a monumentally successful performance for Sinn Fein, which had the highest percentage of first-preference votes, but the party has struggled in more recent local and European elections.

World

Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

Published

3 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Should we be worried about a Donald Trump presidency?

A man described by not one but two of his closest former aides as a fascist will become the most powerful man in the world when he takes office. How worried should we be?

Very, say another dozen White House staffers who served under Donald Trump and watched him in action for his first four years in power.

In a second term, they are warning that those who once tried to prevent him from acting on his worst impulses will no longer be there to rein him in.

Follow latest: Trump wins US election – as world leaders congratulate him

“The grown ups”, as they were called in Mr Trump’s first administration, will have gone, replaced by people more aligned with his agenda and pushing their own.

What is that agenda and what is to come? That is harder to say. We have learned not to take Donald J Trump literally – his empty promises, lies, and false threats come thick and fast.

The first time round, many of his promises came to nothing; to build a border wall and have Mexico pay for it, to bring peace to the Middle East, to end North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme, and Iran’s too.

But we can say what is likely; trade wars with China, Mexico, and Canada seem probable.

The extent of the tariffs Mr Trump imposes are harder to predict but the impact on the global economy will most likely be considerable.

He could rip up more treaties the US has signed, including climate commitments made by his predecessors.

Mr Trump is likely to undo much of the Biden administration’s work to reverse climate change and the negative impact on the planet may be substantial.

And he is likely to negotiate an end to the Ukraine war largely on Moscow’s terms if his words and those of his team are anything to go by.

His running mate JD Vance says Russia will keep the land it has taken and receive a guarantee of Ukrainian neutrality. Putin could not have hoped for more.

Those hoping for an end to the war in Gaza may be disappointed too.

Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are close allies.

He is likely to give the Israelis plenty of latitude when it comes to the conflict. And there are fears he would not restrain Israel in any future confrontations with Iran unlike the Biden administration, with all the risks of a wider Middle Eastern war that might ensue.

NATO’s uncertain future

Trump’s impact on NATO is harder to predict. His team has floated various plans for the alliance. They all arguably weaken America’s support for it.

Without America’s cast-iron guarantee, will other countries seek their own security arrangements? It seems likely.

One of the great pillars of the post-world war order will have been weakened. But Mr Trump in his first term showed contempt for all its multi-lateral, multinational organisations.

America swings through cycles of isolationism, retreating from the world, then having to re-engage at huge cost to protect its interests.

Mr Trump may prove unwilling to learn the lessons of that history.

Those who regard America, for all its faults, as a positive influence in the world, an example to follow, will be most worried and disheartened.

A demagogic populist, regarded as a fascist by some of those who know him best and who openly admires authoritarians and dictators, will be taking up the reins of power again in the world’s most powerful democracy.

Half of American voters have opted for a man who refused to accept election defeat four years ago, used lies and dirty tricks to try and undermine its result, and stood by while an angry mob ransacked the citadel of American government.

All of that will only embolden other strongmen the world over and damage, perhaps beyond repair, the democracy that Americans have long believed stands as an example for all the world to follow.

World

Ireland’s election was a badly-kept secret – and there’s a clear reason why it’s been called

Published

3 hours ago

November 6, 2024

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Ireland's election was a badly-kept secret - and there's a clear reason why it's been called

So the worst kept secret in Irish politics is finally out, and the people look set to head to the ballot boxes on 29 November.

The taoiseach employs several lofty explanations for why he has decided upon an early election, but it’s hard to look beyond political expediency.

The Fine Gael party has been flying in the polls since Simon Harris became leader in April, while the opposition is in freefall. Sinn Fein, Ireland’s main opposition party, dropped to 16% in one recent poll – the lowest level of support since 2019.

Why wait until next March for an election? Going now ensures the voters will be getting the first benefits of the recent bumper €10.5bn (£9bn) giveaway budget (“buying votes” according to the opposition) as the polling cards arrive.

Going the parliamentary distance risks the current government buoyancy being sunk by events. A week is a long time in politics, four months an eternity. Why take the risk?

This election will largely be fought on the same issues as 2020. Four years of this coalition government has done nothing to convince voters that Ireland’s chronic housing problem is healing. Homelessness has hit a record high of 14,500.

The health system still creaks and groans under pressure, despite huge investment.

Immigration may be a new factor; concerns over a surge in asylum-seekers arriving in Ireland mean the topic could be a key issue for the first time in an election here.

A chunky budget surplus, full employment, tax cuts and benefit hikes – what Sir Keir Starmer wouldn’t give to be in Simon Harris’s shoes.

But for many citizens, Ireland is a rich country that often feels like a poor country. So the saying goes, at least.

Success for the government parties in this election will rely on reminding the voters of the first part of that truism and glossing over the latter part.

Extra pre-Christmas cash for punters, a hamstrung opposition and that new leader bounce all help greatly – Mr Harris kicks off this campaign in a strong position to be returned as Ireland’s prime minister.

It’s the government’s election to lose.