News outlets deny advance knowledge of Hamas attack on Israel

[CharlieH]

 

Several of the world’s leading news organizations are denying having prior knowledge of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, following explosive allegations from a pro-Israel media watchdog this week.

The HonestReporting group published an article Wednesday suggesting several freelance journalists working for The New York Times, The Associated Press, CNN and Reuters either had advanced knowledge of the planned Hamas attack or did not do enough to warn their media companies or government officials about an imminent threat to Israel.

 

“What were they doing there so early on what would ordinarily have been a quiet Saturday morning? Was it coordinated with Hamas?” the group asked, attaching photos it said showed a number of photographers on the ground near the Israeli border shortly before the attack. “Did the respectable wire services, which published their photos, approve of their presence inside enemy territory, together with the terrorist infiltrators? Did the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets?”

“Judging from the pictures of lynching, kidnapping and storming of an Israeli kibbutz, it seems like the border has been breached not only physically, but also journalistically.”

Throughout the day Thursday, each of the news organizations mentioned in the article responded with forceful denials they had advance knowledge of the attack.

 

FULL STORY

 

[Hanaguma]

Chances are the large media organizations didn't know the score. BUT... the 'freelance journalists' they were using did seem to have unusually good access to Hamas. To the point of riding on a motorbike with them to the scene of the slaughter.  Or perhaps you can believe that they were just very lucky to be 'on the spot' at the right place at the right time. 

 

The problem comes if the journalists knew the attacks were imminent, but did nothing. Did not inform anyone that a slaughter was planned. At very least, that would put their credibility in question, if not their humanity.

[impulse]

17 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

The problem comes if the journalists knew the attacks were imminent, but did nothing. Did not inform anyone that a slaughter was planned. At very least, that would put their credibility in question, if not their humanity.

 

More than that.  Israel has apparently declared them active participants.

 

The head of the Israeli Government Press Office, Nitzan Chen, asked AP, Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times to address the “involvement of their photographers in the events of October 7th, which crosses every professional and moral red line.”

 

Israel considers the photographers participants in the October 7 attack and they will be added to the list of those to be “eliminated,” according to Danny Danon, former Israeli ambassador to the UN and a member of parliament from the ruling Likud party.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/586945-israel-journalists-embedded-hamas/

 

The OP's referenced Honest Reporting article is also worth a read.

 

https://honestreporting.com/photographers-without-borders-ap-reuters-pictures-of-hamas-atrocities-raise-ethical-questions/

 

 

 

 

Edited November 10, 2023 by impulse

[Bkk Brian]

3 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

More than that.  Israel has apparently declared them active participants.

 

The head of the Israeli Government Press Office, Nitzan Chen, asked AP, Reuters, CNN, and the New York Times to address the “involvement of their photographers in the events of October 7th, which crosses every professional and moral red line.”

 

Israel considers the photographers participants in the October 7 attack and they will be added to the list of those to be “eliminated,” according to Danny Danon, former Israeli ambassador to the UN and a member of parliament from the ruling Likud party.

 

https://www.rt.com/news/586945-israel-journalists-embedded-hamas/

 

 

 

 

That's RT propaganda, its not Israel but one person, an ex ambassador

[impulse]

1 minute ago, Bkk Brian said:

That's RT propaganda, its not Israel but one person, an ex ambassador

 

And apparently a "member of parliament from the ruling Likud party".

 

Sadly, the MSM isn't going to show us any of this, after they used photos from these guys.  They're in CYA mode.  

[Bkk Brian]

1 minute ago, impulse said:

 

And apparently a "member of parliament from the ruling Likud party".

 

Sadly, the MSM isn't going to show us any of this, after they used photos from these guys.  They're in CYA mode.  

 

But you trust RT......sad

 

A questionable source exhibits one or more of the following: extreme bias, consistent promotion of propaganda/conspiracies, poor or no sourcing to credible information, a complete lack of transparency, and/or is fake news. 

https://mediabiasfactcheck.com/rt-news/

[Morch]

13 minutes ago, Hanaguma said:

Chances are the large media organizations didn't know the score. BUT... the 'freelance journalists' they were using did seem to have unusually good access to Hamas. To the point of riding on a motorbike with them to the scene of the slaughter.  Or perhaps you can believe that they were just very lucky to be 'on the spot' at the right place at the right time. 

 

The problem comes if the journalists knew the attacks were imminent, but did nothing. Did not inform anyone that a slaughter was planned. At very least, that would put their credibility in question, if not their humanity.

 

I don't think that they were in the know prior to the attack. Various reports suggest that most Hamas men were told a couple of hours or so before the attack commenced. They could have come in with the second wave of Hamas men, or with the mob that followed. It's unlikely Hamas would risk its attack plans being revealed this way.

 

Some of them can be seen clearly on clips, not so much reporting, as happily documenting , cheering and so on. IMO, these ought to face the same fate other participants of the 7/10 attack. Doubt their names aren't already on Israel's lists.

[impulse]

9 minutes ago, Bkk Brian said:

But you trust RT......sad

I just started with RT.  Then I looked up Honest Reporting, from that article and found the HR article that was referenced in The Hill's article that formed the basis of the OP.  Looked a little more and found even worse photos from some of the "embedded journalists" (in quotes for a reason), but I won't post or link to those because they're from further right wing sources.

 

Let's just say that, if Israel wanted to off at least 2 of those guys, I wouldn't object.

 

Then I went to CNN and found... nothing.  Probably because they used several of their photos and want this story to go away.

 

[Bkk Brian]

Just now, impulse said:

I just started with RT.  Then I looked up Honest Reporting, from that article and found the HR article that was referenced in The Hill's article that formed the basis of the OP.  Looked a little more and found even worse photos from some of the "embedded journalists" (in quotes for a reason), but I won't post or link to those because they're from further right wing sources.

 

Let's just say that, if Israel wanted to off at least 2 of those guys, I wouldn't object.

 

Then I went to CNN and found... nothing.  Probably because they used several of their photos and want this story to go away.

 

Of course, you always go to your first choice Russian outlet. 

 

Not many countries that Hamas would go to discuss releasing their hostages unless of course they happen to be Russian

 

Hamas Delegates Arrive in Moscow for Talks – Foreign Ministry

 

 

https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2023/10/26/hamas-delegates-arrive-in-moscow-for-talks-foreign-ministry-a82902

 

[candide]

4 hours ago, Hanaguma said:

Chances are the large media organizations didn't know the score. BUT... the 'freelance journalists' they were using did seem to have unusually good access to Hamas. To the point of riding on a motorbike with them to the scene of the slaughter.  Or perhaps you can believe that they were just very lucky to be 'on the spot' at the right place at the right time. 

 

The problem comes if the journalists knew the attacks were imminent, but did nothing. Did not inform anyone that a slaughter was planned. At very least, that would put their credibility in question, if not their humanity.

I agree It's unlikely the media would have known it in advance. Even by putting ethical concerns aside, they would not have missed the headline of the year by being the first to announce it publicly.

 

It's possible that some FL journalists may have been warned short before by their contacts. Hamas convoys may also have been spoted on the way. However, It's also worth noting that Gaza is very small. It's probably not more than a 20/30 mn ride to reach the border from Gaza city.

[Morch]

IMO, that's a general problem for international/western organizations working in some areas (the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Southern Lebanon being the most relevant for the current situation). Not only media, but Aid groups/organizations/projects, Human rights NGOs, UN agencies (UNRWA) and forces (UNIFIL).

 

To different degrees they all rely on local hands, local cooperation and goodwill. The way it works is that there's usually a skeleton crew of 'outsiders' (often a mix of higher up positions and trainees), while most of the workers/employees/hire help are local. All of these foreign outfits have codes and rules supposedly addressing expected conduct by their people - but the reality is that it's (a) impossible to fully enforce given the ratio of foreigners to locals, and (b) foreign crews maybe not eager to tackle such issues. 

 

One can't work in Gaza, as a foreigner, and preach locals about Israel's point of view, or seriously enforce moderation, adherence to Western ethical notions and so on. Same thing, if to a lesser degree in the two other areas mentioned. On top of that I think there's an added layer of existing bias - people who take such posts are usually already invested in the local narrative, and so, more open to accept, forgive, turn a blind eye when such things happen. This can also happen on the job - one sees hardship, injustice, oppression on a daily basis and that tends to shift  points of view, plus it's hard to hang around with locals all day and not absorb something.

 

And so these sort of things crop up quite routinely - dodgy coverage by freelancer reporters and photographers, teachers straying off the curriculum, schools letting in unapproved teaching programs, or being as arms storage, supplies making their way to the wrong hands or stolen without contest,  human rights reports overly receptive to testimonies, and peace keeping forces looking the other way or arriving just to late at times - and so on and so forth.

 

I'm not saying it's all like that. There are many people doing exactly what they should be doing. But treating these things as 'isolated cases' - heh.

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

Interesting article I read last night on this. The news outlets certainly deny they had any directly employed photographers at the incidents on the 7th when it kicked off but it still leaves the fact that they were provided with photos from freelance photojournalists. Photos they bought included a burning Israeli tank, Palestinians breaching a fence at the Kfar Aza kibbutz and scenes from the attack itself.

 

However AP said it was no longer working with one of the journalists, Hassan Eslaiah, who was found to have been pictured with Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. CNN said it had no prior knowledge of the attacks, but said it also would suspend its ties with Eslaiah.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-67375667

[impulse]

3 hours ago, Bkk Brian said:

However AP said it was no longer working with one of the journalists, Hassan Eslaiah, who was found to have been pictured with Hamas Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar. CNN said it had no prior knowledge of the attacks, but said it also would suspend its ties with Eslaiah.

 

I'm not going to post a link, because it would probably get taken down.  But if you do a Bing search for "Hassan Eslaiah grenade", it'll make a little clearer why CNN has cut ties with the guy.  (I'd Google it, but Google's blocked here where I'm staying)

 

I'd even suggest looking at 2 articles in that right wing rag, Gateway Pundit if you want to see the actual screen grab from a video reportedly pulled  from his Facebook page.  (His Facebook page has since been deleted).

 

Big question is whether he was an impartial journalist or a cheerleader (if not a participant) with a GoPro.

 

 

[Bkk Brian]

1 hour ago, impulse said:

 

I'm not going to post a link, because it would probably get taken down.  But if you do a Bing search for "Hassan Eslaiah grenade", it'll make a little clearer why CNN has cut ties with the guy.  (I'd Google it, but Google's blocked here where I'm staying)

 

I'd even suggest looking at 2 articles in that right wing rag, Gateway Pundit if you want to see the actual screen grab from a video reportedly pulled  from his Facebook page.  (His Facebook page has since been deleted).

 

Big question is whether he was an impartial journalist or a cheerleader (if not a participant) with a GoPro.

 

 

No thanks lol

[candide]

5 hours ago, impulse said:

 

I'm not going to post a link, because it would probably get taken down.  But if you do a Bing search for "Hassan Eslaiah grenade", it'll make a little clearer why CNN has cut ties with the guy.  (I'd Google it, but Google's blocked here where I'm staying)

 

I'd even suggest looking at 2 articles in that right wing rag, Gateway Pundit if you want to see the actual screen grab from a video reportedly pulled  from his Facebook page.  (His Facebook page has since been deleted).

 

Big question is whether he was an impartial journalist or a cheerleader (if not a participant) with a GoPro.

 

 

? There's nothing hidden or censored about it. It has been mentioned in several MSMs!

Ex.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-hamas-photographers.html

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hamas-journalist-revelation-legacy-media-terror-ties-scrutiny

 

The video is on Twitter. I have no idea if It's him or if the video is undoctored. 

There are three persons on the bike, the driver, then the one holding a grenade, then the one filming.

Edited November 11, 2023 by candide

[impulse]

2 hours ago, candide said:

? There's nothing hidden or censored about it. It has been mentioned in several MSMs!

Ex.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/09/world/middleeast/israel-gaza-hamas-photographers.html

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/hamas-journalist-revelation-legacy-media-terror-ties-scrutiny

 

The video is on Twitter. I have no idea if It's him or if the video is undoctored. 

There are three persons on the bike, the driver, then the one holding a grenade, then the one filming.

 

Help me out here.  Those 2 links are blocked here in China.

 

Did either one (or both) mention the grenade?

 

[candide]

7 minutes ago, impulse said:

 

Help me out here.  Those 2 links are blocked here in China.

 

Did either one (or both) mention the grenade?

 

Oh, I understand.

 

Yes. They mention the post from an Israeli guy on Twitter claiming It's him, and the photographer's claim It's someone else on the same bike. 

If he was filming the video, It was not him, it was the guy before him on the bike. Or maybe he was the guy right behind the driver, and someone else was filming.