The Israeli murder of heroic Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif was bookended by accusations that he was part of Hamas. For many of our allies, the instinct is to prove his innocence by proving him “unaffiliated.” The following text, an excerpt from a previously published work, is a commentary on that impulse.
… Some months into the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which is “the deadliest conflict for journalists in recent history,” the Israeli occupation forces openly considered journalists employed by media organizations associated with or run by Hamas “to be legitimate military targets.” A senior spokesperson for the IOF went as far as telling reporters that “there was ‘no difference’ between working for [Al-Aqsa TV] and belonging to Hamas’s armed wing.” This statement brings to mind another comment by a different military spokesman, who said the late Shireen Abu Akleh was “armed with [her] camera.” It also brings to mind a Jewish Insider headline that reads, “One-Third of Journalists Killed in Gaza Were Affiliated with Terrorist Groups.” A headline where journalists justify killing journalists.
Continue reading at https://mohammedelkurd.substack.com/p/guilty-by-affiliation