This is going to keep happening to American media outlets when they hire local freelancers to cover the Israel-Hamas war. Joseph Wulfsohn at Fox News reported that Marwat Al-Azza, a freelance producer in East Jerusalem for NBC News, was arrested by Israeli authorities Thursday "on suspicion of inciting terrorism and identifying with a terrorist organization."
T
he Jerusalem Post reported Saturday that Al-Azza was taken into custody in response to her social media posts about the October 7 slaughter by Hamas. "These are very serious offenses during a time of declared war when the respondent lives and makes a living in the same country that is under attack and yet chooses to incite and glorify the horrible acts committed against civilians," a police spokesperson stated in court, according to The Post.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, on October 7 Al-Azza wrote on Facebook about an elderly woman who was kidnapped, "It’s killing me, it’s a black comedy, the old woman looks happy, a bit of action before she dies."
She also reportedly posted: "Sirens all the time, the Jews are hiding and the Arabs are out drinking coffee on their balconies," and "I feel like I’m watching a movie where the director is Palestinian and the protagonists are from Gaza."
An NBC News spokesperson told Fox News Digital, "The investigation of Ms. Azza is unrelated to NBC News. It is based on her personal Facebook posts that predate her time with us as a freelancer. We were not aware of those posts before we engaged Ms. Azza four weeks ago. She will not be contributing to our coverage going forward."
Wulfsohn reported the journalist was hired as a freelance producer by NBC News "around October 21," according to a person familiar with the situation, adding that her work for NBC News "did not uncover any issues."
Does this mean that the usual tone of Israel coverage at NBC doesn't differ much from a Palestinian terrorist sympathizer?
