Beginning on the very first day of the horrific terrorist attacks on Israel there were actual attempts to sympathize with Hamas in the American media.
From MSNBC’s Ali Velshi demanding that the barbaric acts need to be looked at with “nuance” to a CNN guest actually blaming Israel for their years of “Apartheid” rule to a CBS correspondent praising Hamas’s leaders: “What they lack in fire power, they make up for in ideology and sheer determination,” the following are the nine worst moments of hosts, anchors and reporters sympathizing with Hamas in the wake of the worst terror attack since 9/11.
Newsbusters Media Editor Bill D’Agostino has compiled this montage:
1. Velshi: There’s “Nuance” to Terrorist Attacks Against Israel
“We’ve had a lot of statements from Americans, mostly Republicans this morning, but some Democrats, it’s a bit boilerplate. ‘Israel is our greatest ally. The only democracy in the Middle East. Our strongest ally, we must stand with Israel.’ There’s no nuance or recognition of anything that’s been going on. Let alone — the only thing Americans are worried about these days are these so-called judicial reforms going on in Israel, which have led to hundreds of thousands of people protesting on the streets, but lots of Palestinians have said to me, boy they wish those same Israelis who were out there protesting the so-called judicial reforms would be protesting Israel’s inhumane treatment of the Palestinians who live under Israeli occupation. But that’s just not something that’s happening.”
— Host Ali Velshi on MSNBC’s Velshi, October 7.
2. LA Times Reporter or Hamas Propagandist?
“The only source for ‘Hamas beheaded babies’ appears to be the Israeli military, which is widely known to spread lies and disinformation. Journalists, this is the fog of war. You’ll be seeing all sorts of claims. Don’t amplify unverified, sensational info.”
— October 10 tweet by Los Angeles Times investigative reporter Adam Elmahrek.
3. Hamas Has No Choice But To Use Military Force
“It would be very naive to just simply say every Palestinian agrees with what Hamas is doing. But Hamas is saying, well, if nobody is able to defend, what is happening for Palestinians in the west bank or east Jerusalem, with the home demolitions, the arrests, the children being killed, the desecration of holy sites, if they’re unable to do that, then we only have the ability to do it with military might and crude weapons and military.”
— MSNBC Host Ayman Mohyeldin on MSNBC’s Velshi, October 7
4. CNN Welcomes Palestinian Propagandist
“I think Hamas mainly attacked military establishments, military installations, and most of the people there, they have arrested and taken as war prisoners are military people. I do not accept attacking any civilian. I do not accept that Israelis attack our civilians. But look at what Israeli planes are doing now in Gaza. They are bombarding houses. They are bringing down to earth and you’ve shown that on your screen, whole apartments, whole buildings, high-rise buildings are brought down to the ground and we already are reporting — receiving reports about families who are killed.”
— Palestinian National Initiative leader Mustafa Barghouti on CNN’s Fareed Zakaria GPS, October 8.
5. CBS Hypes Hamas’s “Sheer Determination”
“Over the years I’ve made frequent trips to Gaza and have spoken with several Hamas leaders and, you know, they know their military capabilities are no match for Israel’s enormous fire power. But what they lack in fire power, they make up for in ideology and sheer determination. That resolve despite the odds may be what caught Israel so off guard…The leader of Hamas military-wing, Mohammad Deif, one of the self-declared masterminds of this weekend's attacks, said it was in response to recent Israeli raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque known to the Jews as the Temple Mount. Deif also said it was for the detention of Palestinians in Israeli jails and he said it was so Israel could understand its quote ‘time of rampaging without accountability has ended.’”
— Correspondent Imtiaz Tyab on CBS Mornings, October 10.
6. Israel’s Response Just Going to Create “More Divisions”
“There’s a real danger here that, in Israel’s need and desire and right to respond to what happened there, the danger is that it — it creates more divisions, that it separates people who have formed relationships and bonds, and it makes the chances of any lasting peace almost impossible to think of now. We’re all talking about war. No one is any longer talking about peace.”
— Correspondent Ian Pannell on ABC’s Good Morning America, October 11.
7. Israel Targeting Hamas Leaders…“But At What Cost?”
“In Gaza, it’s the youngest who are paying the ultimate price. Tiny bodies covered in blood as exhausted doctors try to save their lives. Israel says it’s targeting Hamas leaders, but at what cost? The death toll in the besieged Palestinian territory has surged past 1,000 in just five days, and on nearly every street, scenes of anguish as rescue workers gathered the remains of the dead. The sorrow here is so intense this woman collapses to the ground.”
— Correspondent Imtiaz Tyab on CBS Mornings, October 12.
8. Israel Is Guilty Of Decades of Occupation and Apartheid
“Of course we have heard from regional voices, we have heard from international rights groups and human rights organizations who have said that, while this attack was deplorable, and deeply unprecedented, it did not happen in a vacuum. This has come after decades of what Hamas and other Palestinians view to be occupation of Palestinian territory. It comes after decades of violation of Palestinian rights and decades of which is where the rights groups and U.N. Human rights experts have characterized as policies and practices which amount to apartheid.”
— CNN International reporter Nada Bashir on CNN Tonight, October 9.
9. Don’t Make This About Good Guys vs. Bad Guys, Let’s “Look At The Bigger Picture”
“Politicians think they can just ignore the context in which all of this is happening: the fact that Israel is an occupying power, the fact that Israel has violated international law as well as Palestinian rights…The fact is, there’s an entire people who are living under the boot of the Israeli Army. They don’t want to do that anymore. And they, you know, they’ve tried everything, even this statement from Hamas. And I really want to caution your viewers not to be dragged into the good guy vs bad guy equation. We have to look at the bigger picture.”
— Palestinian political analyst Nour Odeh on MSNBC’s Velshi, October 8.
