Photo credit: DiasporaEngager (www.DiasporaEngager.com).

Harrowing footage released on Wednesday, shows Palestinian cameramen filming the violent abduction of Yarden Bibas into Gaza on October 7.

While the identity of the Palestinian journalists remains unclear, their presence amid a blood-thirsty mob of terrorists proves a disturbing truth: Gaza-based journalists covering Hamas atrocities that day did not bravely risk their lives, as declared by institutions that recently granted them awards, but operated easily without any objections from the perpetrators.

In the video, a professional camera hovering over a Palestinian mob can be seen as its operator nonchalantly tries to focus on the terrified Bibas, who is tightly held on a motorbike in the middle of the chaotic scene.

34-year-old Bibas — whose wife Shiri and two young sons Ariel and Kfir had been abducted in a separate incident — is seen surrounded by armed men, bloodied, beaten, abused, and yelled at.

But the cameraman — as well as whoever films the video footage and others who hold up their phones — care only about capturing Bibas’s suffering, most likely in order to sell the footage to local and international news outlets.

That they could operate freely amidst the barbarity suggests that they were present with — at the very least — tacit approval from the mob. In fact, including journalists as part of the invading force was always part of Hamas’ plan.

Gaza-based journalists were there not just to document, but to exploit. HonestReporting exposed this connection in November 2023, revealing that Gaza-based photojournalists had infiltrated into Israel with Hamas on October 7.

Subsequently, CNN and the AP cut ties with one of them — Hassan Eslaiah — who had been photographed with none other than Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.

But in general, media outlets failed to acknowledge these ethical violations. Not only do they still offer for sale pictures showing the lynching of an Israeli soldier or the abductions of civilians into Gaza. They showcase them in their selective war footage galleries, and win prestigious awards with them.

This is not journalism.

As revealed last month by Israel’s Channel 12 news magazine Uvda, the documentation and distribution of the October 7 atrocities was part of Hamas’ vicious plan. And as an Islamic Jihad spokesperson recently admitted, international media reporters in Gaza have been willingly dancing to Hamas’ tune.

So if we put two and two together, it’s clear that the video that captured media workers filming Bibas’ abduction shows only one example out of many.

As Hamas slaughtered more than 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped 250 others, Gaza-based journalists were there to document it all.

Others celebrated the massacre on social media, like Motaz Azaiza, who — just this week — has been shamelessly declared one of TIME Magazine’s most influential people of 2024.

But any profit or recognition gained by such “journalists” or their organizations is tainted, because it has all been achieved thanks to Hamas’ passive or active approval, on the back of innocent people like Yarden Bibas.

HonestReporting is a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

Source of original article: HonestReporting Staff / Opinion – Algemeiner.com (www.algemeiner.com).
The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.GlobalDiasporaNews.com).

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