Zohran Mamdani recently mourned the death of Ahmed Washah, describing him as an Al Jazeera journalist killed in an Israeli strike.
But according to the IDF, Washah was not just a cameraman. He was a Hamas sniper involved in terrorist activity. Israel says it released evidence showing his affiliation with Hamas, including images of him armed and documentation linking him to the group.
That context matters.
Hamas has long exploited the media space in Gaza, where terrorists and propagandists can operate under the cover of journalism. When Israel targets someone because of alleged terrorist activity, Hamas and its allies often present the person solely as a journalist, stripping away any connection to armed groups.
The result is a familiar narrative: Israel is accused of killing innocent reporters, while the terror affiliations behind the target disappear.
Al Jazeera has denied Israel’s allegations, but the broader pattern cannot be ignored. Hamas and Islamic Jihad operatives have repeatedly used civilian roles, including media work, to shape coverage, control information, and gain international sympathy when they are killed.
Mamdani’s response fits that pattern. Instead of asking whether the person he mourned may have also been a Hamas operative, he amplified the version of the story most useful to Israel’s critics.
If a journalist is also a terrorist, that is not a minor detail. It is the story.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
