A journalist working for the Associated Press in Lebanon shared content supporting the Amal movement, a Hezbollah ally whose members have been fighting against Israel alongside the terror group. He also posted praise for terrorists and labeled Israel’s actions in Lebanon as “genocide” and “war crimes,” an HonestReporting investigation revealed.
The social media posts and biased reporting by Mohammad Zanaty, a freelance video journalist who regularly contributes to the respected wire service, compromise his journalistic integrity and AP’s credibility as one of the world’s most trusted news sources.
This is particularly alarming as global attention is focused on the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, and news consumers need accurate information about it more than ever.
HonestReporting has reached out to AP for comment.
Praise for Terrorists
In 2014 and 2015, Zanaty posted photos on Facebook that appear to show him donning Amal’s green scarf at official events of the movement. According to the Alma Research Center, it’s apparently a common scarf among Amal supporters and activists:
Amal is a Lebanese Shi’a movement founded in 1975 by the cleric Musa Sadr. In 1986, its terrorists captured Israel’s air force navigator Ron Arad and handed him over to Hezbollah. His fate is still unknown. According to the Alma Center, the movement has made a comeback as a terror group in recent years, when it vowed to aid “Palestine” and fight Israel alongside Hezbollah.
Since October 8, when Hezbollah started firing at Israeli communities, Amal operatives have been deployed along the Israel-Lebanon border. Over 30 have been killed after being involved in shooting attacks against Israel, the Alma Center said.
Zanaty also praised Amal in a post from 2015, with a photo of a gunman and an emotional hymn for the movement:
In addition to his Amal identification, Zanaty posted a poster commemorating Lebanese terrorist Sana’a Mehaidli, who blew herself up in 1985 next to an Israeli army convoy, killing two soldiers. According to the Chicago Journal of Foreign Policy, Mehaidli was a member of the Syrian Socialist National Party and is thought to be the first known female suicide bomber.
Zanaty’s caption on his post about her from 2017 read in Arabic, “Sana’a … bride of resistance from the south”:
Related Reading: The Antisemitic Social Media History of AP’s Correspondent in Gaza
Unabashed Propagandist
The views expressed above indicate that Zanaty cannot be considered an objective journalist. However, according to AP’s database, his name appears on numerous videos, and the agency relies heavily on his work from southern Lebanon.
His views are also clear when he reports to Arab media, or posts news updates on his personal Facebook page, where he demonizes Israel (in Arabic that his Western colleagues won’t understand).
In a recent report to “AlyaumTV,” for example, he refers to Israel’s “war crimes” in southern Lebanon:
And in this post he openly labels Israel’s actions in southern Lebanon, which target terrorists, as “genocide” and “massacre”:
Should AP be employing someone who openly shares his opinions against Israel and evidently identifies with a terror-affiliated movement?
Zanaty’s reporting is by definition tainted, and because AP is a global wire service his bias does not end there. It’s being packaged and sold to hundreds of media networks that further distribute it to tens of thousands of consumers worldwide.
They all deserve to know that what they get may not be news, but reporting that sympathizes with terrorists.
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