The Associated Press sells photos by a Gazan photojournalist whom Israel identified as a Hamas terrorist, an HonestReporting investigation revealed on Tuesday (May 6), in what legal experts say may be considered material/financial support of a designated foreign terrorist organization in violation of U.S. law that prohibits such conduct.
Hassan Eslaiah was targeted and wounded in an Israeli strike on southern Gaza in early April, with the IDF publicly identifying him as a member of the Hamas Khan Younis Brigade who has been posing as a journalist.
This should have come as no surprise to the AP, which officially cut ties with the Gazan freelancer after our November 2023 exposé of his infiltration into Israel during the October 7 massacre, which also brought to light a photo of former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar kissing him on the cheek.
However, the agency still offers for sale on its global platform more than 40 photos taken by Eslaiah inside Gaza during October-November 2023. Their prices range between 35 and 495 U.S. dollars.
HonestReporting has reached out to AP for comment.
Interestingly, Eslaiah’s specific photos of the October 7 atrocities inside Israel have been removed from the platform, which serves hundreds of news outlets worldwide.
Whether Eslaiah still gets royalties when his remaining photos are purchased is unclear, but the credit he gets on a respected news outlet is certainly a reputation booster. And either way, AP can still make money off of his propaganda for Hamas:
Related Reading: Broken Borders: AP & Reuters Pictures of Hamas Atrocities Raise Ethical Questions
Legal Questions
Disturbingly, AP staff seem to have known about Eslaiah’s Hamas links years before October 7, 2023. According to documents released in a U.S. lawsuit in early April, they were worried about his reliability since 2018, but still used his work.
AP is also the only Western agency that still platforms Eslaiah’s tainted work. Reuters and Getty Images have removed his content due to HonestReporting’s public campaigns, which proved effective even before his confirmation as a Hamas member.
But now — AP must explain and follow suit. This is no longer just an ethical violation, but possibly also a legal one, particularly if U.S. authorities come to determine that Eslaiah is sufficiently connected to Hamas and/or acts of terrorism.
Legal experts told HonestReporting that in purchasing Eslaiah’s content, AP may well be in direct violation of anti-terrorism laws or financial sanctions enforced by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). These laws prohibit transactions with entities or individuals that are on terrorism-related lists, and these regulations extend to payments for content or goods. Violation of OFAC sanctions has the potential to result in both civil and criminal penalties, including hefty fines and possible imprisonment. Purchasing the material and continuing to publish Eslaiah’s work, with direct attribution, may also be a violation of Section 2339B of Title 18 of the United States Code, which makes it a federal crime to knowingly provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
In December 2023, following HonestReporting’s exposure of photojournalists who infiltrated Israel on October 7, 14 attorneys general wrote a letter to The New York Times, AP, CNN, and Reuters calling them out for using hires with ties to Hamas and reminding them that providing material support to terrorists and terror organizations is a crime.
The letter specifically mentions the case of Hassan Eslaiah and ends by calling on the media outlets to “ensure that you are taking all necessary steps to prevent your organizations from contracting with members of terror organizations. We urge you in the strongest terms to take care that your hiring practices conform to the laws forbidding material support for terror organizations.”
Subsequently, it may be time for U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi to take an interest.
AP is based in New York. Will the Attorney General consider the possibility that, despite this warning, AP may have been providing material support for a terrorist organization, even by continuing to feature the “work” of an alleged Hamas member who may have used it as a cover?
We think the answer is clear, if not legally, then morally. AP should do the right thing, apologize, and remove all of Eslaiah’s content, unless they want to continue being associated with a terror-linked “journalist.”
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