Key Takeaways:
- Israel exposed slain Gaza reporter Anas al-Sharif as a Hamas terrorist.
- Reuters disclosed that al-Sharif worked for the agency and won a Pulitzer award, but it can’t see how this has compromised its entire winning team.
- By using journalism’s most prestigious award as cover for terrorism, Reuters played into the hands of Hamas.
While shame is most associated with being exposed for lies, Reuters wears theirs like a badge of honor.
After Israel exposed this week that Gaza journalist Anas al-Sharif was a Hamas terrorist, the news agency dismissed the evidence and stated that the Al Jazeera reporter previously won a team Pulitzer prize for Reuters.
It failed to mention — or perhaps even realize — the full implications of that revelation: almost the entire Reuters Gaza team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war has now been compromised. The other three winners either infiltrated Israel during the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack or received awards from the terror group.
Pulitzer as a Cover for Terrorism
Almost all foreign media outlets decried the death of Anas al-Sharif in an IDF strike on Monday (August 11), while doubting or omitting hard evidence presented by the IDF proving that he was a commander of a terrorist cell in a Hamas guided rockets platoon.
The IDF presented an internal Hamas document where al-Sharif was registered as a soldier and team commander, as well as a photo showing him embraced by former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the October 7 attack against Israel.
No media outlet presented these documents. But Reuters went further than that.
Its lengthy article-turned-eulogy begins with a declaration that “Al Jazeera says he [al-Sharif] was one of Gaza’s bravest journalists,” automatically adopting the narrative of the Qatari-funded propaganda network that supports Hamas.
Israel’s claims were presented much further down the article as baseless accusations.
Then comes the following paragraph as if to prove that whoever wins a Pulitzer cannot possibly be a terrorist:
Al Sharif was previously part of a Reuters team which in 2024 won a Pulitzer Prize in the category of Breaking News Photography for coverage of the Israel-Hamas war.
Clearly, Reuters has no problem acknowledging its own links with al-Sharif, despite the revelations about his connections to terror.
This disclosure is in keeping with Reuters’ wilful blindness when it comes to acknowledging the terror links of some of its employees, as well as the Pulitzer establishment, which has ignored our exposure that this year’s winner for the New Yorker excused the abduction of Israelis by Hamas.
Related Reading: Gaza “Journalist” Was a Hamas Terrorist — Media Ignore the Evidence
Compromised Team
But the writers and editors of the Reuters eulogy for al-Sharif did not realize, or omitted, a much bigger detail. Now, four out of the five winning team members from Gaza have been exposed as Hamas-linked.
One of the winners was Reuters photographer and Hamas’ “work partner” Yasser Qudih. HonestReporting exposed Qudih after he had infiltrated Israel on October 7, 2023, as Hamas slaughtered thousands and kidnapped hundreds of Israelis back into Gaza.
Another winner was Reuters photographer Ibraheem Abu Mustafa, whom Hamas honored for winning international awards back in 2021 and 2022.
Finally, there was Mohammed Salem, a Reuters photographer who received an award from top Hamas leaders in 2017 on behalf of his brother, the head of Reuters visuals in Gaza.
With Anas al-Sharif exposed as a Hamas operative who wore a press vest while being responsible for the firing of rockets at Israeli civilians, many questions now arise regarding his Gaza colleagues, especially those who have won prestigious awards and received commendations from the terrorists.
It is also a stain on the rightful winners of the award — those who still value professional and ethical journalism.
But instead of scrutiny, all criticism is met with disdain and labeled as an attack on the freedom of the press.
Because when one of the world’s largest news agencies sneaks in a paragraph about a Pulitzer win as some sort of refutation of hard evidence — it does exactly what Hamas wants.
It uses journalism as a shield, and by doing so, it literally aids terrorism.
Take action against the use of journalism as cover for terrorism. Email Reuters here.
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