Mouin Rabbani, the co-editor of
Jadaliyya, has slammed Israel’s assassination of al-Sharif and his colleagues, noting the Israeli military has yet to offer any evidence for its claim that the Al Jazeera correspondent was a Hamas operative.
“More journalists have been killed during the Gaza genocide than in any other armed conflict on record and in this particular case, Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues knew they had targets on their backs. They were repeatedly warned – not to stop firing rockets, but to stop with their professional and journalistic activities,” Rabbani told
Al Jazeera.
“And nevertheless, with extraordinary courage and perseverance, they kept informing the world about what was happening in the Gaza genocide.”
Rabbani went on to describe the Israeli allegations against al-Sharif as “complete lies”.
“They put out these fabricated documents, one of which says that he supposedly was injured during military training in July of 2023, that he was no longer fit for military service. Well, that of itself is proof that he was not involved in the military wing of Hamas.”
“So many journalists and media organisations take these claims and fabrications by Israel as if they are serious, without ever investigating them properly, and more importantly, without ever pointing out that Israel consistently lies and fabricates in an effort to justify its crimes,” Rabbani said from Montreal.
“Many of the reports I’ve read about these killings lead with the Israeli claims, which is outrageous because, you know, they’re not even seriously interrogated, nor are they placed in a context of a history of consistent and systematic Israeli lies and fabrications.”
He added,
“Yes, all states, all governments, all militaries, lie during wartime. That’s propaganda. But Israel, I think, has an almost unique record in this respect, because it knows it can just make up its own reality, say whatever it wants, and it will be reported as serious news by its stenographers in the Western media.”