Politics

AP ‘shocked and horrified’ to learn it shared building w/Hamas terrorists, military intel assets

May 16, 2021 | | Print Article

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The mainstream press erupted in anger after Israeli military forces demolished a 12-story tower in the Gaza on Saturday that had allegedly contained “military assets of the military intelligence” of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas but that had also contained offices for two legitimate media organizations.

“The building housed the offices of civilian media, which the terrorist organization Hamas hides behind and uses as human shields,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement after the demolition, according to The Jerusalem Post.

“The terror organization Hamas deliberately places its military assets in the heart of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip. Prior to the attack, the IDF warned the civilians who were in the building and gave them sufficient time to evacuate.”

As a result of the IDF’s warning, there were no civilian causalities, though the building’s owner had reportedly begged for a bit more time for reporters to evacuate.

Watch the demolition/air bombing of the al-Jalaa tower below:

The building had reportedly housed offices for the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. In response to the building’s demolition, both outlets cried foul.

“Al Jazeera condemns in the strongest terms the bombing and destruction of its offices by the Israeli military in Gaza and views this as a clear act to stop journalists from conducting their sacred duty to inform the world and report events on the ground. Al Jazeera promises to pursue every available route to hold the Israeli government responsible for its actions,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.

Meanwhile, AP CEO Gary Pruitt issued his own statement saying he was “shocked and horrified” by the strike and demanding that the Israeli government prove that the building had contained Hamas’ military assets.

“We have called on the Israeli government to put forward the evidence. AP’s bureau has been in this building for 15 years. We have had no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building. This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk,”  he said.

“This strike is an incredibly disturbing development. We narrowly avoided a terrible loss of life. A dozen AP journalists and freelancers were inside the building and thankfully we were able to evacuate them in time. The world will know less about what is happening in Gaza because of what transpired today.”

To be clear, they were able to evacuate because they were provided advance notice by the IDF.

Listen to Pruitt below:

While the AP’s indignation certainly garnered support from the left, it provoked incredulity from the right for several notable reasons.

One, they didn’t believe the AP’s claim that Hamas had not maintained a presence in al-Jalaa tower, in part because of videos like the “old” one below that allegedly shows a reporter inside the building laughing as a missile is launched from it:

Second, they questioned the credentials of “journalists” who were no blissfully unaware that they were working alongside terrorists.

Look:

And third, they took issue with the AP’s sudden concern for property rights given it and its peers fierce defense of the Black Lives Matter extremists who’d rioted and destroyed property all throughout last year.

Some outlets, though admittedly not the AP, had gone all out in defending BLM, with NPR publishing a piece “In Defense Of Looting” and multiple outlets — The Nation, Rolling Stone magazine and Current Affairs magazine — publishing pieces defending property destruction.

For this reason alone, sympathy for the AP and Al Jazeera wasn’t particularly high among the right:

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Vivek Saxena
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