Al Mayadeen, Israel’s hit list and alleged “information terrorists”
What do Scott Ritter, Naser al-Laham, Ali Abunimah and Khaled Barakat have in common? They are all purveyors of truthful information (journalists/writers) about crimes committed by Israel and its Western allies. In an Orwellian inversion of reality, they are all dubbed “information terrorists,” thus becoming targets of repression or worse.
I begin with Scott Ritter, because he has recently articulated what “worse” means in this context. Scott Ritter is a former US Marine intelligence officer who served in the former Soviet Union and is now an outspoken and widely watched critic of US foreign policy in Ukraine and Israel. In a video clip broadcast on June 4th on Judging Freedom Podcast, he describes how, with the guidance and direction of the US State Department, Ukraine established a center for countering disinformation. That center now has a blacklist of “information terrorists” targeted for assassination. He and other Americans are on this hit list. Ritter goes on to say,
“… they said that an information terrorist must be hunted down and brought to justice the same way any terrorist would. And I have been accused of saying things that make the Ukrainian government unhappy. They now say I must be hunted down and arrested, detained, killed as with any other terrorist in the world … with the US State Department’s support, [they] put out a weekly list that, you know, a weekly list where they say I am the number one of threat to truth.” (Minute 25:05)
This is how we must understand what Israel is doing in renewing its ban on the broadcasts of Al Mayadeen Media Network, both visual and online. Israel has labeled the Network’s correspondents in Palestinian 1948 occupied territories and the occupied West Bank as “terrorists.” In a statement that describes the move as being, in itself, a form of terrorism, Al Mayadeen has this to say:
“The network emphasizes that labeling its correspondents in Palestinian 1948 occupied territories and the occupied West Bank as ‘terrorists’ is, in itself, a form of terrorism. Al Mayadeen warns against inflicting any harm on its journalists and asserts that it will not yield to any form of extortion or pressure, regardless of its impact or extent.
It is clear that the occupation views Al Mayadeen as an outlet that enjoys a strong presence and influence, exhibiting the utmost credibility and commitment to its morals. That is why the occupation reacts to the news outlet with a hysterical and puzzling degree of confusion when dealing with every word, image, and on-the-field presence, especially when Al Mayadeen contributes to quelling sedition, exposing and debunking lies, and calling out the crimes for what they are.”
Nasser al-Laham is one of those journalists that Israel is targeting as “information terrorists.” His achievements include being the editor-in-chief and founder of Ma’an News Agency, Director of Al Mayadeen’s bureau in occupied Palestine, and a member of the Palestinian National Council. He has published several books in Arabic: Tel Aviv: A City with No Secrets (2002); Fatah: The Sword and the Pen (2003); The Popular Front: Learn Well, Fight Well (2005); Media under Hamas (2007); The Blind Do Not Like Carrots (2011); and Body Language in the Israeli Media (2015).
The threat to al-Laham, whose house was raided and his two sons detained in October 2023 by Israeli forces, and to his colleagues is not idle. Read ‘Israel’ deliberately kills Al Mayadeen’s crew in South Lebanon.
Germany as well indulges in similar shameful banning of journalists and writers who speak truth about Israel and puts a target on their backs. Ali Abunimah, co-founder of the Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse, was recently threatened by authorities with prison for giving a speech via Zoom to an audience in Germany attending Palestine Conference in Exile (July 25 -26) on Germany’s role in Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
Abunimah writes: “About two hours before my scheduled talk on 26 July, I received via a lawyer in Germany a 15-page notice from government authorities in Berlin informing me that I am prohibited from participating in the conference by any means, including online. The penalties include fines and up to one year in prison.”
Ali Abunimah was probably not surprised to get such a notice from the German authorities. The Electronic Intifada had published an article in 2019 titled, “Germany threatens journalist with prison for speaking about Palestine.” That journalist is Khaled Barakat, a Palestinian-Canadian writer and activist and founder of Masar Badil (the Palestinian Alternative Revolutionary Path Movement). He was prevented by Berlin police from speaking at a community event about USA’s “deal of the century” and subsequently expelled from the country. He and his wife Charlotte Kates, the international coordinator of Samidoun (the Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network), were banned from entering the EU in October 2022.
Samidoun operates internationally, advocating for Palestinian prisoners and opposing Israeli policies. Israel designated Samidoun as a terrorist organization in 2021, citing its alleged ties to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). On Nov 2nd, 2023, Germany banned Samidoun from operating within the country and passed an order to stop all activities of the group along with the activities of any other organization operating in Germany that supports Hamas.
Without a shred of evidence, Israeli and right-wing Canadian media continue to allege ties between Khaled Barakat, Samidoun and Masar Badil on the one hand, and Palestinian groups designated as terrorist by Israel, the US and EU on the other. These allegations are false and dangerous. According to Influence Watch, American national security officials “don’t have that information yet” and have “questioned the Israeli government’s decision on Samidoun and related groups.” In August 2022, US Department of State spokesman Ned Price expressed the administration’s concern about the terrorism-associate label. The allegations and bans I described above put a target on the backs of Palestine advocates and their organizations and chill free speech.
The concept of “information terrorism” emerged as a subset of cyberterrorism, which involves the use of the internet and digital tools to carry out terrorist activities. This term gained more prominence in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as the internet became a critical infrastructure for communication, commerce, and governance. It is now being used by the US and Israel as a legal mechanism to criminalize human rights and antigenocidal activism by silencing, in one way or another, those who speak and act nonviolently against their policies.
But suppression of this nature, like the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, does nothing but strengthen the determination of individuals, organizations and groups to report with honesty and integrity and to advocate for Palestinian resistance and liberation.
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Rima Najjar is a Palestinian whose father’s side of the family comes from the forcibly depopulated village of Lifta on the western outskirts of Jerusalem and whose mother’s side of the family is from Ijzim, south of Haifa. She is an activist, researcher, and retired professor of English literature, Al-Quds University, occupied West Bank.
