In a major move on Thursday, NBC journalist Marwat Al-Azza was arrested in Israel over charges of inciting terrorism and for her association with Hamas following four posts on her personal Facebook page regarding the October 7 Hamas terror attacks.
NBC cuts ties with Palestinian journalist arrested in Israel for 'inciting terrorism' on social media https://t.co/DdbyQYz9VL
— Fox News (@FoxNews) November 20, 2023
The arrest of Al-Azza, a Palestinian freelance journalist, claimed she “arrived ready for arrest” without a mobile phone and even went to the extent of writing phone numbers on her leg. One troubling aspect was Al-Azza laughing at an elderly woman from Gaza who was abducted by Hamas last month.
The Israel News first reported on the posts behind Al-Azza’s arrest in which she clearly declared support for Hamas terrorists. In one post, Al-Azza mentions the kidnapping of the elderly Israeli woman from a Gaza border community and said: “It’s killing me, it’s a black comedy, the old woman looks happy, a bit of action before she dies.”
Another post depicted a scenario where sirens were frequent, Jews were hiding, and Arabs were seen drinking coffee on their balconies. In a third post, she wrote, “I feel like I’m watching a movie where the director is Palestinian and the protagonists are from Gaza.”
Al-Azza’s defense attorney stressed her cooperation with the authorities throughout the investigations. Al-Azza admitted to being present and acknowledged her own posts, which destroyed any efforts to escape liability.
He asked for her bail under the conditions approved by the court, stating that she came from a prestigious family, but Al-Azza would not be released despite their best efforts. A representative from the Israel Police termed the charges as “very serious offenses during a time of declared war”.
The police also accused Al-Azza of choosing to incite and glorify acts committed against civilians in a country that was under attack. That being said, it’s not surprising that NBC would employ such an individual. A lot of people in the media, both in the U.S. and worldwide — are biased, favoring Palestine and Hamas over Israel.
Recently, comedian Bill Maher, someone commonly associated with his leftist views, criticized the media for its biased pro-Hamas stand in the Israel-Hamas conflict. Maher, however, aligned with the less commonly held liberal perspective. He was concerned that the media was too supportive of Hamas.
“It couldn’t be more pro-Hamas than it is now,” Maher said. “They’re saying they want the newsrooms to adopt words such as ‘apartheid,’ I hear it all the time anyway. It’s wrong, and I hear it. ‘Genocide,’ again, wrong, Israel is not trying to commit genocide, the other side is blatantly saying, we would love to commit genocide on you.”
