Opinion / Arab Journalists Criticize Al Jazeera: “The Platform of All Terrorists”

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, Qatar's Al Jazeera channel has served as a central platform for promoting the messages of Hamas and pro-Iranian terrorist militias. This is part of Qatar's policy of supporting Hamas and other terrorist organizations, including global jihad organizations such as Al-Qaeda.

Al Jazeera's biased coverage in favor of Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other terrorist organizations in the Iranian-led resistance axis was criticized by Arab journalists and intellectuals on the X social network (formerly Twitter). They accused the channel of being a mouthpiece for terrorist organizations and the Iranian regime and even acting in their service, inciting terrorism and striving to harm Arab national security.

"Al Jazeera demonstrates: Qatar is not an honest mediator"

Saudi journalist Abdul Al-Aziz Al-Khamis quoted excerpts from an article published on Nov. 2 in The Wall Street Journal condemning Al Jazeera and Qatar, writing: "Qatar an ‘Honest Broker’? Try Al Jazeera in Arabic [to see that this is not the case]. The Gulf state [Qatar’s] TV news station tells the real story. Al Jazeera is Qatar’s official state-owned TV news station. It doesn’t reflect the viewpoint of an honest broker."

"When I dared criticize Hamas, the reporter didn't like it"

Businessman and network activist Monther Al Sheikh Mubarak, from Saudi Arabia, shared a video on his account on X showing an Al Jazeera correspondent in Gaza interrupting an interview with a wounded Palestinian in one of Gaza's hospitals, who complained that Hamas operatives were hiding among civilians instead of in their tunnels.

In response to the video, Mubarak wrote: "An elderly man from Gaza wondered, 'Why is the resistance hiding among the people[?]' The Al Jazeera reporter interrupted the interview and distanced himself [from the interviewee] because that is not what he is required [to say] in the interview…"

Saudi journalist Faisal Ibrahim Al-Shammeri also shared the footage on his account, writing: "Al Jazeera is trading in the blood of the residents of Gaza. When the Palestinian man criticized Hamas, the reporter didn't like it [and that's why he interrupted the interview]."

Accusations of spreading lies about the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital

On Nov. 4, Iraqi journalist Sufian al-Samarrai, director of the Baghdad Post website, shared a video from an Al Jazeera account on his X account showing the Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades hitting Israeli tanks and military vehicles in the northern Gaza Strip, writing: "Oh, Al Jazeera, [the channel] of [Muslim Brotherhood leader Sheikh Yusuf] Al-Qaradawi, of [Iran's Supreme Leader Ali] Khamenei, [a channel] that purports to be Islamic. Your journalistic lies continue, and so does the refining of artificial stupidity [on the weight of artificial intelligence]."

The gullible applaud you through the companies [that specialize in] imaginary likes and retweets, just as they once applauded your lies and fabrications about the imaginary victories of the fictional ISIS-Safavid state."

Oh Al Jazeera, you will never repent of the deception of the Muslim street designed to trap [Muslims] in the trap of terrorist gangs and recruit criminal jihadists. Then you evade responsibility and abandon them to an unknown fate, as you did in the past."

Saudi researcher Awad Al-Qarni reacts with contempt to an interview with former Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander Mohsen Rezaee on Al Jazeera: "This channel is the mouthpiece of the ayatollahs, what can we expect from it except to drive a wedge between Arab countries in the service of the Persian program." (Photo: MEMRI Institute)

Al-Samarrai also criticized Al Jazeera's false claim that Israel bombed Gaza’s Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital. On Oct. 18, he shared an excerpt from a press conference held by IDF Spokesperson Daniel Hagari, who clarified that the explosion at the hospital was caused by a failed Islamic Jihad launch.

Al-Samarrai wrote, “The Iranian and Qatari media tried to impose a [media] blackout on the crime committed by the so-called Islamic Jihad terrorist organization, which is supported by Iran. This is done by conducting a large-scale media campaign and an online attack with the aim of misleading the Arab-Muslim street and holding marches in order to harm Arab national security. Yesterday [on Oct. 17], many believed Al Jazeera's lie."

On Nov. 3, al-Samarrai shared on his account a screenshot of Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah's speech, broadcast live on Al Jazeera, and wrote: "Al Jazeera is the platform of all terrorists, who have no platform."

Yemeni journalist: "Qatar supports the destroyers of our country"

Yemeni journalist and political activist Ahmed Al-Amad wrote on his X account on Oct. 31: "Qatari Al Jazeera has become a bankrupt mouthpiece for spreading Houthi lies. This is where this unprecedented Qatari support for the Houthis, past and present, is revealed, which far exceeded Iranian support for them. What is Qatar's goal in supporting and promoting the extremist terrorist organizations that are destroying the region and killing the peoples[?] Qatar lives in security and peace and lives a comfortable life while supporting those who are destroying our country and killing our people? [Qatar's] goal is for Yemenis to have no stability and prosperity in their country."

"The channel of Nasrallah, Khamenei and bin Laden"

Saudi journalist and former editor of Al Arabiya website, Matar Al-Ahmadi, posted a photo on his account of former Al Jazeera CEO Yasser Abu Hilala carrying weapons. Al Ahmadi responded to Abu Hilala's condemnation of the alleged pro-Israel coverage of the fighting in Gaza by Al Arabiya [Saudi] channel."

According to Al-Ahmadi, Al Jazeera "is the channel of [Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan] Nasrallah, Iran's spiritual leader Ali] Khamenei, and [former Al-Qaeda leader Osama] bin Laden. … Al Jazeera has superiority over Al Arabiya among the common people by invective, whining and creating mayhem. Over time, his audience will switch to TikTok videos, [while] Al-Arabiya creates consciousness.

“Al Jazeera is just a tool for creating mayhem and chaos. The lesson is in the results. [Al Jazeera] lost all its ideological and media systems when it marketed Hezbollah, Al-Qaeda, and the Spring of Chaos [i.e., the Arab Spring]."

"The Palestinian issue is being used to accuse those who expose Iran's proxies of treason."

Saudi network activist Meshal al-Khaldi wrote: "The Al Jazeera network once again polishes [the image] of the militias and terrorist organizations that do not stop spilling the blood of the Arab peoples, presenting them as the 'Islamic resistance.' It seems that we are [facing] planned and agreed upon activity [intended] to once again polish the image of Iran's agents and to use the Palestinian issue as a pretext to accuse anyone who exposes [Iran's] satellites and loyalists."

"After all your lies, Gaza has gone to ruin"

Exiled Syrian journalist Abdul Jalil Al-Said, a columnist for the Emirati news website al-ain.com, criticized the lies spread by Al Jazeera on his account on X. He wrote cynically: "According to Al Jazeera: '[Senior Hamas official Yahya] Sinwar arrives in Tel Aviv, [Izz Al-Din Al-Qassam Brigades spokesman,] Abu Obaida, arrests Netanyahu, [Izz Al-Din Brigades] Al-Qassam takes over the Dimona reactor, [Islamic Jihad's military wing,] The Jerusalem Brigades, is overlooking Ben Gurion Airport, and [Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan] Nasrallah arrives at Al-Aqsa [Mosque]. "Have mercy on our minds. Enough with the lies and slogans. After all your lies, Gaza has gone [to oblivion]."