HonestReporting submits complaint to the paper over Istanbul-based reporter Abeer Ayyoub, who used her social media to spread terrorist propaganda as Hamas massacred thousands of Israelis.
October 7 was a busy day for Palestinian journalist Abeer Ayyoub, who works for the Wall Street Journal. But not because she was engaged in professional journalism.
The Istanbul-based reporter, who is originally from Gaza and covers the region extensively, used her X account (formerly Twitter) to spread terrorist propaganda and fake news, as Hamas massacred thousands of Israelis.
She also exploited the social media platform to distribute antisemitic slurs and content that whitewashes Hamas.
Her posts, as well as the fact she contributes to the Israel-hating Middle East Eye, should sound alarm bells in the newsroom of the Wall Street Journal, a publication that has always been a bastion of the highest journalistic standards.
HonestReporting has submitted an official complaint to the newspaper.
Hamas Propaganda
On October 7, Ayyoub posted a violent propaganda video produced by Hamas’ armed wing. It showed terrorists lynching and executing Israeli soldiers near the Gaza border.
The faces of the terrorists in the video are blurred to protect them, unlike those of the Israeli soldiers. But Ayyoub probably didn’t care about the victims being recognized by their heartbroken families, as she wrote a caption that exclaimed: “More Israeli soldiers being captured by Hamas:”
Ayyoub said nothing about Hamas slaughtering Israeli civilians or taking hostages that day. She did seem to deflect from them, in a rude reply to Israeli Arab Affairs expert Edi Cohen.
Cohen posted the following in Arabic: “In the Quran, God commanded respect for prisoners. The Palestinian militants killed and raped them.” Ayyoub replied: “So do you guys respect them, you sh*t?”
She also posted a photo of Hamas terrorists driving a stolen Israeli farming vehicle in Gaza, as one of them shows the victory sign:
Fake News
Ayyoub also shared fake news aimed against the Israeli army. Around midday on October 7, she shared a post claiming that a top Israeli commander had been kidnapped:
Had Ayyoub been concerned with news accuracy, she would have deleted the post once it was exposed as fake several days later. But journalistic fact-checking didn’t seem to bother her that day.
About two hours later, in what seems to be an uncontrollable passion to humiliate Israel in its darkest hour, Ayyoub also posted: “I have not seen a single soldier defending himself. Why? I thought you said it’s the strongest army in the world”:
Ayyoub’s anti-Israeli sentiment is often hidden behind the facade of the Arabic language, making it easier to conceal from her bosses and colleagues in Western media.
For example, she replied in Arabic to Elon Musk’s solidarity post with Israel on October 7, telling him to “Eat sh*t”:
A day later, she made a disturbing reference in Arabic to “the Jewish mafia,” in reply to a post that called Hamas an “Islamic mafia”:
According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism, Ayyoub’s comment is antisemitic. It falls under the category of “making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews.”
Whitewashing Hamas
Alongside her feelings towards Jews and Israel, Ayyoub shared content that indirectly made Hamas terrorists look like liberating heroes.
On October 9, she shared a despicable piece by the Middle East Eye, titled: ‘The first time I felt freedom’: When a Palestinian journalist crossed into Israel.”
She did not remove it when HonestReporting exposed that Gaza journalists worked side by side with Hamas to document their atrocities that day.
And a month later, she labeled as “fake news” the description of Hamas as sworn to Israel’s destruction and the establishment of an Islamic state.
When a journalist doesn’t know, or ignores, the black-and-white statements of Hamas’ founding charter, it amounts to the whitewashing of a proscribed terror group.
Journalistic Ethics
But Ayyoub is hypocritically high-minded about journalism.
Despite spreading terrorist propaganda and fake news, pushing an anti-Israeli agenda, and whitewashing Hamas, she had the audacity to post a self-righteous thread about journalism, a week after October 7.
For Ayyoub, journalism is meant “to amplify the voices of the marginalized” and she’s concerned about those who “aren’t upholding the principles of the profession,” who should “seek alternative careers, allowing those who truly value the power of pens and microphones to take the helm.”
Presumably, the journalists who Ayyoub wishes to get rid of are those who try to tell the story as is (reporting, for example, that Hamas is sworn to Israel’s destruction.)
But Ayyoub is dangerously mixing journalism with activism, and blames others for doing what she does.
Does the Wall Street Journal believe she can report on Israel and Gaza objectively, without letting her views contaminate her coverage?
Based on her own logic, she is the one who should leave this sacred profession to those who truly respect it.