On May 5, 2022, Israel's Independence Day, two Palestinians carried out a deadly terrorist attack in the Israeli town of Elad, murdering three civilians with axe-blows to the head. Following the attack, hosts and reporters of Qatar's Al-Jazeera channel, as well as other media and public figures in Qatar, tweeted in support of the attack and its perpetrators. They praised their use of axes and celebrated the fact that the attack took place on Israel's Independence Day.
The following are some of these tweets.[1]
Praise For The Attack And Its Perpetrators
Al-Jazeera host Tamer Al-Misshal tweeted on May 7, 2022: "In the era of [Arab] pandering [to Israel], we are proud of Palestine, of its people and of its resistance, which surrender only to Allah."[2]
On May 8, after the terrorists were captured, Al-Misshal tweeted photos of the two, with the comment: "[These are] the two youths who embarrassed the entire [Israeli] entity. The occupation has arrested those who carried out the operation in Elad after a chase that lasted three days."[3]
Al-Jazeera host Ahmad Mansour tweeted following the terrorists' capture: "The fact that those who carried out the operation in the settlement of Elad managed to hide and evade capture throughout the last few days despite the security cooperation between the Israeli entity, the Palestinian Authority and the treasonous collaborators reveals the fragility of Israel's security apparatuses. The Palestinians have lately managed to make high-quality security achievements and breakthroughs, which prove that Israel is experiencing a real security defeat."[4]
A cartoon published by the London-based Qatari daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi on May 9 is captioned "The Zionist Security Array" and shows the Israeli flag disintegrating and an axe dripping with blood.[5]
Celebrating The Use Of Axes
Tweeting under the hashtag "The Elad operation," Muhammad Al-Sagheer, a member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), shared a graphic saying "Palestine," with the letter P shaped like an axe. [6]
In another tweet, he shared a graphic saying "2022", in which the final numeral is shaped like an axe. The accompanying message says: "This is Palestine, where the Elad operation has left its imprint on this year."[7]
Celebrating The Fact That The Attacks Took Place On Israel's Independence Day
Muhammad Al-Mukhtar Al-Shinqiti, a lecturer at the University of Qatar and member of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS), tweeted: "A homeland that is rent asunder by a simple axe on the day it celebrates its false independence is not a homeland but a spiderweb: 'And indeed, the weakest of homes is the home of the spider, if only they knew' (Quran 29: 41)." [8]
Qatari journalist Jaber Al-Harmi tweeted following the attack: "Palestine's Nakba Day will not be an independence day for the entity that is usurping the Palestinians' land."[9]
Justifying The Attacks
The former director of Al-Jazeera, Jordanian journalist Yasser Abu Hilalah, justified the attack, tweeting: "The Zionists think that they have transformed the three million Palestinians in the West Bank into sheep that are led to the slaughter, bereft of a homeland, of citizenship and of a state. They break up their country with checkpoints, roads, fences and settlements and desecrate their holy sites. [But the Palestinians] are honorable people who resist with whatever means are available to them: machine guns, stones, knives or axes."[10]
Al-Jazeera host Ahmed Sobhy quoted legal experts who, he claimed, justify terrorism. He tweeted: "Legal experts [say that] international law permits fida'i [i.e., self-sacrifice] operations against those who occupy the land of others."[11]
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington Wajd Waqfi tweeted: "Never in history has an occupier [enjoyed] permanent security and stability."[12]
[1] For more responses to the attack on social media, see MEMRI Special Dispatch No. 9950, Following Yesterday's Terror Attack In Elad, Israel, In Which Three Israelis Were Murdered, Users Tweet Praise For The Attack, Incitement To More Axe And Knife Attacks, May 6, 2022.
[2] Twitter.com/TamerMisshal, May 7, 2022.
[3] Twitter.com/TamerMisshal, May 8, 2022.
[4] Twitter.com/amansouraja, May 5, 2022. It should be mentioned that, on April 24, 2022, in response to MEMRI’s publication of previous reports quoting statements by Mansour in praise of terrorism against Israelis, Mansour tweeted that “a campaign of incitement and slander” was being waged against him and his fellow Al-Jazeera journalists, as part of which they were being stigmatized as supporters of terrorism. As this report shows, his statements in praise of terror continue.
[5] Al-Quds Al-Arabi (London), May 9, 2022.
[6] Twitter.com/drassagheer, May 6, 2022.
[7] Twitter.com/drassagheer, May 7, 2022.
[8] Twitter.com/mshinqiti, May 5, 2022.
[9] Twitter.com/jaberalharmi, May 5, 2022.
[10] Twitter.com/abuhilalahm May 5, 2022.
[11] Twitter.com/AhmedSobhyTV, May 5, 2022.
[12] Twitter.com/WajdWaqfi, May 6, 2022.
