A global information gathering organization doesn’t realize that the world’s most vicious terrorist organization has an office down the hall. So, either they are terrible journalists, they are scared of their office neighbors, or they sympathize with the terrorists. In the case of the AP, probably all three. And oh yeah, their spin was unbelievably lame.
FNC: “The Associated Press came under fire Saturday for claiming to be unaware that they were sharing office space with Hamas militants in Gaza, dismissing the Israeli government’s claim that the terror group was operating inside the media building that was destroyed in an airstrike over the weekend. Multiple international media organizations were reportedly based in the Al-Jalaa tower, among them AP and Al Jazeera. Occupants were reportedly notified to evacuate an hour before the building was attacked by Israeli airstrikes in a retaliatory attack against the militant group. The Israeli Defense Forces in a statement said that the high rise was targeted because it was being used by Hamas military intelligence. AP condemned Israel for the attack and claimed to have ‘no indication’ that the U.S. designated terrorist organization operated from the building.”
“We have had no indication Hamas was in the building or active in the building,” AP President and CEO Gary Pruitt laughably said in a statement. “This is something we actively check to the best of our ability. We would never knowingly put our journalists at risk.” Pruitt described the AP as “shocked and horrified that the Israeli military would target and destroy the building housing AP’s bureau and other news organizations in Gaza.” Yeah, as shocked as Captain Renault in “Casablanca”.
However a 2014 piece in the Atlantic described a long history between the AP and Hamas “When Hamas’s leaders surveyed their assets before this summer’s round of fighting, they knew that among those assets was the international press. The AP staff in Gaza City would witness a rocket launch right beside their office, endangering reporters and other civilians nearby—and the AP wouldn’t report it,” the article reads.
“Difficult to believe this crew turned out to be renting office space in a Hamas building,” Senator Ted Cruz’s, R-TX, national security adviser concurred.
“AP staff in Gaza City would witness a rocket launch right beside their office.. the AP wouldn’t report it
Hamas fighters would burst into the AP’s Gaza bureau & threaten the staff.. the AP wouldn’t report it”@AP [1] didn’t know about sharing a building w/ Hamas for 15 years?!? pic.twitter.com/w8ZiAb0Inc [2]
— Gabe Hoffman (@GabeHoff) May 16, 2021 [3]
The journalist who wrote the Atlantic report revealed that Hamas terrorists would regularly “burst into the AP’s Gaza bureau and threaten the staff—and the AP wouldn’t report it.” Hahaha!!! Oh dear lord, the assembled newsies probably wet their pants when that happened. I bet it became a hobby when Hamas got bored.
“Hey Achmed, want to go and scare the bejesus out of the sissies three doors down at the AP?”
“It’s a slow day. No innocent people to murder until 4. So, sure.”
“@AP didn’t know about sharing a building w/ Hamas for 15 years?!?” one Twitter user said. “Doesn’t say much for their reporting abilities if they missed a Hamas staging office a floor away,” another tweeted.” That’s an understatement.