Dis/misinformation in the Atlantic about Gaza
Today an article about Gaza in the Atlantic uncritically embraces IDF propaganda about Hamas attacks on civilians
Just want to point out a few disturbing elements regarding misinformation in this article - "What's I've Heard From Gaza” published in the @TheAtlantic . I will focus on two specific references that are quite crucial in framing a broader argument about Hamas's actions #Gaza
The article asserts with no equivocation that Hamas killed fleeing civilians on the Al Rashid coastal road in Nov 23. Not only is there no evidence for this, but the link is to an article in the Jerusalem Post, that relies on a tweet from known disinfluencer, @amjadt25
Even if one wasn't to take an Occam's razor approach (i.e. it was probably the IDF since they have killed > 33000 people), then it would make sense to at least report this ambiguously. Reuters, for example, covered the strike, but did not even mention it could have been Hamas
Another issue is the uncritical citing of the IDF source saying that Hamas bombed & killed 70 civilians fleeing Gaza in October. The source is a Times of Israel article citing the IDF. We know large deadly attacks are often the IDF, & completely ignoring that fact is weird
What's more, it's even been established that the most likely cause of that strike was an IDF missile. The Financial Times - a better source in this case than the Times of Israel and the IDF - indicate the most plausible explanation of the strike was an Israeli missile.
It's disturbing that @TheAtlantic would allow these two crucially important aspects of Israeli propaganda (and indeed, misinformation), to be published. By all means criticize Hamas, but not on the basis of non-credible or plausible narratives. I also find it bizarre that at this point in the war, that someone could accept such IDF narratives from the end of 23, in the face of so much reporting to the contrary. Anyway, it goes to show the long shelf life of disinformation and the IDF's reflexive denial It should be noted the article does mention that the IDF has 'also' killed 'fleeing civilians' - an almost implied parity. There's no link, but the previous sourced accusations at Hamas, were most likely conducted by the IDF - certainly the missile strike. Very odd.