Veterans of Qatar-backed network now make up WaPo foreign desk

A leading Al Jazeera anchorman celebrated the one-year anniversary of Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror spree on Israel, writing in a now-deleted Monday tweet that the mass killing of more than 1,200 women and children “restored the nation’s dignity and prestige.”

Jamal Rayyan’s caption came alongside an AI-generated photo depicting fireworks and a large “7” shining above the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem. The prominent anchor, who joined Al Jazeera at its launch in 1996 following a stint at BBC Arabic, deleted the post after it attracted media attention. In other Monday ramblings, Rayyan called pro-Israel Arabs “Arab Zionists” who should “not bet on the victory of the Zionist entity” and “secretly support the resistance,” according to the Times of Israel.

The post marks the latest example of Al Jazeera and its employees celebrating terrorism against Israel in the wake of Oct. 7. Israel recently banned the network, funded in part by Qatar’s Hamas-friendly government, from operating in the country, citing alleged ties to the terror group. 

Al Jazeera’s reach, however, extends far beyond the Middle East. At least six of its alums left the network to join the Washington Post‘s foreign desk, which has faced criticism for shoddy and inaccurate coverage of Israel’s war on Hamas, the Washington Free Beacon reported in June.

The posting is just the latest example of Al Jazeera and its employees celebrating terrorism against Israel in the wake of Oct. 7. Since that time, the outlet has published a steady stream of anti-Israel propaganda, prompting the Israeli government to raid its office and ban it from publishing in the country.

Al Jazeera did not respond to a request for comment on Rayyan’s posts.

Just last week, the Doha-based outlet came under fire for publishing a comedy skit that mocked the Oct. 7 attack. It showed Hamas terrorists infiltrating a military base and casually abducting an Israeli soldier, who did not resist and spoke of the importance of Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.

Al Jazeera’s “spreading of anti-Semitic propaganda leads to more dead Jews and emboldens Jew haters everywhere,” one Biden-Harris administration official said.

Israel’s decision to ban the outlet in April was based on “proof that it is assisting the enemy, broadcasting propaganda in the service of Hamas, in Arabic and English, to viewers around the world, and even passing sensitive information to the enemy,” according to Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi. Last month, Israeli soldiers delivered a closure order to Al Jazeera’s offices in the West Bank as the network broadcast live.