Hamas and the Media Jihad

Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is reported to have written to fellow Hamas leaders that "We make headlines only with blood."

Recently, Chris Mitchell of CBN News spoke with Israeli scholar Dr Mordechai Kedar about Hamas’ use of civilian deaths and suffering in Gaza to influence public perceptions around the world. ‏

Dr Kedar explained that Hamas’ media jihad is part of an overall jihad - the great effort being made to defeat enemies of Islam - and that Al Jazeera is part of that media jihad, which is based upon the belief that the Prophet Muhammad said, "War is deceit."

In that context, Dr Kedar referred to video clips on social media which show youngsters in Gaza smearing ketchup on themselves and using paint like makeup, then acting as if they are injured, and afterwards laughing about how they conned the world.

He made it clear he wasn’t saying that civilian deaths in Gaza are all fakes, but simply that this is a technique used in the media jihad. It is not a new thing and has often been referred to as ‘Pallywood’ - a derogatory term that has drawn many denials.

Dr Kedar emphasised the tendency in Western media organisations to take everything at face value; and said that when they echo dubious claims by Hamas, they give those claims a greater degree of authority than is appropriate.