In the same week that four other major American news outlets had to answer for utilizing dubious sources with connections to Hamas for their reporting on the Israel-Hamas war, MSNBC seemingly tried to one-up the rest by promoting a video put out by Saleh Aljafarawi, a known Hamas-linked propagandist and crisis actor. On her eponymous show Friday afternoon, Chris Jansing treated him as though he was an innocent civilian brutalized by Israel.
Aljafarawi has been dubbed “Mr. FAFO” and “Mr. Pallywood” (a combination of Palestinian and Hollywood) on social media by those who call him out. He posts his propaganda videos to his Instagram account which has over three million followers. He’s pretended to be a Hamas fighter in a music video, a radiology tech in a hospital, a foster father, a member of the press, and a rescue worker, among other roles. He even put out a video of himself praising Hamas rockets that were launched at Israeli civilians.
But that didn’t stop Jansing from elevating a video of him purportedly at the al-Shifa hospital running around with “blood” on his hand.
“The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, says the al-Shifa hospital has been bombed five times by Israel since Thursday night killing at least one person, damaging their maternity ward, and the outpatient clinic building,” she proclaimed with ZERO skepticism given her source.
She led into Aljafarawi’s video with: “The sounds and footage we are about to show you from one activist on the ground at al-Shifa, we want to warn you, it's graphic and disturbing.”
Following his chaotic video, Jansing translated: “That man you saw, his hands covered in blood say, quote, ‘We carried them with our hands, our hands. They bombed them, bombed them inside the hospital. Oh, god, oh, god, please, god, have mercy on us.’”
MSNBC regular Malcolm Nancy was among the first to call out the network for promoting Aljafarawi’s propaganda. “I LITERALLY JUST SAW @MSNBC JUST FEATURE THIS SAME GUY AT AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL SCREAMING WITH BLOODY HANDS. PRODUCERS! FFS CHECK YOUR SOURCES. HE IS FAKE!!! #PunkedAgain,” he wrote in all-caps on X (formerly Twitter).
I LITERALLY JUST SAW @MSNBC JUST FEATURE THIS SAME GUY AT AL-SHIFA HOSPITAL SCREAMING WITH BLOODY HANDS. PRODUCERS! FFS CHECK YOUR SOURCES. HE IS FAKE!!! #PunkedAgain https://t.co/l6Ybee0G1m pic.twitter.com/zkjGBZP9eg
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) November 10, 2023
“‘Content creator/Actor’ Yes for HAMAS,” he scolded one of his commenters. “People are so ridiculously ready to excuse a dedicated HAMAS propaganda player they refuse to believe their own eyes.”
Throughout the rest of the segment, Jansing clutched her pearls about Israel supposedly striking at hospitals for no reason. But she refused to share the video of Hamas firing weapons from hospitals and other civilian centers. She also omitted the fact that Hamas has buried their headquarters under the al-Shifa hospital.
And the kicker? MSNBC misattributed the video to a different Hamas propaganda Instagram account, Ahmed Hijazee.
She also didn’t seem to care that Barzilai Medical Center in Ashkelon, Israel had been intentionally hit by Hamas rockets multiple times since the start of the war.
The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read:
MSNBC’s Chris Jansing Reports
November 10, 2023
1:15:29 p.m. Eastern(…)
CHRIS JANSING: The World Health Organization now says there's intense violence at the largest hospital in Gaza. The Gaza Health Ministry, which is run by Hamas, says the al-Shifa hospital has been bombed five times by Israel since Thursday night killing at least one person, damaging their maternity ward, and the outpatient clinic building. Several people were wounded as well.
A senior Israeli security official now telling NBC that the strike at al-Shifa resulted from a projectile launched by a militant group inside Gaza that misfired.
The sounds and footage we are about to show you from one activist on the ground at al-Shifa, we want to warn you, it's graphic and disturbing.
[Cuts to video]
[Video of SALEH ALJAFARAWI Screaming in Arabic with red stuff on his hand]
[Cuts back to live]
JANSING: That man you saw, his hands covered in blood say, quote, “We carried them with our hands, our hands. They bombed them, bombed them inside the hospital. Oh, god, oh, god, please, god, have mercy on us.”
(…)
