A number of survivors of the October 7 assaults on Israel have sued the Related Press (AP) for hiring freelance photojournalists who’re allegedly “embedded with Hamas.”
In a brand new lawsuit filed on Wednesday, the plaintiffs — which embrace Israeli-Individuals and Individuals who attended the Nova music pageant raided by Hamas in addition to the family members of victims — have claimed that AP has aided and abetted the terrorist group by utilizing these freelance photographers.
In accordance with a report by The New York Submit, the plaintiffs accuse AP of “materially supporting terrorism” by paying alleged Hamas-associated photojournalists for photos captured throughout and instantly after the October 7 invasion.
“There isn’t any doubt that AP’s photographers participated within the October 7 bloodbath, and that AP knew, or on the very least ought to have identified, by means of easy due diligence, that the individuals they have been paying have been longstanding Hamas associates and full members within the terrorist assault that they have been additionally documenting,” the grievance alleges.
In accordance with The New York Submit, the lawsuit mentions the names of 4 freelance photographers whose work was bought and printed by AP and claims that the 4 are “identified Hamas associates who have been gleefully embedded with the Hamas terrorists through the October 7 assaults.”
However the publication stories that almost all of the lawsuit focuses on one photojournalist, Hassan Eslaiah — who has been repeatedly accused of getting hyperlinks to Hamas .
Eslaiah had contributed a number of the earliest pictures of the October 7 assaults to information shops. Later, investigative report by the web site Sincere Reporting turned up a 2020 photograph of Eslaiah posing with Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar.
The New York Submit stories that the plaintiffs declare that AP was made conscious of Eslaiah’s alleged hyperlinks to Hamas however continued to pay for his freelance photos.
“AP willfully selected to show a blind eye to those details, and as a substitute profited from its terrorist photographer’s participation within the bloodbath by means of its publication of the ‘unique’ photos, for which it actually paid a premium, successfully funding a terrorist group,” the swimsuit alleges.
The plaintiffs are suing for damages from the AP beneath the Antiterrorism Act, in line with the federal grievance filed within the Southern District of Florida.
Final 12 months, when allegations first surfaced about photographers understanding in regards to the Hamas-led invasion, an AP spokesperson pressured that the information wire had “no data of the October 7 assaults earlier than they occurred.” They stated that the information wire makes use of freelancers from all over the world, together with in Gaza.
“Hassan Eslaiah has been an occasional freelancer for AP and different information organizations,” the AP stated in a press release to The Washington Instances.
“The position of The Related Press is to assemble info on breaking information occasions all over the world wherever they occur, even when these occasions are horrific and trigger mass casualties.”