The Foreign Press Association erupted with backlash after its president, Ian Williams, declared he didn’t care if Al Jazeera “journalist” Anas Al-Sharif was a Hamas terrorist. Speaking to CNN one day after Al-Sharif’s death in a targeted Israeli strike, Williams said, “Frankly, I don’t care whether Al-Sharif was in Hamas or not… Hamas is a political organization, as well as a terrorist organization, perhaps. But it’s not permissible to go killing people.”
Israeli intelligence claims Al-Sharif led a Hamas cell and documented evidence shows he celebrated the October 7 massacre. Telegram messages he posted that day praised the killings: “It is a jihad, a jihad of victory and martyrdom. Allahu Akbar and thank God.” In another message, he wrote, “9 hours later and the heroes are still roaming the country, killing and capturing… God, God, how great you are.” He also shared photos of dead Israeli soldiers being stepped on with captions like, “The army wants to exterminate people under their rugs 😉🔥.”
Before October 7, Al-Sharif posed for photos with Hamas leaders, including massacre mastermind Yahya Sinwar. Despite this, Williams rejected Israel’s evidence, saying, “First of all, I don’t believe it… I basically don’t believe anything the Israeli government says about this. They’ve lied and lied and lied.”
The case has sparked outrage from those who see a dangerous double standard in media circles. As Williams himself admitted, “Frankly, I don’t care whether Al-Sharif was in Hamas or not,” a statement critics say reveals troubling priorities in global journalism leadership.
