Meet “Robin Harrrow” (not his real name). He’s the Al Jizz reporter who went undercover for the antisemitic sting operation in the UK.
This individual posed as a pro-Israel Labour activist by the adopted name Robin Harrow. His deception included writing blogs for the Times of Israel(!) under the fake name, but also cynically saying the types of things a pro Israel person would really say.
The reporter, posing as a pro-Israel Labour activist by the adopted name Robin Harrow, first made contact with Shai Masot, then assistant to deputy ambassador Eitan Na’eh, last summer.
He subsequently spent considerable amount of time with him, even accompanying him to a Jewish Labour Movement meeting between Ambassador Mark Regev and a group of young Israeli Labor leaders, and social gatherings such as the one where he made his much-reported remarks about ‘taking down’ Alan Duncan.
To create his persona, ‘Harrow’ set up a fake Twitter account promoting pro-Israel messages and also a blog on the Times of Israel, with a bio describing himself as German-born and having taken part in Israel exchange programmes in school. He also professed his fascination with the strength of Israeli society “to live under such circumstances and continue to grant civil rights to all citizens”.
In one in which he lauds the treatment of LGBT people compared to other parts of the Middle East, he wrote that those calling themselves anti-Zionist are “effectively saying that Israel should not exist”. He added: “If the Labour Party loses its path, leaves the progressive camp and sanctions terrorist groups like Hamas, we lose more than legitimacy and electability in the minds of the electorate. The Labour Party will lose its soul and open the door to a new wave of anti-Semitism.”
At around the same time he disappeared off the radar, he requested both posts he wrote on the platform be removed on 19 December, saying his new employer didn’t want him to write.
One can assume he did not believe the things he said – after all, if he did, he would likely be a real Israel supporter.
But it gets worse – he even exploited feelings around the Holocaust to help perpetrate the fraud.
‘Harrow’ claimed he was German, sources say he convinced young Jewish activists he was a supporter of Israel by telling them he was guilty about the Holocaust and his country’s history.
As of now, no-one has been able to identify him.
His photo appears at the top of this post. He works for Al Jazeera. Go Scooby gang!
