Following on from the humiliation of having Hamas praising his government’s intention to recognize a “palestinian” state, Australian Prime Minister Muppet-in-Chief ANthony ALbanese has claimed the praise is just Hamas propaganda.
Anthony Albanese has warned media about Hamas propaganda, amid confusion regarding statements reportedly made by the terrorist group in relation to Australia’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state.
Nine newspapers reported on Wednesday that the Hamas co-founder and senior official Hassan Yousef had welcomed the decision, praising Australia’s “political courage” and calling on other countries to follow its example.
But the group later said Yousef was in jail and not able to communicate with media outlets. Nine clarified on Thursday that the statement was from Yousef’s office not the man himself.
Australian Associated Press reported that Hamas’s foreign relations chief, Istanbul-based Dr Basem Naim, had poured cold water on the veracity of the Yousef statement.
“Sheikh Yousef is in an Israeli jail for years now. I’m very surprised … I doubt it’s true,” he said referring to the statement attributed to Yousef.
Guardian Australia reported the government’s response to Nine’s Wednesday report and the quotes attributed to Yousef.
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Nine clarified on Thursday the statement had been issued by Yousef’s political office in the West Bank, which it said “issues statements on his behalf”, and that Yousef was in prison.
A statement on an English-language Telegram channel, purportedly run by Hamas, stated that Yousef was “being held in poor conditions and is cut off from the outside world, with no means of communication with local or international press outlets”. It denied he had made any statement on Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state.
AAP reported Naim referred to the Telegram statement, confirming its veracity.
Albanese on Thursday said: “Hamas do not want a two-state solution.”
“What they want is one state,” the prime minister said. “And I noticed in the [Telegram] statement that’s made today, they say that the alleged statement from the person yesterday is someone who’s been in prison in Israel since October 2023 and has no means of communication.
“What that should be is a warning to the media, of being very careful about the fact that Hamas will engage in propaganda. Because what is happening is the international community is united about isolating Hamas, about supporting a peaceful way forward.”
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The government on Wednesday cautioned against legitimising the statement attributed to Yousef, with a spokesperson claiming Hamas “always tries to manipulate facts for their own propaganda”.
“Media have a responsibility to make professional judgments to not promote propaganda of terrorist organisations to get cynical headlines,” they said.
In other words, Albanese makes out like the statement praising his government’s decision was pure propaganda…while basing this on something else said on a Hamas-run Telegram channel… which is apparently not Hamas propaganda?
Sounds to me like Albanese is saying some Hamas statements are to be believed while others are not.
This idea of some Hamas propaganda being more equal to others reflects his and his government’s policies, in addition to the whole “palestinian” statehood recognition thing. For instance, this from just a few weeks ago:
In a prepared document sent to J-Wire, the prime minister declared:
“The position of the Australian Government is clear: every innocent life matters.
Every Israeli. Every Palestinian.
This conflict has stolen far too many innocent lives.
Tens of thousands of civilians are dead, children are starving.
Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel’s denial of aid and the killing of civilians, including children, seeking access to water and food cannot be defended or ignored.
We call on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law.
The idea that Israel has been denying aid and deliberately killing civilians seeking food and water is absolute Hamas propaganda.
So let’s get this straight: when Hamas puts out a statement that makes Albanese look bad, it’s “propaganda” and must be treated with suspicion. But when Hamas pumps out the exact same blood-libel talking points about Israel that he’s been parroting for weeks, that’s suddenly credible, sober policy advice.
It’s almost as if the Albanese government’s “principled” Middle East stance isn’t about truth at all – it’s about which bits of Hamas propaganda are politically useful. And right now, the ones smearing Israel seem to fit the bill just fine.
