Gaza demands child rapist and murderer freed

Some of the world's worst people exchanged for innocent lives

13-year-old Oren Baharami was raped and murdered by a Palestinian. He and his mother Kati are shown in this Israeli newspaper via ILTV

In the news, when a government takes an action, the shorthand is that the place took that action. “China Says Trade Talks With US Set for Friday.” “Australia demands explanation over South China Sea incident.” “Illinois sues the Trump administration.”

As with all journalistic standards and practices, there is one exception: people who identify as Palestinians. In big mainstream media, they can never be associated with anything bad their government does. Actions taken by the government of Gaza must be referred to only as “Hamas” doing something. It’s another part of the infantilization, a form of dehumanization, that characterizes the coverage.

So the headline of this post, “Gaza demands…” maybe seem jolting, even on a subconscious level. It should be the opposite: normal.

In the new episode, I answer questions from listeners about coverage of Gaza in recent days. I explain what far too few people have heard: Gaza has demanded freedom for some of the world’s worst people.

What kind of society wants these folks freed?

In exchange for returning the only 20 surviving hostages and promising to return the remains of other hostages slain in captivity, Gaza demanded hundreds of people freed. They include:

• Ahmed Mahmed Jameel Shahada, who raped 13-year-old Israeli boy Oren Baharami and beat him to death with an iron bar

• Mahmoud Qawamseh, a terrorist previously released in 2011 when Israel gave up more than 1,000 prisoners for the return of one Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Qawamseh went on to orchestrate the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teens. Israel captured him again in 2024 at Gaza’s Shifa Hospital, which the media refers to as just a hospital but is in reality another center of terrorist operations.

• Iyad Abu al Rub, who organized multiple suicide bombings, including at a nightclub and a market

• Morad Bader Abdullah Adais, who stabbed to death Dafna Meir, a 39-year-old mother of six. He was 16 at the time — what the media calls a “Palestinian child,” always implying pure innocence. After the slaying, he went home and watched a movie with his family.

Learn about others here.

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Also in this episode, how a piece in The Guardian shows journalistic tricks — and what you can watch out for anytime you read a “news” story.

JL

P.S. ICYMI: