UK pundit Andrew Fox suggests Israel legitimately killed Al Jazeera journalists
UK pundit Andrew Fox suggests Israel legitimately killed Al Jazeera journalists
A media commentator and fellow at a prominent British think tank suggested that Al Jazeera journalists and facilities were legitimate military targets for Israel after a deadly attack on the organisation's reporters in Gaza.
Andrew Fox, a research fellow at the neoconservative Henry Jackson Society (HJS), has written for publications including the Telegraph, the Spectator, Spiked and the Jewish Chronicle.
He made the comments in a Substack post on 11 August, which he also posted on X.
That was the day after Israel’s targeted murder of Al Jazeera journalists Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Mohammed Noufal and Ibrahim Zaher; along with freelance journalists Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed al-Khaldi.
On Wednesday Novara Media reported on the post, which was entitled: "When does a journalist become a legitimate military target? Maybe not often enough."
Fox, a retired army major, wrote that Sharif was a "legitimate target because he was an Al Jazeera journalist", seemingly defending his killing.
He said Al Jazeera's reporting has "had a critical role in bringing international pressure" to bear on Israel and has "directly compromised IDF operations", adding that this means the organisation is engaged in "direct participation in hostilities".
Fox claimed the Israeli military has the right to "treat Al Jazeera’s Gaza-based personnel, facilities, and transmission infrastructure as legitimate military objectives".
He added: "There is a further argument that Al Jazeera facilities worldwide have become actively involved in the conflict and, therefore, are legitimate military targets."
Israel has killed at least 246 journalists in Gaza throughout its genocide in the besieged enclave.
Middle East Eye asked the Henry Jackson Society whether it condemns Fox's statement and whether it plans to retain him as a research fellow. HJS did not respond.
'Monstrous animal'
Chaired by former Conservative justice secretary, Sir Brandon Lewis, the think tank is considered highly influential and has often been accused of Islamophobia.
One of its own founders, Matthew Jamison, denounced it as a “monstrous animal” and a “deeply anti-Muslim racist organisation”.
Another former member, Marko Attila Hoare, described it as having become “an abrasively right-wing forum with an anti-Muslim tinge, churning out polemical and superficial pieces by aspiring journalists and pundits”.
In his Substack post, Fox claimed there is "substantial evidence that [Sharif] was an active member of Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades".
But while Israel has said this, the claim was found to be baseless by the United Nations, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the Foreign Press Association.
MEE asked Fox whether he stands by his claim and further asked him whether he considers Al Jazeera journalists and facilities in the UK to be legitimate military targets.
Fox did not respond.
'The occupation wants to assassinate me morally'
Sharif, aged 28 when he was killed, was one of Gaza's most prominent reporters and had been awarded the Amnesty International Australia's Human Rights Defender Award for his resilience, commitment to press freedom and "brave and extraordinary" coverage.
His last live appearance was a report on the starvation that has affected Gaza's population of 2 million people, with children comprising almost half of the rising death toll from malnutrition.
Israel led a smear campaign against Sharif for months before his death.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) made a final call for his protection on 24 July.
Sharif told the CPJ of the Israeli campaign against him that "they accuse me of being a terrorist because the occupation wants to assassinate me morally."
Sharif left behind a powerful testament before his killing, which he had prepared in the event of his death.
"I urge you not to let chains silence you, nor borders restrain you.
"Be bridges toward the liberation of the land and its people, until the sun of dignity and freedom rises over our stolen homeland," he wrote.
"Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance."
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