Did the judgment go wrong? The 25-year-old photographer Mu’taz Azaiza, a journalist and UNRA employee who shared videos of Israeli kidnappings on October 7 and compared Netanyahu and the IDF to Nazis, was selected for the list of the 100 most influential people in the world for 2024 by the American magazine, thereby legitimizing with great respect the supporters Terrorism and kidnappings
A Gazan journalist, an employee of UNRA, who celebrated and shared on his social networks videos of the abduction of Israelis to Gaza on October 7 and compared Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu to Hitler and the IDF soldiers to Nazis, was selected for the list of 100 most influential people in the world for 2024 by “Time” magazine.
Shortly after the Hamas attack on Israel broke out, Azaiza shared in posts on the networks – which have since been deleted – a video of the abduction of Israelis to Gaza from the Nuva party. Azaiza also published a video showing Hamas terrorists around the city of Sderot with the caption in Arabic: “The Gazans have entered the settlements! With jeeps that we see on the streets of Gaza.”
In another photo he shared in his Instagram story, IDF soldiers and Prime Minister Netanyahu are seen, next to a photo in a similar position of Hitler and his soldiers. “Worse than Nazis,” he added. Azaiza also usually uploads content in collaboration with pro-Hamas activists. The Meta company blocked Azaiza’s accounts several times in the past due to inappropriate content.
Azaiza was chosen as one of the 100 most influential people, along with Rachel Goldberg Poland, the mother of the 23-year-old Hirsch who was kidnapped from the Nova party, Yanon Kreis, the Israeli CEO of the Mattel toy company and the man behind the production of the movie “Barbie”, and the Jewish American comedian who repeats the question Alex Edelman.
It is not clear what came up in the minds of those who decided to also include the 25-year-old photographer/journalist Mu’taz Azaiza, who operates under the full control of Hamas and assists them in propaganda.
The reasons of the committee were presented in a romantic way – “For 108 days, Mu’taz Azaiza acted as the eyes and ears of the world in his homeland of Gaza. Armed with a camera and a protective vest marked with the inscription PRESS, the 25-year-old Palestinian photographer spent almost four months documenting life under Israeli bombs: families displaced from their homes, women mourning their loved ones, a man trapped under the rubble.
In response to the win, Azaiza tweeted: “I have the right to spread the name of my country everywhere I go and in every achievement I achieve. For anyone who does not recognize Palestine as a country, or anyone who claims that this is their land – one day Palestine will be free from the Zionists and the occupation. Everyone fulfills his role, my part is not over yet.”
Member of the House of Representatives of the United States, the Palestinian-American Rashida Talib who called “from the river to the sea”, decided to award Mu’taz Azaiza a certificate of appreciation last week “for his coverage of the Palestinian people and his commitment to telling their stories”. She thanked him “for fearless journalistic work. We pray for your healing and for the end of the genocide in Gaza.”
Until October 7, Azaiza was considered an anonymous photographer on social media, with only about 25,000 followers. His name was associated with a storm surrounding an interview with a resident of a refugee camp in Gaza who said that “we do not demand the destruction of Israel”. In Gaza he was attacked for collaborating with the Zionists, but Azaiza gained fame following his photographs after the 7th of October, and the number of his followers skyrocketed to about 20 million followers today.
The choice of Azaiza for the list of influential people of “Time” drew criticism among advocacy groups and pro-Israel organizations. “International media should not be a negligent mouthpiece of pro-Hamas voices. They should not give legitimacy or credibility to people who praise terrorism.”
The least the media can do is seriously examine and question the Gazan journalists and social media influencers, those they give a platform to and rely on, bearing in mind that a terrorist organization controls the territory and the flow of information outside of it. The audience has a right to know that these people are not neutral bystanders providing objective materials and information. The media has the duty to maintain transparency.”
As you may recall, during the war, the IDF and other organizations revealed that Hamas was using UNRA clinics, schools and equipment for terrorist purposes. In addition, it was revealed how UNRA teachers celebrate the massacre against Israel on Telegram.
The United States, Great Britain and other Western countries have announced the suspension of funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, following the suspicion that agency workers took part in the October 7 massacre.
For years Israel has been making efforts to close UNRWA, but every three years the UN General Assembly renews the mandate for the agency’s activities, which as of today will expire on June 30, 2026. The Trump administration stopped American funding to UNRWA, but the Biden administration restored it – despite Israeli claims of incitement in its textbooks, the employment of terrorist operatives and the perpetuation of the Palestinian refugee problem.
