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Journalist admits: Anti-Israel narrative driving protests is based on Hamas lies

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Journalist Motaz Azaiza’s new revelations exposing “SMART,” a Hamas-controlled group of reporters used to manage the media narrative about Gaza, reveal uncomfortable but important truths about nearly two decades of journalism.

The world has relied on a media ecosystem that forced journalists to operate within red lines set by Hamas — under threat of punishment if their coverage ever crossed the terror group.

That reality was too often lost by the time Gaza’s stories reached Western TV screens and newspaper pages — and it drove college-campus protests and breathless claims by so-called activists, as false allegations emerging from the coastal enclave were repeated as unquestioned facts.

But Azaiza’s revelation should come as no surprise: Ever since its violent takeover after Gaza’s 2007 civil war, Hamas has tightly controlled the narrative to influence the story that reaches the outside world.

Its goal has been to shape positive coverage of its iron-fisted rule and to legitimize its narrative of “resistance” — that is, violence against Israel.

In 2013, Hamas’ Interior Ministry brought Gazan journalists and social-media activists together for a workshop, coaching them on how to report news in Gaza.

Among the attendees was Abu........

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