Source : Perth Now news
The widow of a Gaza journalist, who was contracted by Australia’s national broadcaster, has hit out against Liberal senator Sarah Henderson for alleging he was a Hamas militant.
Shrouq Aila, an award-winning journalist herself, condemned the accusations raised against her late husband Roshdi Sarraj who was killed in Israeli strikes in October 2023 as disturbing and callous.
“It is deeply distressing that three years into a genocide there are still people in powerful positions who would repeat such lies and distorted facts on the ground,” she told AAP from Gaza.
“How can she justify the killing of a father of an 11-month-old daughter at the time with shrapnel severing his body by calling him a terrorist?
“I feel angry especially after all the displacement, grief, famine and raising a child without a father which we endured during this war to hear her disparaging my late husband.”
Her comments came after a fiery Senate estimates hearing where the opposition communications spokesperson held up a printout of an Israeli Defence Force report claiming that Mr Sarraj was a Hamas militant.
“It’s incumbent on you to ensure that you’re not hiring journalists who work for a terrorist organisation… this person has been identified as a fighter in the Hamas military wing,” she said while addressing ABC executives.
“You’re just completely disregarding of the fact that the ABC, prima facie based on this evidence, has been hiring Hamas terrorists,” the Liberal senator added while waving the report bearing an IDF logo.
But in a later statement to media outlets, Ms Henderson retracted her assertions saying she “incorrectly” identified the Palestinian journalist and had written to the parliamentary committee to correct the record in Hansard.
“While the IDF concluded Mr Al-Sarraj was a Hamas military operative, I incorrectly said he held a Hamas ID card,” she said.
AAP contacted Senator Henderson for comment but did not receive a reply.
The ABC said it approached the IDF to substantiate the accusation raised but was not given any evidence.
“The ABC has asked the IDF for information that would confirm its allegation that Roshdi Sarraj was part of the Hamas military. None has been provided,” an ABC spokesperson told AAP.
The slain journalist had worked with the ABC since 2018 and was recommended by other United Nations agencies for production jobs in the blockaded territory, the spokesperson added.
The broadcaster also said it had discussed the accusations with the Committee to Protect Journalists, which continues to list Mr Sarraj as one of 189 journalists killed in Gaza – the deadliest toll for journalists in any conflict.
A United Nations human rights commission concluded Israel was responsible for genocide in Gaza with more than 73,000 killed including 20,000 children, but Israel has rejected the label after Hamas launched a cross-border attack killing 1200 people and captured more than 250 hostages.
