Israel Murders Journalist Anas Al-Sharif & the Entire Al Jazeera Crew

What you should know about Al-Sharif's final words and complicit western media and governments

The Israeli military murdered Palestinian journalist Anas Al-Sharif. They’ve also murdered the entire Al Jazeera crew in Gaza. Their names are correspondent Mohammed Qreiqeh, camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal, and Moamen Aliwa, and freelance reporter Mohammed al-Khaldi.

Below are Al-Sharif’s final words — what Anas requested to be published upon his martyrdom. I will not publish the photo of his corpse, but know this: he was burned to death and killed in a missile strike. It is horrific beyond words. This murder is another war crime. This is genocide. And we cannot remain silent. Let’s Address This.

I am publishing Anas's words per his request, and in hopes to maximize their reach. Please read his final will and understand the cruelty and genocide being inflicted upon the Palestinian people.

This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice. First, peace be upon you and Allah’s mercy and blessings.

Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabalia refugee camp. My hope was that Allah would extend my life so I could return with my family and loved ones to our original town of occupied Asqalan (Al-Majdal). But Allah’s will came first, and His decree is final. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times, yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification—so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half.

I entrust you with Palestine—the jewel in the crown of the Muslim world, the heartbeat of every free person in this world. I entrust you with its people, with its wronged and innocent children who never had the time to dream or live in safety and peace. Their pure bodies were crushed under thousands of tons of Israeli bombs and missiles, torn apart and scattered across the walls.

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. I entrust you to take care of my family. I entrust you with my beloved daughter Sham, the light of my eyes, whom I never got the chance to watch grow up as I had dreamed.

I entrust you with my dear son Salah, whom I had wished to support and accompany through life until he grew strong enough to carry my burden and continue the mission.

I entrust you with my beloved mother, whose blessed prayers brought me to where I am, whose supplications were my fortress and whose light guided my path. I pray that Allah grants her strength and rewards her on my behalf with the best of rewards.

I also entrust you with my lifelong companion, my beloved wife, Umm Salah (Bayan), from whom the war separated me for many long days and months. Yet she remained faithful to our bond, steadfast as the trunk of an olive tree that does not bend—patient, trusting in Allah, and carrying the responsibility in my absence with all her strength and faith.

I urge you to stand by them, to be their support after Allah Almighty. If I die, I die steadfast upon my principles. I testify before Allah that I am content with His decree, certain of meeting Him, and assured that what is with Allah is better and everlasting.

O Allah, accept me among the martyrs, forgive my past and future sins, and make my blood a light that illuminates the path of freedom for my people and my family. Forgive me if I have fallen short, and pray for me with mercy, for I kept my promise and never changed or betrayed it.

Do not forget Gaza… And do not forget me in your sincere prayers for forgiveness and acceptance.

Anas Jamal Al-Sharif

06.04.2025

If such words do not move a person to tears, then I am unsure what made such a person so devoid of compassion and humanity. In addition to imposing an illegal international media blackout, the Israeli government has now murdered at least 232 journalists in Gaza—which is more journalists killed than in every global conflict combined. This is not what self defense looks like. This is what those who commit genocide do. Understand this: The only reason you assassinate every Al Jazeera journalist left in Gaza, right before you illegally invade Gaza, is because you don’t want anyone to document the genocide you are about to accelerate.

Western Politicians Remain Complicit

While the Israeli government was murdering these Al Jazeera journalists with impunity, the United Kingdom arrested hundreds of pro Palestinian protestors. Imagine arresting the people protesting genocide while protecting the people cheering on the genocide?

Credit: The Guardian

Meanwhile in the United States, while 27 Democrats voted against arming Netanyahu, 73 Republicans and Democrats are yet unmoved by genocide. And thus, they continue to support this genocide unapologetically, making excuse after excuse. In addition to every Republican voting to fund Netanyahu yet again just last week, these 20 Democratic Senators voted with MAGA to do the same. They are as follows:

• Michael Bennet (CO)

• Catherine Cortez Masto (NV)

• Alex Padilla (CA)

• Richard Blumenthal (CT)

• John Fetterman (PA)

• Adam Schiff (CA)

• Cory Booker (NJ)

• Kirsten Gillibrand (NY)

• Chuck Schumer (NY)

• Maria Cantwell (WA)

• Maggie Hassan (NH)

• Jacky Rosen (NV)

• Chris Coons (DE)

• John Hickenlooper (CO)

• Mark Warner (VA)

• Ron Wyden (OR)

The words of Professor Ta Nehisi Coates echo frighteningly well when he was asked whether Democrats could step up to stop Trump from enacting fascism, observing:

We are at a moment right now where people are asking themselves why can’t the Democratic Party defend this assault on democracy . . . and I would submit to you that if you can’t draw the line at genocide, you probably can’t draw the line at democracy.

Any politician—Democrat, MAGA, or Independent—any journalist—liberal or conservative—who cannot call this genocide for what it is, is complicit. And I hope history remembers you as such.

Western Media Remains Complicit

Meanwhile, western journalists remain cowardly silent, justifying genocide with propaganda headlines. Leading the charge as usual is Fox News, running cover for Israel’s war crimes. They published this headline almost immediately after Israel’s illegal missile strike.

And it isn’t just right wing media like Fox News. Consider this grotesque NBC headline:

And just like Fox News, NBC provides no evidence. No independent verification. No regard to the fact that Al Jazeera, The Associated Press, and Al-Sharif himself rejected this absurd claim. Just a flat out accusation from an military credibly accused of genocide, and Fox and NBC happily become stenographers for them. The Washington Post is likewise running interference for Netanyahu, blaming Palestinians for their own genocide.

Any educated person recognizes that this is a grotesque trampling of international human rights law, which mandates that no matter what, an occupying military must ensure full food, water, and aid access to the people they are occupying. Israel is failing to do so, is starving Gaza to a Stage 5 famine, and the Washington Post seeks to absolve them of their war crimes. Indeed, the only moral blindness is that of the Washington Post. I should remind readers that Marc Thiessen is the propagandist who was a speech writer for George Bush as Bush illegally invaded Iraq and killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. And now, Thiessen is apparently the voluntary propagandist speech writer for Netanyahu as he illegally invades Gaza and kills hundreds of thousands of Palestinians. Washington Post is proving every day that their slogan “Democracy Dies in Darkness” was not a warning, but their aspirational goal.

A reminder: journalists who whitewashed the Holocaust were tried and convicted at Nuremberg. Fox, NBC, and Washington Post, among all the other silent and complicit western media outlets, should be ashamed that this pathetic headline is how they honor their fellow journalists — murdered while covering the genocide they are too cowardly to even name.

Conclusion

The failures of western democracies and western media are on full display. They are enabling this genocide in real time — softening it, excusing it, distracting from it. And as Trump openly enables fascism at home, people ask how we became so powerless? The answer is staring us in the face: if Democrats and our so-called free press won’t even stop a genocide, what makes anyone think they’ll defend democracy when it’s our turn on the chopping block?

I don’t say this lightly — we need fighters willing to uphold justice, or we are all doomed. I welcome your support as I continue to research, navigate, march, publish, and demand we uphold universal human rights. Please raise your voice. Do not be silent. Not now. Never again must mean never again.