PALLYWOOD: Staged Suffering? German Investigation Exposes Hamas’s Photo Propaganda Machine.

A recent investigation by Germany’s Süddeutsche Zeitung casts serious doubt on a number of highly circulated Gaza images, suggesting that several were either selectively staged or carefully framed to serve a broader propaganda agenda — one that plays directly into Hamas’s media strategy.

One photograph, widely disseminated across Western media, shows a crowd in front of a food truck waving pots in desperation. The image, captured by freelance Palestinian photographer Anas Zayed Fteiha for Turkey’s state-run Anadolu Agency, went viral.

Other outlets — including CNN, BBC, New York Magazine, Stern, Deutschlandfunk, and so on  — opted to publish images more emotionally charged: close-ups of children, women in tears, scenes of chaos lit with cinematic precision.

Fteiha’s social media presence reveals more than just photojournalism. His Instagram displays militant artwork with “Free Palestine” slogans, where he poses in tactical gear labeled “Press.” One of the featured artists is a known anti-Semite. A video he shared is titled “Fuck Israel.” He is also linked to the Europe Palestine Network, a pro-Palestinian collective advocating “global resistance against Israel.”

This is not neutral reporting. This is ideological warfare — behind a camera.

Fteiha works for Anadolu Agency, which operates under the direct authority of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — a longtime patron of Hamas. For years, Erdoğan’s government has provided sanctuary, funding, and political cover to Hamas operatives.

So why are such images — clearly shaped by partisan and ideological interests — repeatedly published by Western newsrooms?

Yeah, that’s a tough one:

Classical reference in headline:

Related: From Steve, posting at the PJ Mothership: Former NYT Director: Paper Is ‘Digging Own Grave.’