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   Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)'s status on Saturday, 21-Feb-2026 06:37:38 JST Zecharias Zelalem

   • Timnit Gebru (she/her).

   THREAD:

   Selam fediverse friends,

   A first in my career: I've co-produced an episode of the Al Jazeera TV show...The Listening Post and it will air tomorrow!

   As you all know well, outrage over genocide in Gaza means Israel has lost the streets and the campuses of the western world.

   So, Israel appears to have decided to focus its efforts on selling its narrative to....African audiences.

   Also...tomorrow's episode will also feature the queen herself...Dr @timnitGebru

   https://www.aljazeera.com/video/the-listening-post

   • Embed this notice
     Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)'s status on Saturday, 21-Feb-2026 06:37:34 JST Zecharias Zelalem

     in reply to

     I'm ashamed to say this, but Ethiopian journalists have proven the most "effective" of all the Africans to be flown out to Israel. The Ethiopian airwaves and newspapers have been flooded with content that dehumanizes Palestinians, depicts Israel's genocide as a self defense move, or polishes Israel's reputation by highlighting advances in technology, agriculture or various religious heritage sites at a time when media focus should be on mass slaughter in Gaza.

     Rich Felker repeated this.
   • Embed this notice
     Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)'s status on Saturday, 21-Feb-2026 06:37:34 JST Zecharias Zelalem

     in reply to

     Israel appears to be studying the results, country by country. For instance, following intense backlash from Moroccan journalists against colleagues who traveled to Israel, this year, Israel could not find journalists from Morocco. It sent a cultural troupe to instead.

     All in all, our weakness as Africans? Too many dictatorships. A robust press culture would have us better resist efforts by not only Israel, but China and Russia as well, to sell us questionable narratives that violate humanity.

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     Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)'s status on Saturday, 21-Feb-2026 06:37:36 JST Zecharias Zelalem

     in reply to

     The trips have led to mixed results: in some African countries, strong backlash has occurred, as was the case with Morocco and Kenya. So, Israeli authorities have been selective: it is now selecting journalists from countries run by dictatorships, where there are no press freedoms. i.e Ethiopia.

     For Kenya, where there is a strong media culture, there were no journalists willing to go, so Israel recruited influencers and gospel music singers.

   • Embed this notice
     Zecharias Zelalem (zekuzelalem@dair-community.social)'s status on Saturday, 21-Feb-2026 06:37:37 JST Zecharias Zelalem

     in reply to

     Since 2024, Israel has been quietly flying out delegations of journalists, influencers, politicians, even religious figures from different African states. The carefully curated trips take African visitors to tourist and religious sites, the Knesset, and Oct 7 attack sites.

     Nothing that shines a light on the suffering of pesky Palestinians of course!

     There have been trips with delegations from Morocco, Cameroon, Senegal, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa and more going so far.