IDF's alleged recording of Islamic Jihad, and questions of journalistic integrity and trust

The alleged recording of “Hamas” operatives discussing the rocket failure that was released by the State of Israel’s official Twitter account is being disputed:

And which experts would those be? We’re supposed to believe someone on Twitter who quotes unnamed ‘experts’?

It hasn’t aired yet. The tweet isn’t from a rando, it’s from the Chief Correspondent and a presenter of Channel 4 News (UK).

They are top men.

TOP.

MEN.

Was it mentioned how this recording was acquired?

Presumably, it’s an intercept:

Thanks.

Now hamas knows that line of communication is monitored.

Nope, I’m speculating.

Well something is off here. Are we supposed to believe that Israel has nobody who is familiar with the relevant dialect, and that despite the intense scrutiny that would inevitably follow, they just released an “absurd” obviously fake tape hoping that nobody would notice?

the channel 4 news presenter is identified and is not a rando. The “experts” that the channel 4 news guy is listening to are indeed “randos” until they are identified. At the moment, we don’t know if they are actual experts, or if they are just self-described “experts” who are just voicing an uninformed opinion.

I can easily find some “experts” who will confidently tell us that the 2020 US election was stolen, and Trump is president. I can report this. Does not make it true.

Are you a well-respected journalist, whose reputation has been built up over decades, and working for a respected news outlet, though?

In the event, the report did not go into greater detail, only saying that “two independent Arab journalists” thought it was a fabrication for the reasons described in the tweet. This echoes what many on social media have said. Unless someone goes into greater persuasive detail, it will remain unproven, just as the IDF’s claim of the recording’s authenticity is unproven.

I’m sure that will become more clear with time. In the meantime, I will have an open mind, but I’m afraid “both sides the same” is not in my wheelhouse at the moment.

So Arab journalists are the experts?

Two guys who said (paraphrased) “that does not sound right to me”

The reasons given for the doubt in authenticity in the report are “language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone”. It seems reasonable to me that Arab journalists would have a better handle on these things than most.

Who would you suggest would be better placed to judge it?

Well, I’d expect Israeli intelligence professionals who devote massive resources to monitoring Hamas to not be complete dumbass incompetents about “language, accent, dialect, syntax and tone” if they were going to fake something. This requires no preconceptions about their honesty, merely about their competence.

Whereas I have no knowledge or expectation whatsoever about the competence of unidentified “Arab journalists” on Twitter who claim that the recording is an “absurd” fake.

I refer you back to the killing of Rouzan al-Najjar if you doubt IDF are capable of being incompetent in the art of the cover-up. I presume from your post that you did not read the article.

It sounds like you have no trust in “Arab journalists”. Are they not capable of being true to their vocation, like journalists from other places in the world?

Are you referring to the agency that completely missed the giant incursion several days ago?

Congratulations on confabulating into an accusation of racism. My obvious emphasis and the reason for placing “Arab journalists” in quotation marks was the fact that these sources were unidentified.