Apple News, the tech giant’s news aggregating app, grants a continuous platform to Abdel Bari Atwan, a london-based commentator and writer who is renowned for his expressions of antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and celebration of terrorism.
Some Atwan’s articles appear exclusively on Apple News, while others appear to be translations from Atwan’s own website, named Raialyoum.
Dozens of Atwan’s articles can be found on the Apple News app, many of which feature instances of commending terrorist attacks and leaders of terror designated organizations.
In one article on Apple News, Atwan lauded Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar for the October 7th attacks, adding that his “leadership has combined unshakeable resolve with masterful planning, preparation, execution, and timing both in military and intelligence term.” He also commended the killing of “soldiers and settlers” and the “capturing” (meaning kidnapping) of “scores” of Israelis.
On another article which made its way to Apple News, Atwan commended the launching of thousands of rockets onto Israeli cities by “resistance factions” as a method of “defending Al-Aqsa,” also scolding Arab armies and governments for not standing by them.
A third article on Apple’s platform had Atwan claim that “The massacre of the Israeli athletes in Munich was not committed by Abbas or by the Black September squad that abducted them.
They were killed by Israeli Mossad operatives and German police who stormed the place where they were being held,” lauding Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for using the word “Holocausts” to refer to Israel’s actions against Palestinians.
In another article which appeared on Apple News, Atwan claimed that “Tel Aviv is in control in the US right now, via its extensions which direct its president and are embedded in its administration and institutions. Much the same can be said about weary old Britain.”
A history of antisemitism and Holocaust denial
Adwan himself has a history of Holocaust denial and antisemitism, found beyond his articles on Apple News.
For example, in a June interview published by MEMRI, Atwan is heard saying: “Israel was founded on a great lie invented by global Zionism named the Holocaust… the Holocaust is a lie and a fabrication.”
Atwan has also celebrated the targeting of civilians in Israel. In 2022, he lauded a series of terror attacks in Israel which claimed the lives of 11 civilians and 3 police officers, referring to perpetrators as “heroes,” “perfect ones” and “martyrs”; and gleefully made fun of Israelis who ran away from the location of the attack as “mice”.
In September, Atwan wrote on his website: “Adolf Hitler did not kill the Jews because of their religion, and Europe did not hate the Jews because they were Jews… Rather, it was because of their social role, because of usury and money.” He also referred to Shylock the Jew from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and claimed that “The Zionist Jews… forged history when they claimed that … al-Aqsa Mosque was built on the ruins of the alleged Temple.”
He was also quoted as saying that he will “dance in London’s Trafalgar square if Iran attacks Israel with missiles”
Apple has faced several antisemitism related scandals in the past. Only yesterday the Jerusalem Post exposed that Hamas’s radio station, Al-Aqsa Voice, is available for downloading on Apple’s app store. Other scandals included the firing of a worker in November following antisemitic remarks she had made, as well as a feature which showed that the Palestinian flag is prompted while typing the word Jerusalem.
A spokesperson from the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (CAMERA) commented:
“Apple News’ ongoing publication of translated editorials by terrorism supporter and Holocaust denier Abdel Bari Atwan violates the CEO’s stated commitment to deny a platform to antisemites. The translated editorials are typically more moderate than Bari Atwan’s Arabic material, concealing his record of bigotry from English readers.
Atwan’s toxic and outrageous content nevertheless sometimes finds its way into Apple News. For instance, on Apple News, Atwan falsely alleged that the Mossad killed 11 Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and he also echoed Mahmoud Abbas’ charge that Israel perpetrated ‘fifty Holocausts’ against Palestinians.”