By Kate Anderson
A U.S.-designated terrorist is using Twitter spaces to encourage violence in the Middle East, specifically against Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces.
Ziyad al-Nakhalah, deputy secretary general of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), was labeled a “Specially Designated Global Terrorist” by the U.S. Department of State in 2014, according to a department press release. In December, the Lebanese news channel Al-Mayadeen, which has an official Twitter account with Twitter Blue for Business, hosted Nakhalah on a Twitter space.
Nakhalah’s interview was initially taken down, but Al-Mayadeen contacted Twitter and it was allowed to continue, according to the second part of the interview. During the interview, Nakhalah said that he was hopeful the PIJ would have the opportunity to “abduct Israeli soldiers.”
“We will not cease the attempts to free our imprisoned [comrades], whether through abducting Israeli soldiers…. God willing, the resistance in the Gaza Strip….. will have the opportunity to abduct Israeli soldiers,” Nakhalah stated.
Nakhalah is unable to obtain a Twitter account due to his status as a designated terrorist but was allowed to have a platform via Al-Mayadeen’s account. Al-Mayadeen is considered the “mouthpiece” of the terrorist group Hezbollah, also an official U.S. designated terrorist group, and has 1.9 million followers on Twitter, according to Yahoo News.
The account is headed by Ghassan bin Jiddo who has denied that the outlet is funded by Hezbollah, but refused to disclose its financial dealings, according to Yahoo News. Nakhalah has publicly claimed credit for terror attacks against Israel and fostered a close relationship with the Iranian government, according to a State Department press release.
“Ziyad took credit for PIJ’s indiscriminate missile attacks into Israel in 2011, 2009, and 2008,” the press release read. “For example, in October 2012, PIJ announced that it had joined forces with Hamas to carry out attacks against Israel … [and] claimed responsibility for firing at least 50 mortar shells into Israel the day before that announcement.”
Twitter didn’t respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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