CNN senior investigations reporter Tamara Qiblawi has posted online that she “hate[s] … Zionism” — yet she is the lead author on a widely-cited article this week that claims Hamas is more resilient than Israel is willing to admit.
The article claimed that Israel has only damaged, not destroyed, several Hamas battalions, and cast doubt on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claims to be near victory — a key portion of his pitch for more American arms.
After the killings of key Hamas figures, Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu has said victory is near. But forensic analyses by @CNN, @criticalthreats and @thestudyofwar show a very different picture on the ground in Gaza – as @tamaraqiblawi reports. pic.twitter.com/KityoqymyR
— Christiane Amanpour (@amanpour) August 5, 2024
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) denied the article’s claims, and the denial is quoted in the article. Nevertheless, the article made the rounds — including in Israel, where Army Radio reported CNN’s claims as a top news story Monday.
But one of the article’s key sources, retired U.S. Army Col. Peter Mansoor, openly backs a Palestinian state — even after the October 7 terror attack — betraying the not-too-subtle political bias of the article against Israeli victory.
Then there is Qiblawi. As analyst Eitan Fischberger noted on X (formerly Twitter), she has a long, radical history.
PSA: Don't take any piece of reporting from CNN's @Tamaraqiblawi seriously.@AuhsdBond did a little digging and found some shocking posts from her past, starting with this gem. But it gets worse 🧵 pic.twitter.com/tvfrVDv362
— Eitan Fischberger (@EFischberger) August 6, 2024
In one post in particular, from 2012, Qiblawi wrote: “thing i hate above all else,besides zionism: armchair analysis. if ure not out there trying to effect change, stop pontificating, seriously.”
thing i hate above all else,besides zionism: armchair analysis. if ure not out there trying to effect change, stop pontificating, seriously.
— Tamara Qiblawi تمارا قبلاوي (@tamaraqiblawi) August 17, 2012
In other social media posts cited by critics, Qiblawi appeared to state other radical anti-Israel opinions.
CNN’s official biography for Qiblawi refers to her past work in Beirut as a freelancer for “international media.” But according to Fischberger, one of the outlets for which she wrote was Al Akhbar English. Al Akhbar has been identified as a pro-Hezbollah, anti-American publication.
Neither CNN nor Qiblawi has responded to a request for comment via X.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
