Phil Rees

Overview

Phil Rees attempted to alter the definition of terrorism and has defended incitement to violence. He has also justified Hamas rocket attacks on civilians and spread hatred of Israel in the media.

As of August 2018, the Qatari-funded Al-Jazeera media channel listed Rees as its investigations manager at the channel’s investigative unit since 2013.

From 2006-2013, Rees created and ran the TV production company “Out of Office Films.” He was a journalist with the BBC from 1982-2006.

Rees reportedly graduated from Oxford University in 1982.

Altering “Terrorism”

On March 7, 2009, Rees published an Al-Jazeera-commissioned six-part series, titled “Dining with Terrorists.”

In Episode 1, Rees claimed that the term “terrorism” is devoid of meaning and simply depends on a person’s political views, claiming [00:00:24] that in the past “It used to be said that one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”

He added that 9/11 “appeared” [00:07:35] to change the language, solidifying the term “terrorism” into a cynical label used by the West, as he stated [00:00:52] “terrorism is a label placed on violence… by the West.”

In Episode 5, Rees accused Israel of committing terrorism, claiming [ 00:11:10] that the definition of terrorism, “deliberately targeting innocent civilians as a policy” is a definition that [00:11:50] “could be talking about Israel’s war on Gaza.”

He also demonized Israel, referring [00:10:14] to Gaza as “the world’s biggest prison.”

Rees then criticized [00:22:46] Hamas’ “being labeled a terrorist” and justified Hamas’s policy of suicide bombings and the deliberate targeting of israeli civilians as “the only means they have to challenge Israel’s military superiority.”

The series was based on a 2005 book Rees published with the same title, where he reportedly denied that anyone could or should be labeled a terrorist, except for the governments of the United States, Britain and Israel, whom Rees labeled “terrorist nations.”

Defending Incitement

On August 7, 2007, Rees published an article in the United Kingdom edition of The Guardian, in which he argued that incitement to violence deserved a media platform.

Rees argued that an Al Qaeda operative who endorsed the July 7, 2005 London Bombings and called for “ British Muslims” to “arm themselves to prevent the kaffir [non-believer] from coming into their home” should be given “a credible arena” to air his views on Western media.

Rees criticized the Terrorism Act of 2006 as a “denial of freedom of speech” for classifying "justifying or glorifying terrorism" as a criminal offense.

Rees wrote that the law “is not directed at what people do but what they say; it is an offence to write or announce anything that might, directly or indirectly, encourage another person to commit an act of serious violence in support of any political cause anywhere in the world. Someone who justifies resistance to occupation, whether in Iraq or the Palestinian territories, is vulnerable to prosecution."

The article was published a day after BBC aired a TV episode titled “Britain under Attack,” produced by Rees.

In that installment, Rees interviewed the same Al Qaeda operative and elicited from him this explicit call [00:21:39] for British Muslims to arm themselves: “a Muslim in the UK should realize that we are in a state of war” and [00:00:26] “you must arm yourself, it is a war, and it is a war against Islam.”

The same operative added [00:01:17] that “even if you need to deceive the British government to get a visa to get into the country to perform your duties as a Muslim, that’s allowed.”

In the film, Rees framed [00:01:26] the UK government’s incitement restrictions as trying “to silence these voices...”

Justifying Hamas Rocket Attacks

On November 22, 2012 — during Operation Pillar of Defense (OPD) — Rees gave an interview to Al-Jazeera where he described [00:18:01] Hamas rocket attacks on Israel as a “primordial act.”

Rees alleged [00:17:49] that “every rocket they fire is actually supported by most Palestinians” and they do it “because they are trying to survive.”

Rees further claimed that “[t]hey fire a rocket because it is a symbol that they are alive as a people, and that’s the important thing.”

Israel launched OPD to stop Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli civilians from Gaza. Over the course of eight days in November 2012, Palestinian terrorist groups fired more than 1,500 rockets at Israel. The majority struck Israel, damaging homes, schools and other civilian areas. Human Rights Watch noted: “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

Human Rights Watch noted that “Palestinian armed groups made clear in their statements that harming civilians was their aim.”

Rees went on to to say that “until the United States starts talking to Hamas, Islamic Jihad of Palestine... they’re living in a Cuckoo land in terms of trying to create a lasting peace, there...”

Spreading Hatred of Israel

On November 17, 2012, Rees posted a documentary he produced to Vimeo where he claimed [00:10:27] that “Israeli commandos attacked an aid ship — the Mavi Marmara” and labeled [00:13:28] the Israeli soldiers as “the killers of 9 men.”

Rees claimed [00:16:35] that those on board the flotilla had “no wish for violence” and just wanted [00:10:27] “to deliver aid to Gaza.”

The Mavi Marmara was the lead ship in the “Freedom Flotilla” that attempted to sail to Gaza in May 2010. Activists aboard the ship agitated for violent confrontation and chanted a slogan glorifying the killing of Jews. When Israeli security forces boarded the Marmara, protesters attacked them with iron bars, metal chairs, knives, stun grenades and firearms, rocks and bottles. A United Nations report found that the flotilla agitators initiated an organized, violent confrontation with Israeli forces, and that the Marmara was carrying no humanitarian aid, only weaponry.

Rees also defended Iran’s backing of the Hamas and Hezbollah terrorist organizations, whom he referred to [00:38:42] as “groups that have fought against Israeli occupation of Lebanon and Palestinian land.”

The documentary was financed by Press TV, an Iranian state-funded media outlet.