A case study in the attempted tactic of character assassination.

Daily Maverick investigated who originated the attacks on Imtiaz Sooliman and Gift of the Givers, how they spread, and why criticism of Israel functions as the red line it does.

This is how journalism should be done — and that, as much as the subject matter, is why SAMNET is circulating it.

What the investigation found

Kevin Bloom’s piece traces the allegation that Sooliman and Gift of the Givers may be directly or indirectly financially supporting Hamas back to an open letter by Lawrence Nowosenetz, a former member of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and a one-time acting High Court judge, published while he was living in Tel Aviv. Daily Maverick’s assessment is that by the time that letter appeared, earlier instances of what it describes as slander and innuendo had already passed without challenge at the publication that carried them.

The piece also examines how the claim was amplified, including by the musician David Scott (The Kiffness) — noting his earlier track built on the allegation that Haitian residents of Springfield, Ohio, were eating local pets, a claim subsequently analysed and dismissed as disinformation, and described as racist, by the New York Times.

Asked what had motivated the allegations against him, Sooliman told Daily Maverick he could not answer that — still smiling. The investigation set out to answer it anyway, which is the difference between reporting an accusation and interrogating it.

‘Iran hates me’ — Imtiaz Sooliman opens up about jihadism, Hamas and The Kiffness — Kevin Bloom, Daily Maverick, 11 December 2024.

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Shared by the South African Muslim Network (SAMNET) in the interest of promoting quality researched journalism and fighting disinformation and propaganda.