As the saying goes, I have smiled at a great many obituaries – and had a hearty belly-laugh at a few. Saleh al-Jafarawi, aka “Mr FAFO”, is dead – and apparently this time it’s for real.
Media outlets in Gaza report that Saleh al-Jafarawi, a well-known influencer in Gaza, has been killed during armed clashes between Hamas and militias in Gaza City.
Footage circulating online shows his body.
According to the reports, he was killed by the militias while covering the incident.
Naturally, Al Jazeera is calling him a ‘journalist’.
Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi has been killed during clashes in Gaza City, just days after Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian sources told Al Jazeera Arabic that the 28-year-old, who had gained prominence for his videos covering the war, was shot and killed by members of an “armed militia” while covering clashes in the city’s Sabra neighbourhood.
Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency verified footage published by reporters and activists showing his body – in a “press” flak jacket – on what appeared to be the back of a truck. He had been missing since Sunday morning.
Well, they’re not completely lying: he was (apparently) killed wearing a ‘press’ flak jacket and he did ‘gain prominence’ for his videos. Just not in the way Hamas sympathisers Al Jazeera would have us believe.
Al-Jafarawi acquired the ‘Mr FAFO’ moniker within days of the October 7 atrocities. On that dreadful day, he posted video selfies laughing and singing ‘allahu akbar’ as Israel-bound rockets streaked overhead. A week later, the airstrikes were coming his way and he posted videos of himself crying and cowering amid the rubble and flames.
FAFO, as the saying goes: Fuck Around and Find Out.
That was far from the end of al-Jafarawi’s career, though. And a very lucrative career it is said to have been: al-Jafarawi was accused in social media reports of pocketing millions of dollars he had raised as donations for Gaza residents.
Well, they can’t say he didn’t work diligently for it. Over the next two years he became one of the most dedicated crisis actors in the Pallywood propaganda industry. He was an EMT, a frontline rescuer from the rubble, a radiology technician and a victim himself, writhing in pain and dying several times in hospitals. But wait, there’s more! as they say. He was also a singer, a reporter and a Hamas soldier in uniform and more. He was the Pedro Pascal of Pallywood: Hamas’ ultimate social media tool.
And now he’s been put back in his box.
Unless, of course, he performs yet another miracle and rises from the grave for a fourth time.
