156: Paul Martin: "I knew Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader assassinated in Tehran. He jailed me in Gaza".

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Who was Ismail Haniyeh, Leader of Hamas? 

He was assassinated in Tehran on the last day of July 2024 and buried in Doha two days later. 

He's been branded a "moderate”, but was in charge of Hamas’ so-called political wing, who’s murderers, rapists and kidnappers pillaged - and filmed - their way through southern Israel on the Shabbat morning of Simchat Torah on October 7th.

It was the biggest mass murder of Jews since the Holocaust. 

Slain on Iranian soil in their capital city, Haniyeh’s financiers were deservedly humiliated.

A resident of billionaire's playground Doha, the capital of terror-supporting state Qatar - he was in Tehran for the inauguration of their new president. 

The last one, of course, was killed in a helicopter crash.

Haniyeh met the Ayatollah, they tweeted a resistance photo, he then went back to his guest house and was taken out in his bedroom with his security guard. 

So what was Ismail Haniyeh like? 

Well, he loved sport for kickoff, fitting that he should be eliminated before end of the Paris Olympics. 

Here’s someone who knew him. I’m delighted our latest guest joins a list of distinguished guests to have graced Jonny Gould’s Jewish State.

Paul Martin is an exceptional international journalist and correspondent, making it his business to report from the most hostile territories - in the name of journalistic freedom.

He spent 26 days in Hamas jail in Gaza and Haniyeh knew he was there. Did it help Paul that he knew he was in his prison? Who helped him get released? Even arch anti-Zionist Archbiship Desmond Tutu called for his release! 

Paul was subjected to mental torture and tried the “Hamas diet”, where he lost two stone in weight during his incarceration.

Yet he also experienced exceptional levels of human kindness from a fellow inmate. 

You'll hear how he thought quickly on his feet to avoid deathly danger. 

And even when the British consulate promised freedom, he wasn’t sure whether it was a Hamas trap leading to his execution. 

I interviewed Paul on the day Evan Gershkovich was freed in a Russian prisoner swap. Listen out for his statement to the waiting media as he walked to freedom into Israel.

But would he ever return? Would his wife let him? 

This is Paul Martin's 26-day story as a Hamas prisoner in Gaza

Intrepid doesn’t cover it!

Jonny Gould's Jewish State is proudly supported by Dangoor Education.

Jonny needs your help to battle the wave of anti-Israel media coverage. Do you want to help his podcast counter this? Donate here or buy him a coffee here

Statement from the interviewee:

Paul Martin is an independent and unbiased international journalist. He has no connections whatever with the people who interview him or with the platforms on which those interviews are transmitted. He stresses that on Mideast affairs he talks to and presents reportage to outlets of a very wide variety and by speaking he is not endorsing any of the views or biases of any of these platforms.

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