[News] Killing and banning journalists reveals what Israel wants to conceal

[Anti-Imperialist News]

middleeastmonitor.com
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240111-killing-and-banning-journalists-reveals-what-israel-wants-to-conceal/>
Killing and banning journalists reveals what Israel wants to conceal

   - by Ramona Wadi
   <https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/6-author/ramona-wadi/> walzerscent -
   January 11, 2024
   <https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/6-author/ramona-wadi/>

------------------------------

On Monday, Israel’s High Court declared
<https://www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-says-israel-can-keep-barring-foreign-reporters-from-gaza/>
that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) can continue barring foreign
journalists from entering Gaza, on the pretext of security concerns.
According to the court decision, foreign journalists can place “an undue
onus on IDF resources in wartime,” reported the *Times of Israel. *

As Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), the ruling sheds light on the urgency for Israel to prevent
further scrutiny by the media of what’s happening in Gaza. The IDF has
implemented several constraints on media, including guidelines of what
should not be published and what should be approved by the Israeli military
censor. In a statement issuing directives to the media, Kobi Mandeblit,
Brigadier General Chief Censor, introduces
<https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/news/8swordsofiron101023/en/operation%20Swords%20of%20Iron.pdf>
them thus: “In light of the current security situation and the intensive
media coverage, we wish to encourage you to submit to the Censor all
materials dealing with the activities of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF)
and the Israeli security forces prior to their broadcast.” What we happen
to see on mainstream media from journalists embedded with the IDF,
therefore, is not only heavily censored, but also definitely in line with
the Zionist narrative “Israel good, Palestinians bad”.

Footage showing Israeli atrocities are accompanied by claims that Israel is
abiding by international law and doing everything possible to prevent
civilian casualties

Moreover, on mainstream media pro-Palestine voices are talked over without
giving them the chance to articulate the reality of what is happening in
Gaza. Footage showing Israeli atrocities are accompanied by claims that
Israel is abiding by international law and doing everything possible to
prevent civilian casualties. In Gaza, Palestinian journalists are targeted
deliberately in extrajudicial killings, despite their very clear “Press”
vests and helmets. As of today
<https://cpj.org/2024/01/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/#:~:text=As%20of%20January%2011%2C%202024,and%201%2C200%20deaths%20in%20Israel.>,
at least 79 journalists have been killed in Gaza, 72 of them Palestinian;
16 have been wounded; three are reported missing; and 21 have been arrested
by Israel. Other sources put the number killed at 100, and this is besides
other forms of violence against them, including killing the family members
of Palestinian journalists.

*READ: **ICC to investigate Israel attacks on Gaza’s journalists*
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240110-icc-to-investigate-israel-attacks-on-gazas-journalists/>

In the most recent extrajudicial killing
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240107-2-palestinian-journalists-killed-in-israeli-attacks-including-hamza-wael-al-dahdouh-son-of-prominent-journalist-wael-al-dahdouh-says-government-media-office/>
of journalists, Hamza Dahdouh, the son of *Al Jazeera’s* correspondent in
Gaza Wael Dahdouh
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240109-press-freedom-award-given-to-gazas-wael-dahdouh/>,
and Mustafa Thuraya, were killed by an Israeli missile strike on their
vehicle. The IDF justified the killing by saying terrorists were being
targeted. Later, the story changed, with IDF spokesperson Daniel Hangari
explaining: “We understand they were putting a drone, using a drone. And
using a drone in a war zone, it’s a problem. It looks like the terrorists.”

But what does a terrorist look like? As Israelis’ justifications for
genocide become further deranged, so do their actions. The targeting of
journalists is nothing new for the apartheid
<https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210112-israel-is-apartheid-state-concludes-major-human-rights-group/>
state. Shireen Abu Akleh’s murder in Jenin in 2022 garnered the most media
attention due to her dual Palestinian-US citizenship. Even so, justice
didn’t prevail.

In Gaza today, the presence of journalists and their protection is of
utmost importance. But not for Israel. Palestinian journalists are being
killed by the IDF with the ludicrous suggestion that they look like
terrorists, while international journalists are barred from the enclave due
to purported security concerns and added logistics for the IDF. In Israel’s
narrative, the only way to protect journalists is to prevent them from
entering Gaza and reporting remotely, otherwise journalists suddenly “look
like terrorists” and are thus subject to being murdered, just as
Palestinian civilians have been murdered by the US-supplied Israeli bombs
and bullets.

The truth is that journalists have brought Israel’s genocide to worldwide
attention, exposing how the use of “never again” in the Zionist narrative
has become the façade for Israel and the international community’s
complicity in allowing the colonisation of Palestine to take place and
continue unabated. However, there are moments where silence never works.
For months, the world has been shown proof of Israel’s genocidal actions.
Shutting out journalists by preventing access or killing them only points
towards the brutality that Israel would rather not expose. In doing so,
Israel has invited unwanted attention, and now there is no escaping it.


The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.
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