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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240111-killing-and-banning-journalists-reveals-what-israel-wants-to-conceal/">middleeastmonitor.com</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Killing and banning journalists reveals what Israel wants to conceal</h1>
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by
<a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/6-author/ramona-wadi/">Ramona Wadi</a><span> </span><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/6-author/ramona-wadi/"><span>walzerscent - January 11, 2024</span>
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<p>On Monday, Israel’s High Court <a href="https://www.timesofisrael.com/high-court-says-israel-can-keep-barring-foreign-reporters-from-gaza/">declared</a>
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 <i>Times of Israel. </i></p>
<p>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of what should not be published and what should be approved by the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, <a href="https://www.gov.il/BlobFolder/news/8swordsofiron101023/en/operation%20Swords%20of%20Iron.pdf">introduces</a>
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”.</p>
<blockquote><p>Footage showing Israeli atrocities are accompanied by
claims that Israel is abiding by international law and doing everything
possible to prevent civilian casualties</p></blockquote>
<p>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 <a href="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.">today</a>,
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.</p>
<p><b>READ: </b><a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240110-icc-to-investigate-israel-attacks-on-gazas-journalists/"><b>ICC to investigate Israel attacks on Gaza’s journalists</b></a></p>
<p>In the most <a href="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/">recent extrajudicial killing</a> of journalists, Hamza Dahdouh, the son of <i>Al Jazeera’s</i> correspondent in Gaza <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240109-press-freedom-award-given-to-gazas-wael-dahdouh/">Wael Dahdouh</a>,
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.”</p>
<p>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 <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20210112-israel-is-apartheid-state-concludes-major-human-rights-group/">apartheid</a>
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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
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<p>The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not
necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Monitor.</p>
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