Massacre by the Israeli army, justification of massacre by Western mainstream media
Pars Today - Since the start of the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli regime has killed at least 103 journalists and media workers. Many of these individuals were killed while actively trying to share the ongoing atrocities with the world. Others were targeted in their homes, along with their families.
Despite deliberate attacks and catastrophic environmental conditions, hundreds of journalists and media workers have continued to provide news coverage and reporting. Thanks to them, we can see the reality on the ground in Gaza and challenge the narratives of Western media, which generally support the Israeli regime.
Dehumanization of Palestinians
The former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that dehumanizing Palestinians is a key tactic that is being used by Western media. They first try to deny the humanity of Palestinians to justify such severe and inhumane violence against them.
Since the start of the genocide, numerous official statements, interviews, and social media posts by Israeli ministers and politicians have been published, dehumanizing Palestinians. On October 7, 2023, Isaac Herzog, the head of the Zionist regime, stated that not only Hamas but an entire "nation" is responsible for the ‘violence’, and Israel will fight them. On October 9, 2023, Yoav Gallant, the Israeli minister of war, called Palestinians "human animals" and said that Israeli forces act “accordingly”.
Also on October 16, 2023, Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime pinister of the Zionist regime, declared in an official speech at the Israeli Knesset that this situation is a struggle between the "children of light" and the "children of darkness," between humanity and the law of the jungle.
White supremacist colonialism
This rhetoric has deep roots in white supremacy and colonialism. In fact, this language is similar to that used in apartheid South Africa by the white minority against the black majority, and by the British against Indians, and more broadly, by colonizers against indigenous peoples around the world.
Enjoying the massacre
The dehumanization of Palestinians by Israeli forces has led to the horrific phenomenon of widely sharing videos of their atrocities on social media. In these videos, soldiers can be seen committing war crimes against Palestinians with joy, referring to them as "subhuman."
In one video, a Zionist soldier dedicates an "explosion" as a birthday gift to his two-year-old daughter. A few seconds later, a Palestinian residential building behind them is blown up.
Other videos show Israeli soldiers setting fire to Palestinian food supplies during a starvation operation and mocking naked, blindfolded Palestinian civilians.
It seems that even those who support the Israeli regime are concerned about the audacity of Israeli soldiers in sharing these videos. For example, even Piers Morgan, a British TV presenter who supports Israel, asked: "Why do Israeli soldiers keep filming themselves doing this kind of crass, insensitive thing? Why don’t their commanders stop them? Makes them look callous when so many children in Gaza are being killed."
Of course, it seems that for Morgan, the problem is not the criminal actions of the soldiers, but rather their publication.
Western mainstream media
The dehumanization of Palestinians by Israeli politicians and soldiers is equally present in Western mainstream media. A recent and explicit example of this is an article by Thomas Friedman in The New York Times, titled "Understanding the Middle East through the Animal Kingdom." Friedman's article views the entire population of the West Asia region as various insects, while equating the United States with a lion. He concludes the column with the sentence: "Sometimes I contemplate the Middle East by watching CNN, other times, I prefer Animal Planet."
This discourse portrays the people of West Asia as a barbaric, uncivilized mass waiting to attack Western civilization, and devalues their humanity.
The big lie of beheading 40 infants
The final indicator of Western media bias on Palestine is their disregard for accurate journalism and perpetuation of Israeli misinformation. This was evident after October 7, when journalists from major platforms, such as CNN, France24, and The Independent, widely reported on the story of Hamas militants beheading 40 infants. Many journalists, despite the lie being exposed, did not retract their original reports and instead explained that the claims could not be verified.
Don't let Hamas speak
The Guardian reports that a senior CNN executive issued a directive in early November 2023, severely restricting the reporting of most Hamas statements, labeling them as "rhetoric and inflammatory propaganda." In reality, the lack of first-hand statements from Hamas in Western media outlets is evident. They are not invited for interviews, and their reports and statements are not analyzed. Such a policy leads to a one-sided portrayal of reality and completely ignores Hamas, a key player that has won the most votes in Gaza elections.
It's no exaggeration to say that Western media are complicit in the ongoing genocide. The important point is that these harmful media outlets are in direct conflict with brave Palestinian journalists in Gaza, who continue to risk their lives to cover the ongoing genocide and share the reality with the rest of the world.
This article is adapted from the "Al-Shabaka" website.
Keywords: Gaza genocide, Western media complicity with Zionist regime crimes, Western media bias, propaganda in the West
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