‘Your credibility is at stake when you support Israel’s #GenocideinGaza and fail to denounce #IsraeliWarCrimes in Gaza. Israel is committing more crimes in Gaza than ISIS did in Mosul.’
This warning followed on my previous piece about the similarities between Hamas and ISIS and comes from an Iraqi journalist. In another tweet he warns that ultimately, ‘all innocent people of Gaza will be martyred by Israeli terrorists before the cowardly international community stops war criminal Netanyahu.’
It’s clear where his sympathies lie: much like many Iraqis who have viewed Israel as a major enemy since 1948. Even though Iraq doesn’t share a border with the Jewish state and has nothing to fear from it. Even though the current leaders are (indirectly) victims of (the ousted) dictator Saddam Hussein who supported the Palestinians while his people starved. It’s understandable that politicians adjusted their views about Palestinians so pragmatically. However, from a journalist, one would at least expect an attempt to be objective.
Taking Sides
A little over a week after Hamas invaded Israel from Gaza and Israel retaliated for the brutal murders and bombings with an attempt to destroy Gaza, the world has taken sides. To such an extent that anyone with a different opinion is, in the best case, verbally abused. Objecting to both forms of violence has therefore become controversial. Providing context is also contentious.
Journalists, unfortunately, are part of this too. On both sides. An Israeli journalist wonders on X/Twitter when the world will wake up. ‘These are the “poor civilians of Gaza”. Openly cheering in the streets outside the Al-Shifa hospital (Hamas HQ) when Hamas fires missiles at Israel in an attempt to murder and terrorize innocent Israelis. And not afraid to stand outside en masse because they know Israel will not attack civilians intentionally.’
On the other hand, there are also Israeli colleagues trying to put things into perspective. Like Seth Frantzman of the Jerusalem Post. Who actually benefits from the crisis, he asks in an extensive tweet? ‘I know it’s easier to look at the stories on the ground, and yes we must report that. But I’d like to see a tough report about how Hamas leadership got super wealthy and can relax while people can’t sleep in Israel and Gaza.’
Journalists should report on both sides, so that everyone can decide for themselves what to think. In this conflict, the problem has arisen repeatedly that there are many more journalists in Israel – and that’s where the foreign press flies in while Gaza is too dangerous. According to the Palestinian Journalists’ Union, eleven journalists have already died in a week, and more than twenty have been injured.
Internet
Furthermore, due to the Israeli bombings, there’s hardly any internet coverage left in Gaza, and power outages make it very difficult for the media to operate there. Then there’s the censorship. The Israeli Minister of Communication, Shlomo Kharhi, not only wants to shut down the local Al-Jazeera office. He’s working on an emergency decree that would allow the arrest of journalists and civilians for publishing messages that ‘damage national morale’.
On social media, certain messages are already being banned. Azmat Zahra, an award-winning investigative reporter for the New York Times, reports that her posts on Instagram about the war in Gaza have been made invisible, or shadowbanned. Many of her colleagues have experienced the same. She calls it an ‘extraordinary threat to the flow of information and credible journalism about an unprecedented war‘.
Because polarization is everywhere. Not only in the Netherlands, where arguments arise over which flag a municipality may hoist, the Israeli or the Palestinian. Where a Muslim woman leaves a political party because she cannot align with her party members’ views on the conflict.
Look at Turkey, where President Erdogan’s son Bilal and his son-in-law Selcuk Bayraktar, a drone manufacturer, take to the streets to show their support for Hamas.
Conditional
This polarization goes so far that Andrew Stroehlein from Human Rights Watch complains that when he reports that children are being killed, people ‘want to know which children before moving into outrage mode or justification mode.’ That mentality, that conditional humanity, is exactly the problem, he says.
This same issue led the American TV personality Mehdi Hassan to lament that recent days have shown that many mourn Israeli deaths but not Palestinian ones – and vice versa. ‘What happened to our collective humanity?’
Colleague Nastascha van Weezel expresses her concern about this polarization leading to attacks on both Jews and Muslims. ‘I witness intense debates where someone with a different opinion suddenly becomes the enemy, and friendships of many years breaking apart. We must not let this happen. Hold onto each other. Especially now.’
And Abdou Bouzerda of VPRO’s Bureau Buitenland predicts that ‘the Gaza-Israel war will bring about a wave of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and even more of humanity’s worst traits.’ He believes that this should be the primary focus, but there should also be room in journalistic reporting and analysis for other consequences.
Week
Meanwhile, after expressing support for Israel, it took US President Biden a week before he pointed out that ‘we must not lose sight of the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians had nothing to do with Hamas’s appalling attacks, and are suffering as a result of them.’ And that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas finally stated that ‘Hamas’ actions do not represent Palestinians’, demanding the release of all hostages.
This polarization also challenged Women Wage Peace, an Israeli peace organization consisting of Jewish and Arab women. It took them a week to draft a statement. They demand that the Israeli government immediately begin negotiations to release all hostages. ‘We extend a hand of peace to the mothers of Gaza and the West Bank. We, as mothers, must unite with women around the world to stop this madness.’
The fact that ‘this madness’ divides the world into camps is partly historically grown during the recurring crises over the years. But now, it’s happening while the world is engaged in a reshuffling of alliances, with new relationships forming between Israel and several Arab countries. Due to the crisis, plans to expand this détente to Saudi Arabia are now on hold. Thus, Hamas and Iran seem to have achieved some of their goals.
However, it appears that the divide between the supporters of the two main actors in the conflict is greater than ever. This isn’t just due to the atrocities on both sides. It’s also due to the roles played by certain politicians and a segment of the media. The lack of balance. Condemning the actions of one side, while at the same time endorsing those of the other side, whether overtly or silently. The insinuation that killing members of one group is worse than the of the other. Indeed, the lack of collective humanity.
Truth
While everyone knows that the only truth remains that Israelis and Palestinians will have to work it out together. They must find a way to coexist peacefully. This is what should be emphasized: the inevitability of the choices that ultimately must be made. The commitment required to restore the brutally damaged trust. The policy changes that are needed. With people and humanity at the forefront.
This should happen sooner rather than later. As long as the world continues to divide itself into camps, however, it will likely be later.
