One of the most effective ways to combat genocide is journalism. In a time where this profession has been demonized, nowhere has it proven as essential and as dangerous to be a journalist as in Gaza. Around 200 journalists, photographers and other related workers have been killed in Gaza since the outbreak of the war.
One recent video shows a journalist reporting as rescue workers and medical staff tend to civilians injured following an IDF airstrike on Nasser Hospital. The video then cuts to black as a follow-up airstrike hits. At least five journalists, as well as dozens of medical staff and rescue workers, were killed during both strikes. The IDF acknowledged mistakes during this airstrike, as they usually do when there is direct video evidence of a crime.
Another recent incident involved a targeted airstrike on Anas al-Sharif and three of his colleagues, who all worked for al-Jazeera. The Israeli Defense Forces claimed he was a Hamas commander according to personnel records, but did not provide these records. They did offer a single photo of al-Sharif with Yahya Sinwar, the now-deceased former leader of Hamas.
Given the Netanyahu coalition and the IDF’s propensity to lie about everything from Iran’s nuclear timeline to the casualty figures in the Gaza war, I’m not inclined to believe their reporting. The BBC reports al-Sharif worked for a Hamas media team before the war but had also recently published social media posts critical of Hamas.
Let me be clear. Working for a Hamas media team or being photographed with a member of Hamas does not qualify someone as a legitimate target according to international law, the rules of war or any reasonable moral standard. All verifiable evidence points to al-Sharif being a non-combatant. If al-Sharif can be killed for appearing in a photo with Sinwar, then anyone who has ever appeared in a photo with a Hamas member can also be targeted.
This reasoning is not just evil, but also moronic. It’s representative of a military intelligence apparatus that, instead of determining targets based on verified information, seeks information to justify the targets they have already chosen.
A pattern has emerged from the IDF’s killing of numerous journalists. In many cases, they do not acknowledge the killing. Occasionally, especially when there is video evidence, they claim it was accidental. In the case of al-Sharif, they were able to find one photograph to use as “proof.” Regardless, the result is the same – our ability to receive information without the IDF’s filter is hampered.
Simultaneously, many pro-Israel commentators have referred to Palestinian journalists and photographers as part of some elite “Hamas propaganda machine.” What propaganda machine? No one thinks of this smattering of poor, starving journalists as likely to be part of some propaganda machine that is somehow outpacing the wealthy state of Israel.
There is a simple, two-fold solution for us to learn more about the Gaza crisis – declare a ceasefire and let independent journalists into the Gaza Strip IMMEDIATELY. There is no plausible motivation for Israel to deny entry to international journalists other than to hide evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.
I worry by the time they do let independent journalists into Gaza, they will have sanitized evidence of these atrocities. This is behavior usually associated with places like Russia or Saudi Arabia, but now we see a Western quasi-democracy displaying overt warning signs of this highly illegal, immoral behavior.
Even if you believe none of the well-documented and verified reporting on the civilian death toll, starvation and other human rights violations that have occurred in Gaza, the precipitous decline in the number of living Gazan journalists alone should be cause for immense concern. They are currently the only parties that can independently hold the IDF accountable, and they are being wiped out.
