The Israeli occupation’s impunity has intensified attacks on Palestinian journalists, forced media organisations to withdraw their crews and severely undermined independent reporting from Gaza. Despite systematic targeting, communications blackouts and a lack of international accountability, Palestinian journalists continue documenting violations under extraordinary risks.
The dangers associated with journalistic work began to emerge before the outbreak of the First World War, dating back to the Crimean War (1853–1856), the Indian Rebellion of 1857 and the American Civil War of 1861. At the time, these conflicts did not result in significant numbers of casualties among those working in news coverage.
Then came the First and Second World Wars. Despite the atrocities and the millions of casualties and deaths, the number of journalists and media workers killed or deliberately eliminated was not sufficiently large to be prominently recorded in historical memory or preserved in post-war statistics.
The period following the two world wars ushered in an era of bipolar rivalry and the Cold War. Despite the significant role played by the media during that period, and the casualties suffered among media professionals, humanity had not witnessed crimes against journalists and media workers comparable to those committed by the Israeli occupying entity against press and media crews in Palestine. These crimes reached their peak during the latest war on Gaza, when more than 170 male and female journalists were killed within a single year. According to the author, all were deliberately and premeditatedly targeted, and their colleagues’ cameras captured the moments of their deaths as they carried out their work with the utmost professionalism.
Perhaps the defining feature of the crimes committed against media crews in Palestine is that, this time, they have taken place before the eyes and ears of the entire world, under an international system that claims one of its foremost obligations is to protect the human right to life and confront any state that violates it. Yet criminal justice, as represented by the International Criminal Court, has been absent or deliberately obstructed, despite victims having submitted complaints concerning acts constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Paradoxically, the United Nations designated 2 November each year as a day to highlight the need to end impunity for those who kill journalists and commit crimes against them. Yet, despite all its international bodies, mechanisms and institutions, it stands powerless as it witnesses crimes committed against the press, journalists and media crews reporting from the field. The reason for this paralysis lies in the mechanisms of the international system, which prevent it from taking decisive action against the Israeli entity because of the use of the “veto”, which blocks every international attempt to hold Israel and its actions criminally accountable, leaving the world unable to condemn its conduct.
Perhaps the defining feature of the crimes committed against media crews in Palestine is that, this time, they have taken place before the eyes and ears of the entire world, under an international system that claims one of its foremost obligations is to protect the human right to life and confront any state that violates it.
The protection afforded to Israel by certain countries against international resolutions has resulted in further crimes and massacres against media workers. These crimes are committed with extreme brutality because, as the saying goes, “Those who are assured of impunity will behave with impunity.” This protection of the occupation’s crimes has also prompted more than 95 per cent of media organisations operating in Palestine generally, and the Gaza Strip particularly, to withdraw their field crews for their safety.
The withdrawal of these media organisations has had consequences on two levels. First, it has reduced the extent of news coverage reaching Western audiences and exposing the occupation’s crimes and violations. Second, it has coincided with an increased frequency of attacks against Palestinian journalists and unarmed civilians.
Those who remain are Palestinian journalists themselves, striving to report the news and expose violations committed by the occupation army with extremely limited resources, particularly after the Israeli military systematically destroyed communications networks in an effort to isolate those on the ground from the outside world.
Paradoxically, the United Nations designated 2 November each year as a day to highlight the need to end impunity for those who kill journalists and commit crimes against them. Yet, despite all its international bodies, mechanisms and institutions, it stands powerless as it witnesses crimes committed against the press, journalists and media crews reporting from the field.
Even this small group, whose members have chosen to remain despite the challenges, has been subjected to attempts by the Israeli occupation authorities to level accusations against them and criminalise their work. The authorities claim that these journalists are part of armed resistance movements and have employed their media machinery to promote these allegations and demonise media professionals in preparation for targeting them.
The ultimate objective, according to the author, is to eliminate independent reporting from the ground, particularly in the Gaza Strip, so that the occupation can complete its project of invading the territory and displacing its population, or continue acts of extermination and forced displacement. Such objectives cannot be achieved as easily while journalists remain on the ground documenting and exposing these violations.
The methods employed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian media — including killings, displacement, pursuit with the aim of physical elimination, attacks on journalists’ families, restrictions on their work and the destruction of communications infrastructure — have created an exceptionally dangerous environment for journalism in Palestine, particularly in the absence of international accountability for these crimes under international law.
These conditions present risks and challenges that exceed what an ordinary person could reasonably endure and threaten to diminish field reporting and journalistic activity. This is especially true in an environment where the Israeli occupation enjoys technological superiority through surveillance aircraft, satellites and drones flying at altitudes that make them difficult to detect, rendering the targeting and killing of journalists extremely easy.
Nevertheless, despite Israel’s technological superiority in surveillance and the targeting of media professionals, the strength, resilience and experience of Palestinian journalists in dealing with the Israeli occupation, together with their belief in the justice of their cause, reinforce our confidence in their ability to confront this reality and expose to the world the crimes of this occupying entity.
At the same time, we will work alongside all concerned parties to monitor and document these violations.
This article was originally Published in Arabic on 03/11/2024
