Israel is supposed to be “the shining democracy in the Middle East,” yet Netanyahu is behaving like a Fascist dictator. This isn’t the first time, either.
So far, the Israeli military has killed 105 journalists reporting on the war in Gaza. They’d like us to believe they were all accidents, but we aren’t buying it.
Wael al Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s Gaza Bureau Chief, was actively reporting from Gaza when an air strike hit the home he and his family were staying in, killing his wife, 7-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old son in October. Perhaps it was a warning because in January…
Time:
Al-Dahdouh’s 27-year-old son, al-Dahdouh, who was also a journalist at Al Jazeera, was killed while in a car returning from an assignment along with another colleague, Mustafa Thuraya. Hazem Rajab, a freelancer who was with the duo, was also wounded. The IDF confirmed it had targeted the vehicle, saying that “an IDF aircraft identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops,” in a statement.
Coincidence? I think not. You cannot honestly believe that 105 journalists and members of their family were all killed “by accident.” Especially when you look at the number of journalists killed in other wars, over a much longer period than 8 months! In fact, over 75% of all journalists killed in 2023 were in Gaza.
The Al Jazeera’s hotel headquarters in Israel were raided and their equipment confiscated on May 5th.
Israeli authorities raided a Jerusalem hotel room used by Al Jazeera as its office after the government decided to shut down the Qatari-owned TV station’s local operations on Sunday, an Israeli official and an Al Jazeera source told Reuters.
Video circulated online showed plainclothes officers dismantling camera equipment in a hotel room, which the Al Jazeera source said was in East Jerusalem.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet shut down the network for as long as the war in Gaza continues, saying it threatened national security.
On Tuesday, the live feed of Gaza from the Associated Press was shut down, and the equipment confiscated. After pressure from the U.S. government, an opposition leader, and journalism organizations, the equipment was returned to the AP and the live feed of the Gaza skyline was broadcasting again on Wesnesday morning.
The AP talks about the new law the Israeli government cited as their reason for shutting down the feed:
The government seized the AP equipment positioned in southern Israel after accusing it of violating a new media law by providing images to the satellite channel Al Jazeera.
Israeli officials used the new law on May 5 to close down Qatar-based Al Jazeera within Israel, confiscating its equipment, banning its broadcasts and blocking its websites.
Prior to returning the equipment, Israel’s Communication Minister, Shlomo Karhi posted on X, “I have now ordered to cancel the action and return the equipment to the AP.”
Karhi said the defense ministry will undertake a review of news outlets’ positioning of live video of Gaza. Officials hadn’t previously told AP the positioning of its live camera was an issue. Instead, they repeatedly noted that the images appeared in real-time on Al Jazeera.
Al Jazeera is one of thousands of AP customers, and it receives live video from AP and other news organizations.
“While we are pleased with this development, we remain concerned about the Israeli government’s use of the foreign broadcaster law and the ability of independent journalists to operate freely in Israel,” said Lauren Easton, AP’s vice president of corporate communications.
If Israel is taking all of these steps to keep journalists from reporting in Gaza, doesn’t it appear as though they’re trying to hide something? If they aren’t doing anything wrong, certainly not committing war crimes, why are Netanyahu and members of his right-wing government doing so much to hide whats happening inside Gaza? Perhaps it makes maintaining the narrative, propaganda, and gaslighting much more difficult?
Our government is currently struggling with that same issue. They were just brazen enough to say it out loud. I guess Israel isn’t the only democracy in trouble.
