By Ranjona Banerji
Sniper attacks and shoot at sight has been the Israeli response to journalists. The Reuters Institute in the article linked below calls it the “Israel-Hamas war”, as it describes how journalists in Palestinian areas do their jobs against all odds, especially and including imminent death from Israeli fire. Let us be clear since Reuters cannot: there is no war. A war is when the armed forces of two or more opposing nations, with some semblance of fighting power, attack each other. The Palestinians of Gaza and now increasingly the West Bank have no organised armed forces. They are civilians under attack from a massive war machinery funded and armed by western democracies.
And of the other 20000 Palestinian deaths by Israeli fire, journalists have been a particular target.
https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/these-journalists-gaza-risk-their-lives-cover-israel-hamas-war-nothing-can-describe-what-you
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, at least 64 journalists and media workers have died in Gaza, up to December 17.
Interestingly, even the CPJ calls it a “war”.
This inability, even by organisations which exist to protect journalists, to describe a genocide and targeted campaign for what it is, underlines the massive racial, religious and geographical fault-lines which this “situation” has revealed. The number of Palestinian casualties keep rising – 20,000 to date. The number of Israeli casualties from the initial Hamas attack keep falling. From 1400 to 1200, so far. Because at least 200 Israelis have died in “friendly” fire – that is killed by Israeli forces and because of “mistakes” made by Israeli forces.
Israeli forces have consistently targeted the media in Gaza. Reporters without Borders has also discussed how journalists have been targeted. And let us not forget this sniper attack which killed Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022.
https://www.newsclick.in/one-year-later-no-justice-yet-al-jazeera-journalist-shireen-abu-akleh-killed-israel-sniper
This Vox report from earlier in December notes that 63 journalists died in the 20-year Vietnam war. Compare that to at least 64 in under two and a half months in Gaza.
https://www.vox.com/23972456/journalists-killed-gaza-israel-press-freedom
The reason why journalists are being specifically targeted is clear. In spite of being the only democracy in the Middle East as the Vox article points out in inverted commas, Israel does not want the truth of its assaults on Gaza to be known, as much as it wants to keep consistent and vicious settler violence in both Gaza and the West Bank secret. None of its claims about Hamas have been substantiated. Anyone who questions this is dubbed “antisemitic”. With the full support of the US authorities and a shrinking number of white, western “democracies”.
In a sense, Israel is that new sort of democracy, where elected officials need follow no rules, and a captive media is the only media which can be allowed to exist. Even Haaretz, which targets Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu consistently and strongly, is also part of the war machinery in another sense.
Can a free media target its own government for a war with questionable motives or outcomes?
This is an important question for all journalists and all media worldwide. A state media supports the state at all times. But a free, independent media within a democracy? Surely its role is to be as difficult and confrontational as possible? How do you serve the reader and viewer if you worship a political master or monarch?
Both positions cannot exist simultaneously.
And thus we return to India, and watch aghast as Parliament is subjugated to the whims of a political ideology so that democracy is brought to its knees. I say “aghast” and that is my error. I mean cheer it on.
Right?
Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal