MxMIndia

Tag: Palestinian

  • Journalism of Courage??!!

    Journalism of Courage??!!

    Ranjona BanerjiThis June, the International Women’s Media Foundation awarded Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini with their Journalism of Courage award for her coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza.

     

    This week, the IWMF withdrew that award for comments made by Hussaini in the past. The IWMF’s position is that it is opposed to intolerance and it cannot compromise on that.

     

    Hussaini writes in the Middle East Eye about being subjected to smear campaigns after the award, from Israeli sources, demanding that the award be withdrawn. She makes the important point that the IWMF has not mentioned what these objectionable comments are.

     

    What is courage in journalism if it is not protesting against the intolerable?

    Writes Hussaini: “During this period (since October 7, 2023), I was forcibly displaced three times, moving from one shelter to another. My home was bombed, and I endured months of starvation, blackouts and ongoing bombardment. At times, I had to resort to using a pen and paper to send my reports via text messages after Israel cut fuel and electricity supplies and bombed the infrastructure of Gaza’s main telecommunications companies.”

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/palestinian-journalist-gaza-take-away-award-will-not-take-away-my-voice?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=Social_Traffic&utm_content=ap_wlfqanvigg

     

    What we have seen consistently since Israel’s bombardments on Palestinians, first in Gaza and now elsewhere began, after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, is the failure of journalism. Especially western journalism. Thousands of Palestinian civilians have been killed, women and children in large proportions, medical staff and UN workers have been killed. Hospitals and universities have been targeted and destroyed. And now suddenly we have found that the release of numbers has dried up. Now we do not know how many people are being killed every day by Israeli forces.

     

    In such circumstances, what is “journalism of courage”? Is it standing on a rooftop from a distance asking an Israeli politician to identify missiles raining down on another country? Or is it being on the ground, in the midst of battle fire, reporting on events as they happen?

     

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-war-education-students-fight-keep-learning

     

    https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-gaza-war-famine-mothers-struggle-feed-babies-starvation-returns

     

    It is not a sufficient excuse for media organisations – where I include media houses and associations – to hide behind the curtain of funding and the threat of withdrawal of funding for their actions. Yes, money is important, but if we are going to give in to rich people pulling the strings then we might as well give up now and stop pretending that our work has any meaning.

     

    Why didn’t the IWMF do due diligence on Hussaini before giving her this award, if her crimes were so terrible? That the IWMF cannot even be clear about Hussaini’s transgressions, gives credence to the allegation that the award was taken back because of Israeli pressure. It is difficult for anyone to take their excuse seriously. Every murderer after all is entitled to a defence in a just world, where organisations claim to have core “principles”.

     

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    Meanwhile in India, the Modi-led BJP government demonstrated its intolerance of foreign journalists once again. Sebastien Farcis of Radio France found his work permit had been cancelled on March 17 and he was forced to leave India on June 17. Farcis had lived in India since 2011, is married to an Indian and has OCI status.

     

    https://www.livemint.com/news/india/home-ministry-refuses-to-renew-visa-of-french-journalist-sebastien-farcis-says-uprooted-overnight-with-no-reason-11718870004826.html

     

    https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/french-radio-journalist-leaves-india-adds-to-exodus-of-foreign-correspondents/cid/2028481

     

    Although we are now in the regime of the BJP-led NDA government, and Farcis’s departure predates the new ascension to glory, the message to the media remains the same: criticise us and you will pay the price. Even if there appears to be marginally more courage from some journalists and newsrooms, the bulk of the media is still in worship mode. And possibly applauds this decision taken by their lord and master. No doubt his three set not very taxing yoga poses will get maximum coverage today. Because who cares for a few public examination scams, destruction of lives of thousands of students, train accident, fallen bridges and so on when you can stay blessed in permanent worship-asana?

     

    https://www.livemint.com/news/india/home-ministry-refuses-to-renew-visa-of-french-journalist-sebastien-farcis-says-uprooted-overnight-with-no-reason-11718870004826.html

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.

  • The bulk of the western media is hiding behind power to take pot shots at the weak and the suffering., writes Ranjona Banerji

    Misinformation, Disinformation, Propaganda!!!

     

     

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    Ranjona BanerjiSocial media opens your eyes to the massive amounts of misinformation and disinformation which swirls around human communication. And in a conflict situation, the spread of false news only makes matters worse. It is easy to blame “Whatsapp uncles” for forwarding (“as received” being the ingenuous disclaimer) messages of dubious origin. But what is happening now is far worse.

    Once-trusted news sources have outed themselves as propaganda mouthpieces. Last week, we saw how some BBC journalists complained to their own management that fair reporting and coverage of Israel’s assaults on Palestine are not being allowed.

    (https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/23/as-israel-pounds-gaza-bbc-journalists-accuse- broadcaster-of-bias )

    This week, as hostages held by Israel and Hamas were released, more disinformation – always anti-Palestine when it comes to the western media – played out in front of the world’s eyes. A Palestinian hostage released by Israel was interviewed, with subtitles. This included her thanking Hamas. But according to Arab speakers, she never mentioned Hamas even once. The BBC later issued a bland clarification that her words were mistranslated (see screenshot alongside).

    One can understand this sort of “information” from popular and populist TV person Piers Morgan, who persists with his “But do you condemn Hamas” question even after thousands of Palestinians have been killed by Israel, even after it has been revealed that some of the Israelis purportedly killed by Hamas on the October 7 attack were actually killed by Israeli forces, even after the so-called Hamas headquarters in tunnels under Palestinian hospitals have not been found, even after a former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak told CNN that Israel built the tunnels, even after it is known that Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, had colluded with Hamas… but do you condemn Hamas?

    What is even more remarkable about these western news agencies is that, like the Indian rightwing propagandist media, they show little or no solidarity with journalists killed by Israeli fire in Gaza. This may even include journalists who work for their own organisations. But do you condemn Hamas?

    These are some figures from Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres):

    https://cpj.org/2023/11/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

    https://rsf.org/en/israel-eradicating-journalism-gaza-ten-reporters-killed -three-days-48-start-war

    These figures have gone up constantly, with a break only during the “ceasefire” which has not stopped Israel from attacking the West Bank.

    But do you condemn Hamas?

    Various wings of the United Nations have mourned deaths of their own staff because of Israel’s attacks on Hamas. Various medical organisations have mourned the deaths of doctors, nurses and health workers in Israel’s attacks on Gaza. But us journalists? Something stops us. What I wonder?

     

     

    Francesca Albanese, UN Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian Territories, faces endless misinformation and misdirection from the Western media. They seemingly deliberately try to trap her, put words into her mouth, try and extract words from her mouth only to fit their pro-Israel stance. Albanese is a lawyer and no pushover. Stories were recently invented that Palestinians funded a trip she made to Australia, when the evidence and UN confirmation show that it was an official UN visit. Anything to discredit her (see screenshots above).

    The end of this conflict does not look easy. And with the media playing these sorts of dirty tricks, victims and casualties are likely to be lost in propaganda. Forget speaking truth to power. The bulk of the western media is hiding behind power to take pot shots at the weak and the suffering.

    In case you thought it was time to go easy on what’s happening in India, let’s not forget Manipur and the 41 workers still trapped in that tunnel in Uttarakhand.

    And, here’s a first-person account by veteran journalist Paranjoy Guha-Thakurta on how freedom of the press and democracy in India received one more major blow on October 3, 2023:

    https://www.adaniwatch.org/the_3rd_of_october_2023_the_day_that_changed_the_lives_ of_more_than_80_citizens_of_india_including_mine

     

    At the end, I ask as one must: But do you condemn Hamas?

     

    Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist and commentator. She writes on MxMIndia on Tuesdays and Fridays. Her views here are personal.