As Israel kills journalists, why is Western media silent?

In the early hours of April 1, the Israeli army withdrew from Al-Shifa Hospital following a 14-day raid that left behind a massive trail of destruction, death and ashes. On this occasion, we received the tragic news that two more journalists had been killed during the brutal attack.

The assassination of Mohammad Al-Sayyed Abu Skheil and Tareq Abu Skheil, reporters for the local Al-Quds Voice Radio, brought the death toll to 140 journalists killed in Gaza since October 7.

Within the same week, the Israeli parliament passed a series of “emergency regulations” enabling the temporary shutdown of foreign media offices in occupied Palestine.

This includes Al Jazeera, whose coverage of the war on Gaza has been instrumental in revealing the truth behind the so-called “conflict”.

READ MORE: Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh shot dead by Israeli forces during raid

The network has since stressed through statements that this latest measure comes as “part of a series of systematic Israeli attacks to silence Al Jazeera, including the assassination of its correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, the killing of its journalists Samer Abu Daqqa and Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the bombing of its office in Gaza, the deliberate targeting of a number of Al Jazeera journalists and their family members, and the arrest and intimidation of its correspondents in the field.”

The IDF has labelled Al-Shifa Hospital and Al Jazeera “security risks”. But what is the real security risk? The risk is, to Israel, that the world will continue to watch a genocide unfold until it is halted by the determination of those capable of effecting change.

Netanyahu and his far-right government pose a real security risk to the region and democracy everywhere. As their actions push us further into a humanitarian catastrophe in the Middle East, Israel reveals its illiberalism by attempting to censor and blackout foreign media reporting across the occupied territories of Palestine.

A system of oppression and censorship

AL JAZEERA operates as one of the primary news sources on Palestine with a foothold on the ground, delivering reliable and objective information to its readership worldwide.

Israel is not only trying to discredit Al Jazeera but also giving continuity to its silencing campaign that systematically targets Palestinian journalists for years, preventing the world from seeing the truth behind decades of oppression. This includes restricting other foreign media from entering Gaza.

It’s important to recognise that the Zionist aggression on Palestinian journalists and media workers did not begin on October 7. These attacks are part of a long-standing system of intimidation and censorship that followed the Nakba – the violent displacement and dispossession of the Palestinian people by the Zionists and their allies (Britain included) in 1948.

READ MORE: 'Underhanded': Israel accused of holding up aid ships en route to Gaza

Over the years, it has been well-documented that Israel’s surveillance tools, technology, and military tactics serve as a model for authoritarian governments around the world. Attacks on the press pose a universal threat to democracy and freedom, and we must take immediate action to halt them.

The urgency of this situation cannot be underestimated or overlooked, and we must strive to alter its trajectory immediately.

We must ask ourselves: why are UK media editors still hesitating to shift the course of their biased coverage and join human rights activists and international organisations in calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza?

What makes Western journalists reluctant to advocate for their Palestinian colleagues?

JOURNALISTS covering conflict must be safeguarded under International Humanitarian Law. Article 79 of the Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 clearly states that journalists in war zones must be treated as civilians and protected as such at all costs.

Yet, this is the deadliest period for journalists covering conflict since the Committee to Protect Journalists began recording casualties in 1992. The targeted and systematic killings of Palestinian journalists in Gaza are a direct assault on press freedom and the right to report without fear of reprisal and, therefore, constitute a war crime.

Halting Israel’s primary agenda

ISRAEL’S past and ongoing attacks against the press are a war waged on truth, seemingly aimed at obscuring its primary agenda: the complete dismantling of Palestine and the erasure of Palestinian people.

As Scottish journalists, writers and media workers, we bear the responsibility to challenge the deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli regime, led by Netanyahu and his deeply unpopular governing coalition.

We must demand that Israel adhere to International Humanitarian Law and cease its campaign to displace Palestinians from their ancestral land.

Furthermore, we urge the BBC and other mainstream British media to reconsider their editorial bias and end their complicity in genocide. Western newsrooms must be held accountable for the repeated use of dehumanising rhetoric, blatant manipulation of words, historical revisionism, lack of moral clarity, and journalism malpractice. These have only served to support and perpetuate Israel’s ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians for decades.

We appeal to journalists worldwide to adhere to their code of ethics and stand with our brothers and sisters in Palestine, who are risking their lives to show us what apartheid and genocide look like. Use your voices and platforms to provide an accurate report on the situation in Gaza.

Use precise terms defined by international human rights organisations to describe these events for what they truly are: genocide, apartheid and ethnic cleansing. Stand on the side of truth, on the right side of history, and defend press freedom in Palestine and beyond.