IT is a year since Israel began the deadliest attack on Palestine in modern history.
According to Oxfam, more women and children have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza this past year than in the equivalent period of any other conflict in the last two decades.
I could go on and on, provide statistic after statistic from respected charities and NGOs. But none of it could ever fully capture the reality of the situation in Gaza.
One of our political reporters attended a devastating press conference this week, hosted by the Palestinian ambassador, hearing from two women who had lost dozens of family members who described the horrors facing their people every day.
There were three journalists from English-language outlets there. Just three.
We are a very small team compared to some of the legacy titles in the UK, and we could find the time to send a reporter to this important event. Why couldn't our other media colleagues?
You could fill every newspaper in the country from cover to cover, reporting news on the horrors occurring in Gaza. But many papers can't even fill a news brief.
So we decided to work with dedicated campaigners, and fill our front page, and a huge chunk of our newspaper, with a detailed chronology of exactly what Israel has done to Gaza.
Tomorrow's front page of The National aims to highlight the scale of the atrocities taking place in Palestine, and shows that the media have a responsibility to use their platforms to share the reality of the situation with the world.
We're not a big international media organisation. We're a small Scottish paper. But we will use our voice how we can.
A special thank you goes to the Scottish Friends of Palestine organisation, who compiled this full chronology. It's a painstaking piece of work, and extremely powerful to read in full.
This article is an extract from our Behind the Headlines newsletter, which is sent out to digital subscribers every week.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel