Mass media plays a crucial role in society by providing information, news, entertainment, and education to a large audience. The media has a significant influence on shaping public opinion, attitudes, and behaviors, and it can also act as a watchdog to hold those in power accountable.
Following the recent conflicts witnessed in Ukraine , Syria and Gaza , thousands have lost their lives as victims, amongst them are journalists and other media practitioners including engineers and drivers operating in the front line in active war environment .
On the 31st of December 2024 , International Federation of Journalists ( IFJ) released data claiming at least 122 journalists and media workers, including 14 women, have been killed in 2024 . Historically journalists and medical practitioners are supposed to be given way through by both sides of conflict reason being their essential services .
However in Gaza the case have been different as both Media and Medical practitioners have fallen victims of the war as Israel numerously targeted and attacked them despite United Nations and Global Interventions.
South Africa is amongst the countries that had tried to echo concerns on the nature of how the Israel retaliations were being conducted and how innocent women and children were being killed by drone strikes that targeted schools , hospitals and areas designated as safe zones in Gaza.
South Africa brought its case against Israel in December 2023 , accusing it of committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
As at 15th December 2024 Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures the UN sees as reliable, reported a death toll of more than 45,000 people over the past 13 months. Many more bodies believed to remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.
The health ministry said it obtained full demographic data for a majority of those killed and reported that children account for one in three of that number.
All these series of events have occurred in the eyes of the World as some of the attacks were being televised Live .
I will say with clear conscious , despite the heavy presence of Global Media since the beginning of the war , non but Aljazeera Network has soberly stood by the poor innocent civilians who were massacred .
It is only Al jazeera that has stood firm by the public rights and still shaping public opinion, attitudes, and behaviors in regards to Israel – Hamas Conflict .
It is only Al jazeera that has stood with the truth on the development in and outside Gaza strip . As a result of maintaining the media principles , Al jazeera offices in Isreal were bombarded , operations license banned , equipment confiscated and Journalists targeted leaving at least six dead in the Palestinian territory since 2022.
Recently Al Jazeera Media Network operations in the occupied West Bank was banned by the Palestinian Authority (PA)
Since its launch in 1996, Al Jazeera’s reporters have covered the Middle East, from the Arab Spring to Israeli settler violence in the West Bank and the brutal war on Gaza, even when other news organizations pulled their journalists out.
Attempts to shut Al Jazeera down
Israeli authorities have repeatedly attempted to muzzle Al Jazeera. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long accused the network’s coverage of “inciting violence”. The network refutes these claims as “arbitrary and hostile”.
- In July 2017, Netanyahu threatened to close Al Jazeera’s Jerusalem office in a Facebook post because the network covered a fallout between Palestinians and Israeli authorities over Al-Aqsa Mosque.
- In May 2021, Israel bombed Al Jazeera’s Gaza office. Israeli forces gave Al Jazeera and other media organizations in the same building just one hour to evacuate the tower.
- In May 2024, Al Jazeera’s occupied East Jerusalem bureau was raided and closed after the Israeli parliament passed a law allowing the government to suspend the operations of foreign media that pose a “threat”, for 45 days at a time. The ban, including a ban on Al Jazeera’s website in Israel, has been renewed multiple times and remains in place. Al Jazeera now reports from Amman, Jordan.
Why Western coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza – bias or unprofessionalism
Publishing unsubstantiated claims, telling only one side of the story, and painting Palestinian population as nothing more than objects in Hamas’s hands are all unprofessional mistakes Western media makes while covering the conflict between Israel and Hamas, media experts and Arab journalists lamented.
Experts and journalists who spoke to Prime Africa said the systemic “bias in favor of Israel” is “irreparably damaging” the credibility of news agencies considered “mainstream” in the eyes of Arabs and others.
One-sided
On October 7 2022 , Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on military outposts and communities in southern Israel, killing more than 1,400 Israelis and taking more than 200 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
The same day, Israel launched a relentless bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 8,000 people, about 40 percent of whom are children.
It also devastated Gaza’s health sector and flattened much of its infrastructure while strengthening its choke-hold siege by cutting off fuel, water and food – acts that resulted to war crimes under international humanitarian law.
Western correspondents flew to Israel where they reported extensively on the grief of Israeli families, but denied access by Israel to enter Gaza, making them miss the vital aspect of the story.
While some journalists at Western outlets may want to do more thorough reporting, many actually fear losing their livelihoods and careers if they speak out against their network’s pro-Israel bias, said Layla Maghribi, a British freelance journalist of Palestinian-Syrian descent.
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