Is Western Media Diverging from Responsible Journalism When it Comes to the Genocide in Palestine?

Syeda Aliza Batool Shamsi is a final-year law student at the University of London International Programmes. She has gained valuable experience through internships at esteemed law firms, including Malik Muhammad Arshad Law Firm and Kakkar Law Chamber.

Introduction

Palestinians: victims or collateral damage? The Western media prefers the latter term to describe Palestinians, while Ukrainians suffering due to the Russian oppression are termed as “resistance fighters” or “brave / patriotic citizens”. There is a difference in the portrayal of Palestinians and Ukrainians, while both are suffering from the same issue: targeted oppression.

Western media’s dehumanization of Palestinians is based on reducing the history of Palestine to  October 7, 2023 and not understanding that the events of October 7, 2023 did not happen in a vacuum. This bias in reporting related to Israel’s offensive in Gaza has become a norm among Western media and undermines responsible journalism. This blogpost aims to address the bias of Western media systems — a term broadly covering North American and Western Europe media systems — by focusing on the coverage of the genocide of the Palestinian people by media outlets that play a significant role in forming Western opinion on the issue, and highlight the negative impact Western opinion has on recognizing the suffering of Palestinians.

Media Bias and the Palestinian Question

There is a shared disposition of bias in favour of Israel in the Western mainstream media when it comes to the Palestinian question. Western media narrative appears to be diverging from the recent ICJ’s ruling on the ongoing genocide in Gaza, which in turn fuels Islamophobic sentiments in the West, making Western countries a hostile place not only for the Palestinians but Muslims around the world. ICJ’s landmark ruling stated that Israel’s offensive against Gaza is plausible genocide, basing their decision on the genocidal statements given by Israel’s head of state and various Knesset members.

Victims of genocide endure unimaginable atrocities that strip them of their humanity and dignity. Recognizing their suffering is not only a moral obligation but a significant step in restoring human rights. By dehumanizing their experiences, we disregard the grave violations committed against them, leaving their voices unheard and forgetting their suffering. Recognition of violations, therefore, is essential not only for justice but to also prevent future atrocities. 

Contextualizing the October 7 Events and the Western Response

On October 7, Palestinian resistance forces launched a surprise operation against Israel out of an open-air prison, striking Israeli settlements near Gaza by land. However, reports suggest that Israel was aware of this operation beforehand. The Palestinian resistance forces used small weapons such as hand grenades unlike the destruction caused in the kibbutz by Israel’s Apache helicopters, wrongfully blamed on the resistance. This clearly demonstrated that the use of force was disproportionate, influencing the overall dynamics of the situation. October 7’s operation led to Hamas seizing temporary control of some Israeli areas bordering Gaza, with Israeli soldiers captured and abandoned military equipment seized. The swift response from Western leaders (U.S. President Joe Biden, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen) overwhelmingly sided with Israel, condemning the Palestinian action as terrorism while overlooking the ongoing violence and oppression suffered by Palestinians.

The Human Cost of Media’s Bias

Prior to this operation, in 2021, Israel had already caused over 200 Palestinian deaths, yet the international reaction remained subdued. In response to the Palestinian retaliation of October 7, Israel launched a six-day bombing campaign on Gaza, resulting in the deliberate targeting of unarmed civilians, under the guise of claiming that the civilians were in fact members of armed militant groups, while the paramedics who responded to a call on the January 17th strike stated that the targets were “doing nothing wrong”, and, “one of them was wearing slippers and pyjamas”. Despite the overwhelming evidence of atrocities against Palestinians, minimal outcry followed from the Western media. The international community’s failure to ensure accountability only emboldened Israel’s commission of more crimes in Palestine with intensifying savagery. Shielding of Israel by the veto in the Security Council has bolstered its belief that it is exceptional, a State above the law. Gazan Palestinians have been almost entirely barred from the sites in Jerusalem and the West Bank since 2007. Such blanket bans interfere with the rights of individuals to exercise their religion and have been considered as a violation of international human rights law principles on the treatment of religious rights even in the occupied territories.

As of October 2023, more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 17,000 children. In addition, almost 2 million people have been displaced from their homes. These numbers suggest that the damage to life and other rights, such as the lack of food, shelter, and medical care have taken their toll on the civilians, especially children. There has still been no end to these violations. Israel has repeatedly targeted hospitals and healthcare facilities in Gaza. For example, UNRWA reported that over 150 of its facilities were hit, including schools and food distribution centers. Moreover, in Jabalia Refugee Camp, high civilian casualties and extensive destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes led the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to express “serious concerns that these are disproportionate attacks that could amount to war crimes”. Previously, in the Israeli aggression in May 2023, several hundred houses were targeted, and several civilians were killed, wounded, or rendered homeless. Continuous and repeated violations over the years underscore a persistent pattern of targeting unarmed civilians, children and essential infrastructure in violation of international law.

Distorted Narratives and Their Impact

Despite this, the Western media’s portrayal of the recent Palestinian attack on Israel and Israel’s response has been fraught with bias and distortion, reflecting broader narratives of power and victimhood. In the aftermath of the Palestinian offensive, Western media quickly condemned the attack as terrorism, pointing to the double standards of the media coverage. Media outlets framed it as an unprovoked assault on “innocent” Israeli civilians. Journalists from prominent mainstream platforms like CNN and  France24 widely circulated a story, alleging that Hamas fighters had beheaded 40 babies in the Kfar Aza settlement. Mainstream Western media was found to have outrightly fabricated evidence of any beheadings. Despite swift debunking of this claim, including by Israeli officials, many journalists failed to retract their initial reports. At best, they offered clarifications stating that the allegations could not be verified.

In January 2024, a Sky News broadcaster reported that “accidentally, a stray bullet found its way into the van ahead, and that killed a three or four-year-old young lady.” This comment, which was widely criticized for its phrasing, sparked outrage for downplaying the death of a Palestinian toddler during an Israeli military operation. This “young lady” was identified as Ruqaya Ahmad Odeh Jahalin, a Palestinian child, who tragically lost her life on January 7, 2024, after being shot in the back by Israeli regime forces while seated in the backseat of a shared taxi near an Israeli military checkpoint in the occupied West Bank. The effect of such biased reporting is far reaching. Biased media reports influence public perception, shaping narratives in ways that downplay critical details of oppression, distorting ground realities.

Earlier, in December 2023, The New York Times published an investigative report by Anat Schwartz, an Israeli filmmaker and former air force intelligence official, focusing on alleged gender-based violence by Palestinians during the October 7 attack. The article, “Screams Without Words: How Hamas Weaponized Gender Based Violence on October 7”, stated how Hamas weaponized sexual violence on October 7, describing it as “systematic rape.” This narrative was propagated by the New York Times; however, independent news agencies disputed these claims due to its reliance on discredited testimonies and sources, particularly the story of a woman in a black dress. The woman’s family refuted the allegations, claiming they were interviewed under false pretenses and were never informed by Israeli authorities about any investigation into the alleged rape. Further, the report heavily relied on hearsay and uncorroborated sources, many of which have been discredited. Critics argued that this not only undermined the report’s credibility but also highlighted media bias in favor of Israel. By repeating unsubstantiated claims, the report contributed to propagating and perpetuating the Israeli government’s justification for its operations in Gaza. It highlighted how Western mainstream media disseminated misleading information and undermined responsible journalism, further fostering polarization through biased narratives on the Palestine issue.

In contrast, Israel’s actions were portrayed in a more sympathetic light, with media outlets framing its response as necessary self-defense against Palestinian aggression. The Israeli military is often depicted as acting with restraint and precision, despite evidence of indiscriminate bombings and civilian casualties. These are not mere casualties but rather deliberate targeting of Palestinians as revealed by the footage aired by Al Jazeera from the Israeli drones seized by the Palestinian resistance, following which Al Jazeera was banned from reporting in Israel due to its pro-Palestinian resistance coverage. In addition, some sympathy was seen in the Western media over Gaza for foreign aid workers of World Central Kitchen, seemingly targeted deliberately by Israel in order to hinder aid from getting to Palestine in line with the starvation policy in Gaza. But it also introduced a racial aspect in reporting that the lives of white people, or people of Western origin, are more important than that of the people of Gaza. The lives of 7 people are more important than 40,000 people. This framing by the Western media not only absolves Israel of any responsibility for its actions but also reinforces the narrative of Israel as a beleaguered state under constant threat from its enemies. Furthermore, the media’s portrayal of Israel often overlooks its status as a post-Second World War colonial power with one of the world’s most well-equipped and powerful militaries. Instead, Israel is portrayed as a small, vulnerable nation surrounded by hostile neighbors, reinforcing the myth of Israel’s exceptionalism and moral superiority.

In recent analyses of media coverage, significant biases have been uncovered in how the conflict between Israel and Palestine is reported, particularly in Western outlets. A report, “Media Bias Gaza 2023-24” examined the British media coverage surrounding the issue, revealing an undeniable bias towards Israel while promoting its right to defend itself. The report noted that where “emotive language” was used in broadcasts, Israelis were about 11 times more likely to be referred to as victims of attacks, compared to Palestinians. In broadcast TV clips, 2 out of every 3 emotive terms used were for Israeli deaths compared to just 1 in 10 used for Palestinian deaths. Over 70% of the terms “atrocities”, “slaughter” and “massacre” were used in reference to the attacks against Israelis. Terms used to describe the killing of Palestinians are sometimes qualified with phrases such as “what they say is a massacre.” Further, referring to Israelis, the word “killed” was more likely to be used, characterising Palestinians as an aggressor. On the contrary, “died” was a word generally used to describe Palestinian deaths, eliminating Israel’s military oppression and role in causing these “deaths”. For example, on October 11, 2023, BBC reported “Some 1,200 people have been killed in Israel, while more than 1,000 have died in retaliatory air strikes on Gaza”. The discrepancy in usage of words revealed a significant bias in reporting of the Israeli oppression and narrating experiences of people from Palestine and Israel. However, these biases were not limited to BBC only.

The imbalance in reporting makes it difficult for the international community to gain a full understanding of the situation and contributes to a narrative that further justifies Israeli actions while demonizing Palestinians. Selective storytelling perpetuates violence and obscures the human rights violations occurring on both sides. The use of biased narratives besides fueling animosity also distracts from the urgent need for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict. These narratives not only oversimplify the complex realities of the ongoing issue, but also ignore the historical context of Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation and oppression. Descriptions, such as “murderous,” “bloodthirsty,” “barbaric,” and “uncivilized” are exclusively attributed to Hamas and other Palestinian groups, while similar language is rarely used to describe Israeli regime forces, despite their involvement in the killing and wounding of thousands of Palestinians. This selective language perpetuates a dehumanizing narrative that strips Palestinians of their humanity and ignores the broader context of Israeli oppression.

Conclusion

As the disregard for human rights continues, and incidents that will shift geo-political situations in the future, the Western media has not been able to offer a fair portrayal of the current conflict in Palestine. As stated earlier, due to the challenging media environment in Palestine, the media outlets have played a critical role in unveiling and sharing the stories to the people; however, the West has demonstrated bias in favour of Israel. It has led to a lack of knowledge and awareness of ground reality, and has cost lives for Palestine. This blogpost serves as one example that the media has defaulted on its task of being democracy’s watchdog and emphasises on the importance of ethical journalism.

Disclaimer: Any and all opinions and views represented in this blog are personal and belong solely to the author(s) of the blog and do not represent the opinions or views of the Centre for Human Rights.