Israel and the western media

Israel controls the Western media. Is it a reality or just a myth? This question has been debated more often given how the western media tends to ignore the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinians. There has never been a definitive answer. Some would argue the Third World countries, particularly the Muslim world, are swayed by conspiracy theories. But the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, perhaps, is a good guide to seek an answer to this question.

Israeli forces have been relentlessly bombarding the Gaza Strip, a besieged territory, since October 7. The air strikes came in response to an unprecedented ground, air and sea assault carried out by Hamas. The surprise operation left over 1,400 Israelis dead, surpassing the causality figure suffered by the Jewish state in previous conflicts. Israeli jets, targeting the Gaza neighborhood every day and night, has since been a norm. Thousands of civilians and a number of children in Gaza Strip have already lost their lives. But on October 18, Israel targeted the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. Nearly 500 Palestinians including women and children were killed in a single attack. The hospital was not only treating the wounded but also providing shelter to thousands of Palestinians from the Israeli bombardment. Images from the hospital soon after the Israeli air strikes could not be described in words. Piles of bodies were lying on the courtyard of the hospital. A distraught father was carrying body parts of his sons. Doctors were addressing news conferences surrounded by charred bodies.

It was such a devastating attack that even Israeli allies would have found it difficult to defend. Statements soon started pouring in with certain Western countries even denouncing the massacre. Sensing the gravity of the situation, Israel denied it bombed the hospital. Instead it blamed the misfired rockets of Islamic Jihad for the carnage. Evidence on the ground and eyewitness account, however, was telling a different story.

Reporters in Gaza, who covered the conflict for years, had absolutely no doubt that it was the Israeli air strikes that bombed the hospital. BBC and other Western news channels initially ran the story blaming Israel. But the moment Israel denied its involvement, the narrative on mainstream western media began to change. All of a sudden Israeli military spokespersons appeared on BBC and CNN. Journalism is about verifying facts and not necessarily going with the claims and counterclaims. One BBC Correspondent, who was so cautious in reporting the incident after the Israeli denial, had to admit that he had not seen any Hamas rockets causing that much damage. Israeli forces only had the ammunition that could cause such a huge damage, he maintained.

The coverage of that incident showed how Western media was cautious in criticising the Israeli state. For decades, the West’s narrative propagated through their media has gone unchallenged. But in recent decades other media outlets have been providing counter-narrative. The Doha based Al-Jazeera’s coverage on Gaza clearly stood out. The channel single-handedly busted many claims of Israel and the Western media. It was because of this reason that the US reportedly had to approach Qatar, urging it to review the Al-Jazeera coverage. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has reportedly asked Qatar to moderate Al Jazeera’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas, amid concerns within the Biden administration that the channel is inflaming public opinion and heightening the risks of a wider conflict.

According to reports, Blinken told American Jewish leaders when he was in Doha on Oct 13 that he had asked the Qatari government to change its public posture towards Hamas. The report said Blinken asked the Qataris to “turn down the volume on Al Jazeera’s coverage because it is full of anti-Israel incitement”.

All this perhaps settles this question that Israel indeed exercises considerable control over the Western media and also perhaps the policies of Western capitals.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 30^th, 2023.

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