Israel-Palestinaian Conflict

 The media very extensively showed us the atrocities committed by Hamas on Israeli citizens inside Israel on 7 October 2023. The next few days the media and I mean mostly the Western media CNN and BBC in particular, had only the story from the Israeli side and justifibily so. This narrative of being the victim was then used by Israel to launch an air-based retaliation into Gaza. So far 10,500 people have died most of them civilians in the so-called targeted bombardment of Gaza by IDF. The Western countries that took very little time to come to the support and aid of Israel are slow in condemning and pressurising Israel to stop the killing of innocent civilians in Gaza. Israel has never differentiated between the militant Palestinians and civilians when it retaliates. We have history to recall- the massacre of innocent Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon by Israel. Israel was never brought to justice for the war crimes as the US vetoed any attempt by the Arab countries.

The US has lost all credibility in the Middle East as everyone now recognises the one-sided stance of the US when it comes to the Israel-Palestine conflict. The last decade was the lost opportunity to finally grant Palestine nationhood and end the 70 years of occupation by Israel backed by the US. The Netanyahu government is squarely responsible for the latest round of conflict. The policies of the newly formed right-wing government with backing from Ultra-religious parties were the last nail in the Palestinian coffin. The sweeping laws to silence the Supreme Court, the generous concessions to the ultra-right to expand with immunity in the occupied territories in violation of international laws, and the continued repression of the people of Gaza and the West Bank on a daily basis were some of the issues that brought forth this situation to the boil. The trigger was the desecration of the Al-Asqua mosque by the religious ultras with support from the government. 

After a month of covering the conflict, BBC is now adding context to understand the stories it is covering on the Israel-Palestine conflict. Suddenly we hear a lot about information provided by IDF and not verified by independent sources. Questions are now asked about the civilian casualties among the Palestinians- till now the Israeli army sources' claim of hitting Hamas targets were lapped up by the BBC without any verification. Even now one does not hear or see the widespread protests against the Gaza killings of civilians in the Arab world- total censorship. The one-sided war reporting is as bad as the embedded journalists of the Iraq conflict who reported what the US wanted us to know. BBC's credibility is once again at stake- some of us who grew up believing it to be the authentic voice now get the feeling that it is the voice of the West. Yes, one should never forget the fact that Hamas killed 1400, mostly civilians on October 7. But, that should not be the basis for erasing the equally brutal assault on Gaza, the unprecedented bombardment and near starvation of the entire population of Gaza by Israel. We need to condemn both equally and without conditions.