News outlets from the west have been framing Israeli human rights abuses as ‘clashes’ between heavily armed shock troops and unarmed Palestinian worshipers
With headlines ranging from ‘Ramadan and Passover raise tensions at Jerusalem holy site’ by the BBC to ‘Clashes as Israeli police enter Al-Aqsa Mosque’ by Deutsche Welle (DW), western media outlets have been on a mad dash to obscure the violent actions of Israeli police during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
By framing violent and unprovoked police raids as “clashes,” the reports are promoting a narrative that says heavily armed Israeli shock troops and Palestinian worshipers — at best equipped with stones and fireworks — are confronting each other on an even field.
This effectively ignores the shocking images of Palestinians worshipers being beaten by the shock troops and of dozens laying face-down on the floor of the third holiest site in Islam with their hands bound by zip-ties.
Israeli forces attack defenseless women at Al-Aqsa Mosque. pic.twitter.com/rk1EIg0yit
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) April 5, 2023
Scenes from inside Al Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan, right now!https://t.co/jce5nHwrer pic.twitter.com/XBb6G5oYvw
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) April 4, 2023
Video: While being backed by well-armed Israeli occupation forces, colonial Israeli settlers break into Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, this morning.#SaveAqsa pic.twitter.com/1nFiFPwrC7
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 6, 2023
And while some reports point to the overlap of Ramadan with the Jewish holiday of Passover as a factor for the spike in violence, they often gloss over calls by Jewish supremacist organizations to organize large-scale mass storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque during the weeklong holiday.
Instead, outlets like AP point to an Israeli police statement that says “dozens of law-breaking juveniles” and “agitators” fomented chaos and compelled police “to act to restore security, law, and order.”
Whitewashing Israel’s laundry list of human rights abuses against Palestinians has become standard practice for western media outlets. This was made evident a year ago when these same organizations dishonestly reported on Israel’s murder of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Aqla.
By again using words like “clashes” or framing her murder by an Israeli sniper as an unfortunate “sudden death” or as an “accusation” by her employers, western news outlets chose to echo Israeli talking points and to relegate the testimonies of those who witnessed her death as hyperbole.
Hey @NYTimes, "Dies at 51" is a really strange way to say a journalist was shot in the head. pic.twitter.com/YoqzHRoDsS
— Bassam Khawaja (@Bassam_Khawaja) May 11, 2022
Earlier this year, research conducted by Responsible Statecraft revealed that, over a six-month period, major US outlets like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post largely ignored news dealing with the devastation caused by US-made bombs in occupied Palestine, while at the same time providing wall-to-wall coverage of alleged Iranian drones deployed to Ukraine.
CNN, NBC News, and Reuters were recently caught publishing ‘news stories’ that settled for regurgitating a press release issued by the US military without offering further examination.
Social media giants like WhatsApp, Facebook, and TikTok have also been accused of silencing the voices of Palestinian journalists documenting Israeli war crimes.
Similarly, last year it was revealed that Twitter collaborated with the Pentagon for at least five years to wage a secret “PsyOps campaign” across West Asia in a scheme to sway public opinion in favor of Washington’s military interests in the region.
ZNetwork is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Donate