“What these men [cited by mainstream news organizations as journalists in Gaza] did wasn’t journalism, and claiming otherwise dishonors the real journalists who risk and sometimes lose their lives endeavoring to bring us the truth.”
Those are the words of Jamie Kirchick, former editor at the New Republic and visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution, writing recently in The Wall Street Journal.
And thus, the writer explains, the “deaths of ‘a record’ number of ‘journalists’ in Gaza” is a “category error…The cause of international press freedom is undermined when its leading institutions launder jihadist martyrdom into journalistic sacrifice.”
And journalism isn’t the only mask worn by the murderous. Terrorists in Gaza pose, too, as humanitarians (irony is dead), as was evident (though not widely reported) recently when the World Central Kitchen was forced to admit that five armed individuals manning a WCK vehicle were “not affiliated with” the aid group. One wonders who they might have been.
But it’s easiest to just call oneself a reporter. It requires no vetting or vehicle or uniform, only the word “PRESS” placed on a vest.
Like the one worn by Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif, “the face and voice of Gaza” for many media. Despite Hamas records showing him to have been a member and fighter, New York Times columnist Lydia Polgreen eulogized the journo-terrorist on August 21, decrying his having been “assassinated” because “Israel is making sure there is no one to document the horror of its war.” No, Ms. Polgreen, it’s making sure that no one prolongs the war.
Or the one worn by drone photographer Yasser Murtaja, shot and killed in 2018 by an IDF sniper during rioting at the Gaza fence. Israeli intelligence tagged him as a Hamas captain, and he took video that endangered Israeli positions. At his funeral, then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (who has since joined Mr. Murtaja, wherever) kissed his corpse.
Then we have Soliman Hijjy, a celebrated cinematographer who is back working for The New York Times. His earlier stint with the paper ended when his social media posts praising Adolf Hitler came to light. But The Times subsequently discussed things with Mr. Hijjy and was satisfied by his pledge to adhere to the paper’s standards going forward.
Someone should teach the Old Gray Lady about leopards and spots.
Mr. Hijjy, like Mr. Murtaja, provided eagle-eye views of Israeli military positions. These days, he spends his time seeking emaciated children (regardless of what medical conditions they might have).
An effort called Gazawood, which shares videos exposing staged Gazan fakery (for instance, bawling children suddenly smiling broadly when they think the cameras were turned off), offered its sarcastic congratulations to Mr. Hijjy on receiving an award “for his unwavering dedication to capturing scenes in Gaza while enduring extreme hunger.”
Accompanying the congrats are videos of the videographer, who happens to be obese, smiling broadly while shoving snacks and large spoonfuls of ice cream into his mouth.
Since Israel cannot be constrained in its actions aimed at Gazan terrorists, she cannot allow reporters into the war zone; it would necessarily put them in danger. Just recently, five journalists in Gaza were killed in error, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to say that Israel “deeply regrets the tragic mishap.”
But, at the same time, the vacuum of independent journalists in the region is filled with native “reporters” who, even if any were inclined to report on Hamas operatives’ hijacking of aid or exaggeration of hunger or kneecapping and executions of those who dare to defy them (even if by simply accepting aid from an American-Israeli humanitarian effort), they dare not do so. After all, they, too, have kneecaps and lives. All reporters in Gaza, Hamasniks or not, must operate under the watchful eyes (and eying the trigger-happy hands) of Hamas.
And so, like the fellow in the old joke who explains why he’s looking for his lost wallet far from where he lost it because “the light’s better here,” Western media accept the reports of Gazan “journalists” since there are no truly independent reporters in the area.
But they are as likely to find objective reportage as the shnook is to find his wallet.
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