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Use of human shields by terrorists (view source)
Revision as of 21:15, September 23, 2021
, 21:15, September 23, 2021no edit summary
The reporter requested that his name not be used.</blockquote></ref> and has even threatened journalists reporting about it.<ref name=jpost-journalistfear>[https://www.jpost.com/operation-protective-edge/journalists-threatened-by-hamas-for-reporting-use-of-human-shields-369619 Journalists threatened by Hamas for reporting use of human shields], Lahav Harkov, JPost, Jul 31, 2014.
The reporter requested that his name not be used.</blockquote></ref> and has even threatened journalists reporting about it.<ref name=jpost-journalistfear>[https://www.jpost.com/operation-protective-edge/journalists-threatened-by-hamas-for-reporting-use-of-human-shields-369619 Journalists threatened by Hamas for reporting use of human shields], Lahav Harkov, JPost, Jul 31, 2014.
''Foreign correspondents asked to leave enclave for social media posts on Hamas' utilization of civilian sites to attack Israel.''</ref><ref name=tabmag-2014/>
''Foreign correspondents asked to leave enclave for social media posts on Hamas' utilization of civilian sites to attack Israel.''</ref><ref>Richard Landes, "[https://www.the-american-interest.com/2014/08/05/the-medias-role-in-hamas-war-strategy/ The Media's Role in Hamas' War Strategy]", The American Interest, Aug 5, 2014.
<blockquote>
Intimidation and Advocacy Motivate Media’s Cooperation
The single most compelling reason for the near-unanimity of the media’s cooperation with Hamas is not advocacy, which alone could not create such a consensus, but rather intimidation. Like all systems of omertà this one covers its tracks. Some observers have pointedly asked, for example, why the mainstream news media has conveyed so few images of Hamas “militants.” The New York Times responded that out of the hundreds of photos from weeks of warfare, their award-winning photographer and his crew had provided only two blurry ones. Is this sheer incompetence? Or is it because, as one journalist, just out of Gaza told an Israeli off-the-record: “If we ever dared point our camera at them, they would shoot at us and kill us.” Asked to say that on camera, the journalist “refused and almost ran away.”
But in the Twitter age, evidence of cover-up abounds for those who care to look. Several journalists have reported receiving a wave of SMS threats when they even tweet about Hamas using human shields. Accused of being informants or fifth columnists who are lying and fabricating for Israel, these journalists rapidly learn how seriously Hamas considers their trade a weapon of war and their non-compliance a form of treason. The subsequent disappearance of many of those tweets indicates just how far Hamas’ threats reach.
Occasionally, a really telling piece of evidence appears. Two days after the shelling of Shaati and Shifa, that had “disgraced the world,” an Italian journalist tweeted:
Out of #Gaza far from #Hamas retaliation: misfired rocket killed children y[ester]day in Shati. Witness [proof]: militants rushed and cleared debris.
So, just as Israel had claimed, jihadis had killed their own women and children, cleaned the site, and then brought in journalists to blame Israel. It was indeed disgraceful on many counts, none of which concerned Israel. And yet we only know about this, if we do at all, because this one journalist felt himself beyond Hamas’ reach.
In a dramatic episode, Palestinian-born French journalist Radjaa Abou Dagga found himself summoned to Hamas offices (inside Shifa hospital), alternately accused of working for Abbas or the Israelis, and expelled from Gaza with instructions to work no more. Libération published his account, which makes it clear that such intimidation is common. Indeed, a colleague refused him shelter for the night because he, too, had received these threats: “You don’t mess with these people during a war.” Three days later, Libé took down Dagga’s article at his request. With family in Gaza, he clearly did not feel beyond Hamas’ reach.
If true, why does this terrible tale of civilian victimization and journalistic intimidation go untold? Some answer, because it’s not true: “Hamas does not use human shields,” BBC’s Jeremy Bowen assures us. Nor, insists CNN’s Karl Penhaul, do “any of the militant movements and factions here in Gaza,” give journalists “any form of instruction.” For one CNN analyst, it’s “complicated”, but, insists James Fallows, we owe our reporters respect. After all, would they all misinform us? Or is their intimidation and cowardice a public secret they won’t admit?
</blockquote></ref><ref name=tabmag-2014/>
Already in 2009, the fear factor was raised which prevents Arab Palestinians in testifying about it,<ref>The Simon Wiesenthal Center, "[https://www.aish.com/jw/me/92746669.html 2010 Top Ten Anti-Israel Lies]." Aish, May 8, 2010. <br>
Already in 2009, the fear factor was raised which prevents Arab Palestinians in testifying about it,<ref>The Simon Wiesenthal Center, "[https://www.aish.com/jw/me/92746669.html 2010 Top Ten Anti-Israel Lies]." Aish, May 8, 2010. <br>