Over three years after the start of the protests-cum-riots on Gaza’s border with Israel, The Guardian has published a story that fundamentally misleads readers, and essentially rewrites history, by excising Palestinian violence from the story. The article, by Stefanie Glinski, focuses on a vague number of people who were injured during the so-called “Great March of Return” demonstrations in 2018.
While there is room for a human interest story about those whose lives were indelibly impacted by these violent protests, reporting must remain objective and include the full story. Glinski’s report, titled “‘I can’t give up on my leg’: the Gaza protesters resisting amputation at all costs” (July 5), focuses on Palestinian suffering, but utterly fails to address the root cause.
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One passage in particular stands out:
Mughari was hit by a bullet in April 2018 while taking part in Gaza border protests, known as the Great March of Return. During weekly demonstrations, protesters called for an end to the 2007-imposed blockade on Gaza, and the return of more than 1 million people displaced from what is now Israeli territory. Hamas, the militant group ruling Gaza, were not involved initially, but later endorsed the protests, with some of their members participating.
Israel used teargas and live ammunition when protesters surged towards the border.”
In depicting Israel as using force “when protesters surged towards the border,” this brief account of the violence leaves out numerous crucial details.
For example, saying that Hamas simply “endorsed the protests” obscures the fact that the terror group actually orchestrated the events. In reality, from early on it was apparent that combatants embedded themselves into the wider civilian population, making it hard for Israel’s security forces to accurately target those carrying weapons. This was not a coincidence, but Hamas’ goal all along.
The clips in the following tweets illustrate just how much is missing from The Guardian’s reporting.
Likewise, The Guardian’s account totally fails to document Palestinian violence in the course of the protests. However, there is ample video evidence of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), gunfire, grenades, and knives being used.
The following video clips illustrate this point well:
Media reports have a tendency of citing claims rather than stating facts. So, for instance, it's common for journalists to say that Israel "claims" Palestinians were shooting at them.
Well, here's a Palestinian backing up the "claim." pic.twitter.com/ybmAP5ejJD
— (((Emanuel Miller))) (@emanumiller) July 7, 2021
Also left unstated in The Guardian report was the fact that residents of Gaza had already broken into Israel on a number of occasions before the mass protests referred to in the video. On multiple occasions, men equipped with grenades and knives penetrated deep into Israeli territory. The video below shows the seriousness of the threat, with civilians living in Israeli communities less than two kilometers away from the Gaza border fence.
This is what a border infiltration from #Gaza into #Israel looks like. See the man (0:30) clutching a meat cleaver? Imagine hundreds like him coming into Israeli territory, hoping to murder as many Israelis as possible.
This is what Israel is up against. pic.twitter.com/97c9jvEWOT
— (((Emanuel Miller))) (@emanumiller) May 14, 2018
This is not the first one-sided report focusing on the consequences of the Great March of Return. Back in 2019, months after the Gaza border protests-cum-riots calmed down, the Associated Press (AP) decided to commission a piece highlighting claims that “Israeli snipers have targeted one part of the body more than any other — the legs.”
That article described in great detail the toll paid by the protesters, documenting the numbers reported to have been treated at Gaza’s hospitals and field clinics as having reached “colossal proportions,” but failed to distinguish between those who suffered minor injuries such as scratches or tear gas inhalation from more serious wounds. And that’s if the numbers produced by the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health are believable to begin with.
While journalists have every right to document the stories of individuals on both sides affected by the violence between Israel and Gaza, basic journalistic standards must be met. Without an accurate telling of the wider context, readers are repeatedly being misled and Israel’s right to defend itself from Hamas-organized violence is undermined.
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