Death of a journalist at the hands of Israelis

Al Jazeera is an independent television channel based in Qatar but has an international reach. It was set up to draw attention to the Arab speaking world and extended its reach by introducing an English language version in more recent times. It is not all that freely available to those of us who live in the so-called Free West. 

We could be tainted by views that don’t always coincide with our cosy western view of things. Al Jazeera could be said to be the Arab world’s answer to RTÉ or the BBC. All news organisations represent a certain view of the world. RTÉ and the BBC present a western view, one that is tilted in favour of the democratic, liberal, capitalist hegemony while Al Jazeera would take a more Arab/Muslim view of matters.

According to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Al Jazeera is a front for Hamas. Nothing new there. Al Jazeera is not available to view in Israel. It might corrupt the minds of the Israeli people. It is not freely available to view in Ireland in case we might be tainted by the Muslim view of things. So, it is OK for the Israeli Attack Forces to shoot and bomb Al Jazeera journalists. As our esteemed President Michael D could attest, shoot the messenger is taken seriously by Netanyahu.

Now, I have no doubt that some Al Jazeera journalists would hold views in sympathy with Hamas and even more broadly with the Palestinian people. I managed to get into Gaza city once, under the cover of darkness, about 25 years ago. I was involved with the National Union of Journalists and met with Palestinian journalists and it is fair to say that, even back then, before Hamas, they lived under threat from Israeli attack.

There was one TV cameraman at our meeting who had two fingers of his right hand shot off by Israeli gunfire. He offered the view that perhaps the Israelis thought his camera was a gun, so that might be the justification for shooting his hand off. He was fairly philosophical about the entire episode and in no way did he rant and rail against the Israelis. He perhaps thought of his injury as a badge of honour. Shot in the line of duty as he reported the news. In my view he was lucky that the Israeli Attack Forces did not think his head was a gun or that might have been blown off.

On that trip I met journalists from Harratz newspaper which was then and still is a popular, liberal paper with left-wing tendencies and I met with journalists in the Jerusalem Post. They were all decent people doing their job while working to the norms required of their editorial policies. There was no sense that any political views they might have had interfered with a duty to report the news fairly.

At that time, as I mentioned, there was no Hamas. Yasser Arafat was the man back then. The Palestinian Authority held sway in the West Bank. Arafat pursued the two state solution and had been making progress. Netanyahu has always opposed the two state solution and worked to undermine Arafat and the Palestinian Authority by supporting Hamas as the governing authority in Gaza. He now reaps what he sowed and is happy to do so, as he has the opportunity, with American, UK and EU support, to wipe out the people of Gaza.

And, important to that project is to eliminate any contrary voices, thus the decision to bomb the Al Jazeera journalists. Mohammed Qreiqeh had established his name as a front man for Al Jazeera reporting from the devastated Gaza Strip. He was branded a Hamas operative by Netanyahu. I have little doubt he would have been sympathetic to the Hamas cause. It is difficult not to be, such is the devastation being wrought on the people of Gaza. Thus he was a target. A drone attack launched by the Israeli Attack Forces hit Qreiqeh’s tent, killing him and seven other people including camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal. An assistant and two other civilians, unconnected to Al Jazeera, were among the casualties.

According to the International Federation of Journalists, a reliable monitor of working journalists’ deaths, at least 195 journalists and media workers worldwide, including 181 Palestinians, have been killed since October 7, 2023. That suggests that media people have been targeted on a grand scale. Israel do not want the world to know what is going on in Gaza. That is why they refuse to allow the international media access to the enclave. They would not want any close inspection of their activities.

When they are found out in the commission of atrocities they announce investigations. They seldom announce the outcome of such investigations. The Rev Gabriel Romanelli, a parish priest in Gaza City, who received regular calls from Pope Francis prior to his death, was injured when the Israelis bombed a target in Gaza. Obviously the incident received worldwide attention. An investigation was announced by Netanyahu. As far as I am aware there has been no outcome of that investigation.

It is shameful, to say the least, that the US, the UK, the EU (and that includes us) and indeed many of the most economically powerful states in the world have been unable to call a halt to the genocide in Gaza. Humanity has taken a fearsome toll in this conflict.

We have reason here to take some pride in the fact we have taken the decision to recognise the right of the Palestinians to a homeland of their own. The UK, France, Germany and others are belatedly offering (the UK providing that certain conditions are met! Such nonsense) to see the two state solution as the only choice for a peace in the Middle East. Of course Netanyahu and the Israelis will not countenance a two state solution. They are bent on empire building and the displacement or the destruction of every Palestinian who would claim a right to live in what the biblically blind Israelis say is their land, is just not kosher.

The problem with this empire building project is that the Hebrew bible has not set any boundaries on the land of the Israelites. So Netanyahu and his settlers need not limit their ambitions. Syria, Jordan and Lebanon can be claimed as legitimate acquisitions and if I was Mr Al-Sisi, the president of Egypt, I’d be looking westward and keeping an eye on Netanyahu.

On a less contentious note and closer to home, I note that Mr Peter Casey who is pursuing a nomination to run for the Áras, has followed my lead and has offered, if elected, to forego any remuneration for occupying the Áras for the next seven years.

Mr Casey has tried before and finished runner-up to Michael D last time around. He has unsuccessfully tried for Europe and the Dáil but I suspect that was just to keep his name before the public and that his priority was a run for President. He does not like the fact that we are being bullied by Europe. I could agree with him on that. But he does not seem to be bothered by the fact that the big bully Trump is threatening dire destruction on Ireland. Maybe he is a MAGA supporter. 

Obviously I’ll be giving myself a No 1 when the day comes and Catherine Connolly remains as the number 2 choice (she’s the best of the rest so far) even tho’ she has yet to make any announcement regarding the remuneration for the job. Now, I’m expecting a big announcement from the Fianna Failures.

Thought for the day 

The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely - Louisa May Alcott.