Ray Hanania
For Israel, the Gaza war is one of politics and propaganda. For Palestinians, it is one of genocide that challenges the world’s humanity.
According to a report released last week by UN Women, more than 38,000 women and girls have been killed during the war launched by Israel following the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023.
But because of the widespread media bias in the West in favor of Israel and its narrative, the public generally only sees or hears reports that portray Israelis as victims of terrorism. When independent Palestinian journalists who are not under Israel’s control try to put Oct. 7 into its true context — as the escalation of a back-and-forth series of violence in which Israel has been killing Palestinians for decades, prompting Palestinians to respond with a vengeance — they are targeted and often killed.
More than 260 journalists who have covered the Gaza war without the Israeli government’s approval have been killed by its military in the Strip, including reporters for several major news outlets.
Despite all the data on the killings, which has been verified by outside sources such as the UN and the Committee to Protect Journalists, the pro-Israel Western news media continues to only cover the portion that casts Israel as the victim. For example, much was written about the “hostages” — a term used almost exclusively to refer to Israeli captives held by Hamas after Oct. 7 but not the Palestinians held without charge and often tortured in Israeli detention centers.
Even if we were to accept Israel’s false narrative that the killings began with Hamas’ attack on Oct. 7 — which included many horrific acts of violence against Israelis — the fact is that Israeli soldiers have also committed atrocities against Palestinians.
One of the most notorious murders of a Palestinian child by Israeli soldiers was that of five-year-old Hind Rajab, who was killed in January 2024 as she waited for help. Hind’s entire family was murdered by Israeli soldiers. She was left in a vehicle, surrounded by their bodies, as she and a 15-year-old cousin, Layan Hamada, pleaded to be rescued. Layan made an emergency call to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society but she was killed by an Israeli tank that fired 64 shots at the car in the space of just six seconds.
Hind continued to use a phone in an attempt to get help. When an ambulance arrived, the two paramedics were also killed by tank fire. Hind was eventually murdered too. The bodies of Hind, her family and the paramedics remained on the dirt road for two weeks.
Israel later insisted none of its soldiers were nearby at the time of the attack. But investigators found that 335 bullets were fired by Israeli soldiers into the car carrying this civilian family, most of them women and children.
Meanwhile, Israeli soldiers have been known to brag on social media about killing Palestinian children and babies.
In this context, the UN report on the killing of women and girls resonates. It contextualizes the dramatic change that has been witnessed recently in the attitude of Americans, the majority of whom have long been indoctrinated by intense pro-Israel propaganda. Polling over the past year has shown that Americans’ sympathy for Israel has weakened significantly, with 41 percent now sympathizing more with the Palestinians than the Israelis (compared to 36 percent saying the opposite). Israel’s violence in Gaza and the West Bank is driving this shift.
Reports by the UN, the Committee to Protect Journalists and other independent organizations have revealed the extent of the violence carried out by Israeli soldiers against unarmed Palestinian civilians.
Rather than changing course, Israel is doubling down on its hate-fueled policy of violence against Palestinians. The Israeli parliament last month passed a law that mandates the execution of Palestinians convicted of offenses classified as “terrorism-related,” but it does not apply to Israelis.
Meanwhile, illegal settlers are accompanied by Israeli soldiers as they carry out acts of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank. Homes have been ransacked, burned and destroyed. In some cases, Palestinians have been killed.
But the pro-Israel Western media largely ignores these acts. And Israeli officials and pro-Israeli US officials continue to manipulate the narrative, focusing on anti-Israel protesters and ignoring the Israeli violence.
Many observers say that the situation is so bad that the idea of a peaceful resolution between the Israelis and the Palestinians may soon become impossible to achieve — if it is not already. That is a bigger tragedy for the Israelis because, despite the escalating violence carried out in their name, the Palestinians will never forget what has been done to them. The campaign of hate only fuels their demands for independence.
• Ray Hanania is an award-winning former Chicago City Hall political reporter and columnist. He can be reached on his personal website at www.Hanania.com. X: @RayHanania
