There are those, who conveniently start showing critical thinking skills when talking to Israeli officials these days, and there are those whose critical thinking skills – as well as a moral compass – were never compromised.
Have you noticed it, too?
Have you noticed how suddenly it has become less convenient – yet only in words – to unequivocally support Israel in the open?
“Firmer words” said by Emmanuel Macron, Kier Starmer, and even Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, would indicate the general climate in Europe is changing — yet only to those who haven’t been paying close attention to what’s been happening in Gaza. Those who have can see how fake, insidious, hypocritical, and simply untrue those “firmer words” are. And how important it is to call them out for what they are.
But first, let me jump into what’s real and genuine for a moment.
That is the journey that many of you might be following: it’s Madleen’s trip from Italy to Gaza to break the illegal siege and open a humanitarian corridor.
Madleen is a ship named after a courageous fisherwoman in Gaza. It forms part of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition whose aim for over 15 years now has been to break the siege of Gaza by non-violent means. I am proud to say that CODEPINK, an anti-war organisation I have had the privilege and honor of being a team member of, has its members as volunteers in both previous flotillas and these recent ones.
My invitation to follow and amplify Madleen’s trip and mission is here (please take a second and click on the links and social media handles in the description of the post):
To come back to the topic of what’s neither genuine nor brave, it is a slow – and completely predicted – turn of mainstream media in terms of asking Israeli representatives “harsher” questions. Or, in other words, attempting to do actual journalism instead of politely appeasing fascists.
Two huge problems remain.
One, it proves that capacity was always there; it was about calculated unwillingness to do it. There are no principles, no professional standards, no moral compass that would be above both the financial interests of the publishers and/or their dedication to protecting Zionism from self-destruction.
Two, there is in fact another step on that journey towards something that resembles journalism: instead of asking Israeli propagandists tougher questions, one can simply not have these propagandists on their shows. They can stop asking the guards and executioners of Auschwitz about their versions of events. They are no legitimate sources; they are not to be questioned — they are to be prosecuted.
To give you an example of how insincere someone’s perceived sudden change of heart is, let me share a clip from Piers Morgan Uncensored. After a couple of interviews (one of them is here) where he was using firmer language with a genocide apologist he had on his show, look how quickly he comes back to the same victim-blaming, context-doesn’t-matter narrative, repeating Israeli propaganda talking points:
In my own country, Lithuania, after parroting Israeli propaganda word-to-word and what its military claimed for eighteen months, the national broadcaster published one or two articles more critical of Israel. Even the Prime Minister of Lithuania was forced, clearly in a very uncomfortable way, to comment on the fact that an EU delegation was shot at by Israeli forces while visiting the West Bank.
Do you know what his words of condemnation were?
“Diplomatic relations have their own dynamics. They aren’t significantly improved or damaged by a single event.”
In short, everything goes. Shit happens. Who hasn’t made the mistake of firing at foreign diplomats in territories you illegally occupy, right?
[For Lithuanian speakers, I have a shorter version and a longer version of my commentary on exactly that]
But in countries where that slow turn is more visible, not only is it completely predictable: it’s also too little too late. Gaza has been annihilated, a genocide is underway, and tens of thousands of children are gone.
We all know the mainstream media is culpable. Its choice of words, its choice of silence, and its choice of repeating Israeli propaganda instead of debunking it, all watered the soil for mass murder.
Any change in the coverage of mainstream media – media who had the resources to engage in fair reporting from the start if it had wanted to do so – is the exact opposite of what the mission of the Gaza Freedom Flotilla is: it is clearly performative. It is a predictable case of those who could still be trialed in the Hague trying to save their face, trying to salvage a reputation that has been stained and damaged forever; trust in these outlets can never be regained.
Unfortunately, it is as performative as the statements made by the same leaders I mention at the beginning of my article.
The UK continues to supply F-35 parts to Israel.
Germany just approved additional arms sales to Israel.
France dropped its plans to recognise the Palestinian state.
Like before, their words – firmer or indicating complete spinelessness – mean nothing. They are deceptions. They are distractions. They are lies and they are proof that these country leaders understand their own criminality — because they want to shield themselves from accountability post facto.
What’s not performative?
To know that physical harm could be inflicted on your body – just like on hundreds of thousands of bodies of Palestinians in Gaza – and still decide to go sail across the Mediterranean to try to break the brutal, illegal, and abhorrent siege on Gaza.
There the brave medics of Gaza, putting their lives on the line.
There are the brave journalists of Gaza, putting their lives on the line.
There are the brave civil defense forces in Gaza, putting their lives on the line.
There are the brave parents and children of Gaza, putting their lives on the line – every day, since everyone is a target, always.
This is who we stand in solidarity with – with these brave activists, yes, and with a whole nation to whom we owe a debt of humanity bigger than what this universe can hold.
As always: stay strong, check on others, and keep your heart open.
❤️💔❤️
Justina
Find all my work on Palestine here.
If you’d like to support my work, I invite you to make a donation to United Palestinian Appeal, an established organisation which works in Gaza, instead.
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