It has been more than ten months since the October 7 attack by Hamas, killing approximately 1,200 Israeli citizens attending the Nova music festival near Gaza’s border. It has also been more than ten months of the Israeli Offense Forces killing more than 39,000 Palestinians (excluding the ones not accounted for under rubble) of which 69% are women and children. It has also been reported that approximately 21,000 Palestinian children are missing. According to the recent reports by The Lancet, the death toll could be as high as 186,000. The disproportional targeting of Palestinian civilians has created a very powerful and warranted outcry from the international community, first with South Africa leading efforts to charge Israel in front of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and recently with the ICJ issuing a verdict establishing Israel as an Apartheid state.

The solidarity and collective action taken through protest movements around the world, calling for the long overdue liberation of the Palestinian people has been empowering and awakening for many. This fight for justice has been taken to streets with regular protests, dialogues, conventions, disrupting the speeches of MPs and presidents around the world. Social media such as Instagram, TikTok or Twitter have helped document the genocide as well as helped the international community of protestors, NGOs and civil society organisations come together in this fight for liberation. At the same time, there has been backlash from Zionists and Israelis who believe that Israel has the right to defend itself. 

When a war is at hand, it is the role of journalism to state facts clearly, pay attention to the words they use and ensure that they represent peace, seek solutions and not polarise civilians who are experiencing these events on the ground. Since October 7, the true nature of Western media houses has been challenged and questioned by many. But this hasn’t stopped some of the biggest and most-watched news channels to continue reporting in a manner that reduces and rejects the atrocities faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

For instance, New York Times changed its headlines while reporting an Israeli Airstrike, eventually calling it an “explosion at the hospital in Gaza” and reducing the gravity of the act. This has also been done by the CNN and the BBC. But this is not a new exercise. A report from the Centre for Media Monitoring reports the significant bias present in media coverage of Israel and Palestine. Previously, a study on media bias conducted by the Syracuse University in 2011 found that the BBC is pro-Israeli in its reporting, regularly dehumanizing the violence against Palestinians and watering down the death toll.

At the same time, Western media is doing two important things that can be considered dishonest and in violation to journalistic integrity. Firstly, words such as ‘slaughter, ‘atrocities’, ‘bloodied murder’ or ‘massacres’ continue to be employed when speaking about the deaths of Israelis. These are used disproportionately and work to create a perception of brutal violence that seems to only be upon the Israelis. Secondly, they have actively reduced the amount of airtime given to the current situations in Gaza, many times even ignoring the violence in the West Bank altogether. An analysis by Mona Chalabi, a data journalist, demonstrates this phenomenon.  

It is well known that media plays a very significant role in shaping the perceptions of society. Thus, being insensitive in discussions that demand sensitivity is immoral and dishonest. This media bias can result in demeaning Palestinians, their experiences and steal their narratives.  

The media is not the only way through which Israelis are understanding and experiencing their lives in relation to Palestine. A study from 2000 examining history textbooks from Palestine and Israel from 1948 to 2000 revealed that the textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education in Israel had tendencies to be biased against Palestinians, misrepresenting them and changing narratives that support the contemporary state of Israel. Additionally, the ultra-orthodox schools in Israel were seen to be more biased, favouring Zionism.  

Further to this, in December 2023, a video of Israeli children singing songs celebrating the on-going genocide in Gaza surfaced on the internet. This indoctrination of children from a very young age has long-lasting impacts. This kind of education erases Palestinian history and teaches young Israelis to reject any idea of empathy and kindness towards their neighbours. In the long-term it creates adults who consider Palestinians ‘less than’ allowing them to further buy into narratives they see and hear around them. Breaking out of these systems to unlearn can be very challenging, requiring one to introspect.  

The polarising and indoctrinating narratives by media and education have preceded 7 October and now with the war being once again active, there is a lot that is rapidly at stake. But even with such polarising narratives by the media and education system, there have been attempts by Israeli citizens to hold their government to account along with attempts to course-correct the textbooks, however, these changes are challenging to achieve and can take years.

This blog was written by Aarushi Sharma, an MAGov student at IDS (Class of 2024).