The media plastered a fake story that Hamas beheaded babies in its 7 October attack across the front pages. But now footage has circulated of actual beheaded Palestinian babies, the media is silent.
Israel designated a new safe zone in Rafah and then bombed it, killing at least 45 Palestinians who were mostly women and children. The bombardment caused a fire that swept through the camp of displaced people. The Palestine Red Crescent Society said many of those Israel killed were “burned alive” inside their tents.
Media double standards
Corporate media complicity in Israel’s genocidal assault became clearer as footage emerged of Palestinian babies beheaded in the bombardment.
The outrage is nowhere to be seen. But when the IDF planted a story that Hamas had beheaded babies in its 7 October attack, the coverage was rampant.
The Times ran the front page “Hamas cut the throats of babies”. The Daily Mail went with “This was a Holocaust plain and simple”. The Independent‘s front page stated “they decapitated women and children”. And the Daily Express’ read “Horror at pure evil beheading of babies”.
The wall-to-wall coverage was also discussed on UK broadcast media. And in the US, president Joe Biden kept repeating false claims that he’d seen photos:
I never really thought that I would see and have confirmed pictures of terrorists beheading children.
Outlets like CNN also repeated the IDF story.
But there is no evidence of the claim, as Israel admitted. Israeli reserve soldier David Ben Zion was a key source of the propaganda.
Ben Zion is a leader of the Shomron Regional Council of 35 illegal West Bank settlements. He called in February 2023 for the destruction of a Palestinian village:
The village of Huwara should be wiped out, this place is a nest of terror and the punishment should be for everyone
He also previously stated Palestinian people have “barbaric DNA”.
Genocidal statements, amplified by the media
This is the type of racist, dehumanising rhetoric fueling Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people. And again media complicity has amplified such statements.
Multiple times on BBC Newsnight the presenter has allowed genocidal language to go unchallenged. Appearing on the show, Israeli politician Danny Danon referred to slaughtered Palestinians as “barbaric animals”.
Former Israeli ambassador Dan Gillerman also called Palestinians “human animals” on BBC Newsnight. Both times, the host did not challenge the claims.
Elsewhere, defence minister Yoav Gallant has said “We are fighting human animals and we are acting accordingly”. And Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said “This is a battle not only of Israel against these barbarians, it’s a battle of civilization against barbarism”.
International Criminal Court top prosecutor Karim Khan is seeking arrest warrants for Gallant and Netanyahu for leading the war crimes against Palestinian people, including intentionally starving them.
The looming arrest warrants cannot come soon enough. Israel has killed 36,615 Palestinian people including over 15,000 children since 7 October.
If the media didn’t treat Palestinian lives as less worthy than Israelis, we wouldn’t already be in this position.
Featured image via Lowkey0nline – X
