Human Rights

What Mainstream Media Isn’t Telling You About Israel and Palestine

While mainstream media seems to move on, Gaza is still getting bombed.

9 min readOct 21, 2023

And there’s no sign of stopping.

A week ago, Israel warned the estimated 2.3 million people residing in Gaza (a city in Palestine) to evacuate in the next 24 hours. Gaza, completely blockaded and densely packed, was in a situation that the UN explained was “impossible”.

With electricity, food, and water cut off by Israel — they had no choice. But when Palestinian people did try to evacuate in the so-called “safe routes”, Israel sent airstrikes targeting them, killing at least 70 more people.

Four days ago, the Christian Al-Ahli hospital has also been bombed, massacring even more children, pregnant women, doctors, and nurses. More than 500 were killed by the Israeli strike, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

Yesterday, Israeli warplanes also bombed Saint Porphyrius Church, killing around 18 people with many victims still under the rubble.

They have brutally killed over 4,200 people (and counting) in the last 2 weeks. More than half of them — 1,524+ and 1,000+ respectively — are children and women.

Read that again.

Picture taken after bombings — @motaz_azaiza on Instagram

Those numbers are too much to fathom. 4,200 people are still around 1,000 more than if you filled La Scala Milan, one of the world’s most famous Opera theatres in Milan, Spain. Even so, if you filled the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City, US (pictured above), there would not be enough seats.

The irony is said Palestinians likely never visited these places.

“There was a bit of hope, that was what the doctor told me about my child. I went and came back, and I could not find my child, the doctor, or the hospital.” — Ahme’ed He’elmy

Yet how many news outlets reported it? If so, how many referred to them vaguely as “having died/feared dead” instead of getting killed and massacred? How many still call it a “war against Hamas” when it’s the civilians climbing the death toll? How many headlines did this make?

How many?

“If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.” — Malcolm X

Palestinian children afraid of the bombing sounds nearby — @samarabuelouf on Instagram

Jamie Lee Curtis, an American actress, posted this picture on Instagram. The caption included the Israeli flag, referring to their 1,400 losses by Hamas’s attack on October 7.

A few hours later, she took down the picture once people pointed out that, the children being terrified in it, were actually from Gaza. (Which, says a lot by itself because do Gazan children not matter as much?)

She has since posted other photos of random children holding hands, with captions like “In war all children should be protected”. The original post remains deleted, however.

The picture referenced was taken by a photojournalist in Gaza, Samar Abu Elouf. You can find her other devastating photos here.

It may have been a coincidence, but the same thing happened with Justin Bieber, a Canadian singer. He posted an Instagram story with #PrayforIsrael, the backdrop of which has another photo of destroyed Gaza. How neat.

This is not just about celebrities being lousy at best. They have a whole PR team to handle this.

But at worst, I’d argue it shows the general population, mainly in the West, knows little about what’s taking place in Palestine.

“I am here and there trying to cover what I could without thinking about my back or that I even slept for the last two days.” — @motaz_azaiza on Instagram

Media is known to be a weapon during war to deceive the masses. And it’s not hard to imagine — it is established that Western media had done the same during the Iraq war.

It also explains the targeting of news crews. According to CPJ, at least 22 journalists have been killed in the last two weeks. 18 of them were Palestinians, 3 were Israelis, and 1 Lebanese. Many others were also injured, detained, or missing.

Not to mention, the Palestinian-American Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh who was shot and killed by the Israeli military in May 2022.

Her death is well-documented, yet the Israeli military denied and deflected responsibility until admitting it’s “highly possible” that they killed her.

“We were four journalists, we were all wearing vests, all wearing helmets,” Hanaysha, a witness who was standing next to Abu Akleh at the time, said. “The [Israeli] occupation army did not stop firing even after she collapsed…the army was adamant on shooting to kill.”

Such brutality is not uncommon. Since October 7, at least 75 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli troops or settlers in the West Bank (around the same area where Shireen Abu Akleh was shot).

Bodies, war crimes, and lies riddle Israel’s history. We know Israel’s government has lied about Shireen Abu Akhleh, 40 beheaded babies, and human shields. What’s next? (There’s more but this will be for another article.)

Yes, there is blood on both hands. But one is killing disproportionately more than the other.

It’s like comparing an elephant to an ant: one is backed by over $3.3 billion dollars of military aid, and the other isn’t.

Infographic of Palestinian and Israeli deaths on October 14— The New York Times

And this is only for the past 15 years, not to mention the other 60 years of oppression and suffocation.

Palestinians don’t even have enough space for their dead bodies now. Because electricity is shut off and the morgue is overflowing, they are storing them in ice cream trucks.

It is genocide. It is mass ethnic cleansing.

The UN and Jewish Voice For Peace have said the same yet Israel is still not held responsible or stopped whatsoever. It’s the second Nakba of 1948 and they have no shame in declaring that.

47 families have been entirely wiped out.

What’s insane is how they’re doing this in broad daylight. They’ve called the Palestinians “human animals” and their children “darkness” and the “law of the jungle”. (That tweet has been deleted but was stated in a speech.)

“…finish them off and don’t leave anyone behind. Erase the memory of them. Erase them, their families, mothers, and children. These animals can no longer live.” — Ezra Yachin

He declared this in a “motivational speech” to Israeli soldiers in preparing for the land invasion, on 14 October 2023. Ezra Yachin also participated in the Deir Yassin Massacre in 1948.

Palestinian baby, Mirna — @wizard_bisan1 on Instagram

Say that to this baby named Mirna, who was orphaned when her family was evacuating to Southern Gaza. She survived by a miracle, her mother holding her in her arms when she was struck and killed.

Say that to an 11-year-old boy named Asem. In a short interview, he tells us his story.

11-year-old Palestinian boy, Asem — @wizard_bisan1

“The home was bombed while we were inside. We left our home that was bombed to my aunt’s home (which was also bombed).” When asked if they warned him to evacuate, he said no, without warning. When asked if anyone got hurt, he said yes, Mama and Baba (were killed).”

He is with his grandmother and aunt, and his siblings are still in intensive care. They’re orphans now.

I’m sharing this as most mainstream media won’t cover it. These pictures and videos are taken by Palestinian people who are living in Gaza right now and posting them on Instagram.

However, Instagram has a long history of censoring pro-Palestinian posts and shadowbanning accounts that share them.

Israel has also threatened to ban Al-Jazeera, a Qatar-based news outlet, from reporting news in Gaza. So not only is there limited media coverage, but also censorship.

Reporters from BBC and CNN have also used dehumanizing terms and spread inaccurate information that sides with Israel (like the 40 beheaded babies claim). They shared short apologies after, but I’d say it’s too late.

It’s too late because a Muslim boy, a 6-year-old child named Wadea, was stabbed 26 times in Chicago, USA. His mother was also wounded.

The perpetrator? A 71-year-old man who was their landlord.

Holding a knife in his hands, he yelled, “You Muslims must die!” when he attacked them. Officials and investigators confirmed that the crime was “directly connected to dehumanizing of Palestinians.”

Yesterday, at the Rafah crossing (Gaza-Eqypt border), an activist named Rahma Zein confronted a CNN reporter. She said it best.

“…and now we are watching an occupation, and we are watching the result of your silence, of your misrepresentation of Arabs…you own all these mouthpieces. Where are our voices?”

Nour Shams refugee camp after being damaged by Israeli occupation forces. — @wahaj_bani_moufleh

That’s how — in this second, there are children and people in Gaza who can’t sleep in their own beds, can’t eat full meals, and can’t laugh with their family anymore. In this second, someone in Gaza is being brutally killed.

Yet the Zionists in Israel will cheer. Yet mainstream media will smile and nod.

Full disclosure: I am only a voice raising awareness on Palestine, I’m not a news reporter/journalist. This took many hours of research though and if there’s any incorrect information, I will re-edit and update it.

Below I’ve attached several Instagram accounts that include Palestinians posting live from Gaza and also educational accounts.

I urge you.

Examine the links I’ve provided. We cannot be misinformed.

For history is repeating — will you be on the side of justice, or not?