LONDON: The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has described the Western media discourse around the Israeli assault on Gaza as a “new low for the principles of journalistic integrity.”
In a statement on Tuesday, Palestinian journalists and trade unionists said they “are distressed that some in global media have frequently failed to meet these standards when covering the ongoing massacre in Gaza.”
The statement urged reporters, especially those working for Western media outlets, to abide by basic journalistic standards.
After three weeks of Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip, in which at least 9,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 30,000 injured, journalists had found themselves “forced to speak out,” it said.
The statement also accused Western media outlets of having discarded any claim to objectivity and truth and of “parroting” the rhetoric of Israeli officials.
It added that they had “failed to challenge or even attempt to verify blatant misinformation and propaganda” and “adopted dehumanizing and violent language about the Palestinian people.”
The syndicate called on journalists around the world to take action to stop the “horrifying bombardment” on Gaza and uphold the ethical principles of their profession.
A total of 25 Palestinian journalists and nine media workers have been killed since the start of the conflict.
On Oct. 18, a group of 179 UK-based media and communications scholars condemned in a joint letter what they described as “a dangerous suspension of journalistic values” in the British media’s coverage of the Gaza war.
They also denounced the Israel Defense Forces’ use of dehumanizing language in reference to Palestinians.
