Western media is censoring the killing of civilians in Gaza

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The West cannot help but be biased when it comes to its coverage of news related to Palestine, though it is most noticeable when it comes to unprompted Israeli aggression on Palestine whose repercussions include the death of countless civilians, including innocent children who happen to be killed in the dead of night, in the safety and warmth of their own homes.

Let's compare two news headlines: "Israeli warplanes kill 15 Palestinians in Gaza", and "Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 3 senior militants, 12 others". 

It’s the second one that sounds wrong, right? Who are the "12 others"? Why not mention 4 children? And four women, or even civilians? 

In the latest Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, one cannot but notice the provocative news headlines emerging from nowhere but the Western propaganda machines.

Digging in 

Starting off with AP News, the outlet that chose the headline of such a deadly Israeli airstrike on Palestinian civilians as "Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 3 senior militants, 12 others."

The Associated Press did not specify in its headline the "12 others" who were targeted. Were they also "militants"? or Palestinian children, mothers, and families?

The American news agency started the piece of news by saying that the Israeli airstrikes killed "three senior commanders of the Islamic Jihad militant group in their homes and at least 10 civilians," while citing "Palestinian health officials". 

AP continues to say that "Two of the commanders’ wives, several of their children" were also killed in addition to "other bystanders".

Journalism 101: any piece of news should start with the 5W's and H's, meaning it should include everything that is crucial to say in the lead in order to understand the news. Here, in this particular situation, the AP estimated that mentioning the killing of the three commanders as the most crucial point of them all, even much more important than "Israel" killing innocent civilians. 

See more: Media outlets “autocorrect” the word Palestine

Jumping into another example, The New York Times titled its piece of news "Israeli Airstrikes Kill at Least 13 in Gaza, Palestinians Say."

In case the pictures of innocent Palestinian children with their bodies bludgeoned are not enough, the newspaper is mentioning its source to try and clear up any confusion. With this particular headline, it seems like there are other sources who are saying other narratives.

In the summary, the NYT started off the piece of news by saying, "At least three of the dead were leaders in Islamic Jihad, the group said. Officials reported that at least 10 civilians, including children, were killed in the strikes, which Israel said had hit the planners of attacks."

Confusing enough? In just one paragraph, the NYT cited the Islamic Jihad Movement, "officials", and "Israel". 

Also, in the same piece of news, the NYT says that the attack came "roughly a week after an exchange of fire between Islamic Jihad and Israel. The action left both sides bracing for a sharp escalation in cross-border violence."

"Both sides" is an expression usually used when these "both sides" are viewed as equal, not necessarily in terms of force, however. While Palestinian resistance is usually viewed in the Western media as "terrorists", Israeli occupation forces are portrayed as the "heroes" when in fact, Palestinian resistance fighters and leaders are doing the thing they have the full right to do: Defending their occupied land from the aggressors. 

What is worth noticing in the NYT is that one Twitter user posted a screenshot of the newspaper's headline before it was edited. The unedited version did not even include the killing of any Palestinian civilian. 

Here’s a good example of how you dehumanize Palestinians. Israel purposefully struck a residential area in one of the most densely populated places on earth. It is impoverished and besieged. 12 people are killed, including women and children. And the headline is about “militants” pic.twitter.com/ILpWU3hBvM

— Dalia Hatuqa🪬🤌 (@DaliaHatuqa) May 9, 2023

Not a single mention of atrocities against civilians 

In other not-so-shocking examples, there are some media outlets that did not even mention any Israeli aggression against Palestinian civilians in their headlines. 

The Sky News headline for the Israeli aggression was "Israel kills three Islamic Jihad commanders in targeted Gaza strikes". The insensitivity does not stop here.

In the news' lead, the British news organization cited Israeli officials as saying that "three targeted men had been responsible for recent rocket fire towards Israel," as if giving "Israel" the full right to target the Gaza Strip and kill civilians in the process, which it did not even report on.

For an audience who might quickly skim through the news on the internet, Sky News seems to be altering the news for the benefit of "Israel". 

Joining the Israeli propaganda club, Politico and France 24 also did not mention any civilians affected by the latest aggression on Gaza. France 24 did not even mention the word "civilians" in its news' lead, saying that "13 people were killed in all, including the commanders, their wives, several of their children and others nearby."

The true stories of the "Others Nearby" 

Thus far, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that at least 21 Palestinians were murdered by Israeli warplanes' targeting of the Gaza Strip since Tuesday dawn. 

Tarek Ezzeddine, a senior Islamic Jihad senior official, and his two children Ali and Miar, were killed in the attack.

The Israeli occupation killed almost half of the family; the father and his two little kids who probably were planning to go to school the very next morning. 

Israeli strikes also killed Khalil Al-Bahtini, the commander of the Islamic Jihad's activities in northern Gaza along with his five-year-old daughter Hajar. 

Hajar's picture of her holding her distinction certificate from kindergarten went viral on social media. Hajar will not get to hold her college degree with her father to pose for graduation pictures because of "Israel's" crime. 

"Israel's" plan to target whole families continued as Islamic Jihad senior official Jihad Ghanam and his wife Wafaa were also killed in the attack.

It was also announced that Dr. Jamal Khaswan, who served as the chairman of the board of Al-Wafa Hospital, was among the casualties.

His wife Mirfat and his son Youssef were also killed in the Israeli strike.

Khaswan's daughter was seen in a widespread social media video crying and calling out for her dad, waiting desperately for him to come out of the hospital just fine, just to find out that she lost three of her beloved family members. 

Read more: Who are the three PIJ leaders assassinated by the Israeli occupation?

While "Israel" and the Western media are bragging about targeting Islamic Jihad senior officials, it is clear that they targeted nothing but whole families, whole dreams, and whole childhoods. 

Palestinians in Gaza are not just "others nearby"; they are living, breathing people with families, careers, hopes, and dreams who are suffering the most before suddenly dying at dawn at the hands of the Israeli occupation. 

They are the ones who have a future, they are the ones who are willing to fight for the sake of the Palestinian cause. They are the ones who are almost forgotten, despite them being the ones who should always be remembered in every Israeli aggression seen on the news against any Palestinian defending his very own land.