Ukraine, Israel and the Media

The pen is a mighty sword. That is no more evident than in the press coverage of the Ukraine and Israel wars.

Israel-Hamas

Have you noticed that the social, print, and TV coverage of the Israel-Hamas war and the Russia-Ukraine war evidence a bias? Or is it just me?

One month after Israel’s response to the Hamas terror attack, 750 US journalists signed an open letter stating American newsrooms are “accountable for dehumanizing rhetoric that has served to justify ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.” The letter argued that journalists should use words like “apartheid,” “ethnic cleansing” and “genocide” to describe Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. At the same time, journalists failed to acknowledge the decades long support Israel gave to Palestinians, support which continues during the war.

Hamas carried out extreme sexual violence against women and girls during the October 7 attacks. Given the widespread acknowledgement that sexual violence is both a war crime and regularly used as a weapon of war, isn’t it surprising that the brutality received limited media attention? The images of Israeli women raped and brutalized by Hamas have all but disappeared from media reports.

Russia-Ukraine

Then there is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and subsequent devastation by missile attacks.

Russia committed unspeakable atrocities during Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and was able to wage war with far less media scrutiny on its brutal actions. In late 2023, as Western press coverage of war in Ukraine waned, Russia filled the vacuum with its own campaign of distributing lies, disinformation, and propaganda.

Putin carried out a media campaign to paint Ukraine as divided, corrupt, and a puppet of the U.S. and NATO and media figures like Tucker Carlson spread his propaganda.

The Truth

The truth is Ukraine did not start the war in 2014.

Ukraine did not want the war in 2022.

Russia is the aggressor. In my travels through Ukraine, Putin’s strategy of targeting civilians is clear. Ukrainians are killed in their apartments, homes, hardware stores, malls, playgrounds, train stations, theatres, churches, and places where everyday life happens.

The truth is, Ukrainians want what Canadians want – to live their lives as free citizens of their sovereign country.

The truth is, war between Ukraine and Russia has been going on for three centuries. For these three centuries, Russia has done its “best” to eradicate everything Ukrainian.

18th century – Russian Empress Catherine II imposed serfdom on the Ukrainians who had, until then, been free.

19th century – Russian Emperor Alexander II issued a law banning the use of the Ukrainian language. The so-called Ems Decree prohibited the Ukrainian language in many spheres of life (church, music, theatre, and book printing) and limited it to domestic use only.

20th century – The leadership of the Soviet Union, in order to suppress Ukrainians and eliminate Ukrainian resistance to the regime, committed Holodomor (Ukrainian Famine) from 1932 to 1933, which killed millions of Ukrainians. During the same period, the Soviets killed almost all representatives of Ukrainian intelligentsia (writers, poets, academics, artists…). Ukrainians call it the Executed Renaissance.

Peace-makers

The media presents what is happening in Gaza as a war between Israel and Palestinians.

The “battlefield” for the Israeli-Hamas war is represented as Gaza. The focus of reporting is on the aftermath of Israeli Defence Force (IDF) bombing campaigns. Decimated refugee camps, houses, and schools as well as overflowing hospitals filled with the injured and dying are featured. Almost completely forgotten by the media is the Hamas brutality against women, children, babies, and civilians.

The truth is, Palestinians and Israelis have been engaged as peace-makers between their communities, often going against popular perception. Jews, Arabs, Druze, and westerners make up the population of Israel. They live together in peace in shared communities. Palestinians are not the enemies of Israel. The enemy is the terrorist organization, Hamas, backed by Iran and Russia.

Russia sides with Hamas and welcomed a Hamas delegation to Moscow.

Russia blames the US, NATO, AND Ukraine for the war in Gaza.

Join the Conversation

The rise of anti-Semitism in the world and particularly in Canada is fueled to some degree by the media.

In the three days after Hamas’ attack, the absolute number of antisemitic comments on conflict-related YouTube videos increased by 4963%, when compared to the previous three days. Threats and violent rhetoric aimed at Jewish communities have been evidenced since before the recent conflict. However, the Israel-Hamas war heightened the threat landscape, evidenced by a surge in antisemitic language on social media platforms, resulting in additional threats towards Jewish communities.

What do you think? Join the conversation below and post a comment. Thank you.

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