Barry Malone: When Israel decides to silence the 'voice' of Palestinians

Many Western journalists do not regard Palestinian journalists as colleagues and that’s why those reporting from Gaza can be killed by Israel with impunity, writes Barry Malone

Al-Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was killed alongside other journalists in an Israeli strike on their tent in Gaza City on August 10. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

Anas al-Sharif was a born storyteller with an innate sense of the dramatic. I’ll never forget watching him live on air from Gaza just after a ceasefire, which wasn’t to last, was announced in January 2024 after more than a year of relentless horror.

A crowd had gathered as he stood in front of the camera, preparing to talk to tens of millions of Al Jazeera viewers across the Arab world, ready to convey the mixture of happiness, relief, and very cautious optimism people were feeling now that the bombs would stop raining down on Gaza. Another journalist stood weeping to his right.

“There is great joy among these residents, finally, after these hard days,” he said.

And then, without missing a beat as he continued speaking to camera, he slowly removed his helmet and flak jacket, people cheering him on. They hoisted him on their shoulders and held their phones up to capture the moment. It was a moment to be recorded because, if Anas felt briefly safe, they all did. That was one of the things that made him a special journalist. People saw themselves reflected in him.

He wasn’t afraid to show his fellow Palestinians that he was suffering with them, that the terror Israel was unleashing on Gaza affected him too, that he sometimes struggled. That’s not to say he didn’t convey strength. His backbone was apparent every time he appeared on air, and it was apparent when he refused to bow to threats.

On another occasion, just weeks ago, Anas broke down during a broadcast and began to cry after a day of watching Palestinians being brought to hospital, some wounded, some weakened by starvation. As he wept, shouts from the crowd began to ring out.

'Keep going, Anas. Keep going. You are our voice,' they called. And they knew he would keep going. Because he always did.

This week, though, a decision was made to silence that voice in the most ruthless manner possible when the Israeli military targeted and killed not only Anas but the entire Al Jazeera team in Gaza City. It was an act of censorship so extreme, so brutal — and so blatant — that it shocked people all over the world and plunged Palestinians into despair.

Mourners sit around the grave of Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif following his burial at the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City on August 11. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

But the killing of Anas, alongside his colleagues Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, and Mohammed Noufal, shouldn’t have been a shock at all.

The UN says that at least 242 journalists and media workers have been killed by Israel since the war on Gaza began. The UN and the Committee to Protect Journalists say that, in many of these cases, journalists were likely deliberately targeted.

Israel itself has often admitted to killing journalists, usually accusing them of being Hamas members with either no proof at all or only the flimsiest veneer of it.

Such was the case with Anas. He was a member of Hamas, Israel said. Not only a member but a leader of a cell responsible for “advancing rocket attacks”. Again, as is now standard, no real evidence was offered to back up the accusations.

No claims were made against the rest of the Al Jazeera crew. Perhaps Israel felt it only had to justify the killing of such a famous face. Lesser-known Palestinians can be snuffed out with no excuse needed, as they have been daily for 22 months.

Where Anas, who seemed to spend every waking moment standing in front of a camera, would have found the time to organise rocket attacks on the side is unclear.

Here’s the thing: If Anas really was a target because of Hamas activity, the Israeli military could have killed him any time it wanted. They wouldn’t have needed any sophisticated intelligence to locate him. All they had to do was switch on the TV.

Members of the NUJ and fellow journalists take part in a protest organised by the NUJ at The Spire in O'Connell St, Dublin, to condemn the killing of journalists due to Israeli attacks. Picture: Niall Carson/PA

So why now? Many observers believe the answer is clear. Israel’s cabinet last week approved prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan for a full military occupation of Gaza City. And just two days later, Anas and the Al Jazeera crew — the most prominent witnesses left in the city, the only people with the ability to broadcast to the entire world what is about to happen — were executed.

That theory, though, was smothered by the endless repetition of Israel’s version of events in the coverage of almost every prominent Western news organisation.

Headlines began with the words, “Israel says”. TV bulletins were scripted similarly. Israel’s accusations were rarely followed up with the context that no real proof had been provided. Anchors asked question after question about the alleged Hamas affiliation.

This credulous reporting of Israel’s accusations persists despite it being proven to have lied repeatedly throughout the conflict. There is no other source as unreliable as the Israeli government given such a free pass by the world’s media. Imagine if Russia killed a Ukrainian journalist, accusing him of being a member of an armed group. Would its claims be treated seriously? Would they lead the headlines? Of course not.

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None of this is lost on Palestinian journalists, who have felt let down by the way Israel’s relentless targeting of their comrades and friends has been reported and by a lack of solidarity from some of the most prominent journalists in the West, many of whom have stayed conspicuously silent as the bodies of brave reporters in Gaza pile up.

“I will not speak to foreign media about the killing of Palestinian journalists. I will not sit on your global channels to be part of a segment you’ll forget by tomorrow,” Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, another fierce journalist who has reported ceaselessly from Gaza throughout the war and continues to, said on X after her colleagues were killed.

“We are being hunted and killed in Gaza while you watch in silence. For two years, your fellow journalists here have been slaughtered. What did you do? Nothing.”

Hind added her belief that many Western journalists don’t consider Palestinian journalists colleagues at all. She’s right and, though that had been apparent even before October 7, the last two years have confirmed it beyond any doubt.

It’s why Palestinian journalists are not trusted, it’s why they are dehumanised, it’s why the dirt that Israel throws sticks and, ultimately, it’s why they can be killed with impunity.

Mask-drop moment

There was a mask-drop moment on BBC this week when an anchor seemed confused that Al Jazeera used what she called “local people” to report from Gaza.

“Are they able to operate truly independently?” she asked her guest.

There’s an implication there. It’s an implication that these “local people” cannot be trusted, that Palestinians are too close to the story to report it accurately. It’s not an implication we ever hear about, say, British journalists reporting on Britain.

The fact that Palestinian journalists are reporting on a genocide while also living through it has made their reporting stronger.

How can knowledge of every street corner, a wide network of sources, deep subject expertise, and the familiarity that comes with living in a place be a problem? The answer is it’s not. Unless the reporters are from Gaza.

I worked at Al Jazeera for almost a decade and none of this was unusual to us. The network doesn’t employ Palestinian journalists because it is forced to. They work for Al Jazeera and always have because they are excellent at their jobs. They are the most qualified journalists available to cover the story. It’s as simple as that.

The fact that a prominent and experienced BBC anchor and many other top Western journalists can’t get that through their heads is a problem and says more about their own bias than it does about anyone else’s.

International journalists are now pushing for Israel to give them access to Gaza, having been barred for the duration of the conflict so far. They should be given that access. But the Western press corps, decked out in khaki chic, shouldn’t go to Gaza thinking it is their job to verify the devastation. It’s already been verified by the best and bravest journalists we have.

The foreign correspondents must acknowledge they are standing on those shoulders, and that Palestinians will always be the authors of their own story.

A vigil outside the Fox News and NBC News headquarters in Washington, DC, honouring journalists killed in Gaza. Picture: AFP via Getty Images

The evening of that ceasefire announcement, after Anas removed his flak jacket and helmet, he paid tribute to colleagues who had already been killed by Israel: Ismail Al-Ghoul, Rami Al-Rifi, Samir Abu Daqqa, and Hamza Dahdouh. Al-Ghoul, he said, would have been standing in his place reporting this historic moment had he lived.

Anas didn’t want his friend, or his reporting, to be forgotten.

As he stood in Ismail’s place, someone will soon stand in his, because Palestinian journalists refuse to be broken and giants like Anas, through their bravery and dedication, provide the blueprint for those who come behind them.

That new generation of journalists will remember Anas, Ismail, the Al Jazeera Gaza City crew, and the more than 200 other Palestinian journalists killed by Israel.

Without them, we would have been blind.

• Barry Malone is an independent journalist and former Al Jazeera executive producer. He writes ‘Proximities’, a newsletter focused on under-reported stories.