"Difficult to function while a genocide in Gaza – which is still ongoing – and accelerated ethnic-cleansing in the West Bank unfolds. And it has been difficult to wrestle with the ways in which the media is complicit in what is happening. More than 200 Palestinians journalists have been killed in Gaza by Israel since 7 October; far too many journalists in the West have been silent about this. The scale of carnage in Gaza simply wouldn’t have been able to take place without the media dehumanizing Palestinians and manufacturing consent for atrocities...."

" For example: one of the biggest and most inflammatory talking points after 7 October – one which helped convince people there wasn’t a single innocent Palestinian civilian – was that Hamas beheaded 40 babies. Hamas committed verified atrocities, but this was a lie. It was one, however, which plenty of journalists, including CBS news correspondent and a CNN anchor, spread without properly confirming. The CNN anchor later apologized; CBS did not." Arwa Mahdawi

READ MORE  

 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/15/its-the-medias-job-to-hold-power-to-account-this-year-too-many-got-into-bed-with-it-instead 

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

 

A protestor in Los Angeles, California. Photograph: David Swanson/Reuters

It’s the media’s job to hold power to account. This year, too many got into bed with it instead

Arwa Mahdawi

 The lines between advertising, public relations and journalism have become dangerously blurred

 Funded by readers, the Guardian’s fierce independence is guaranteed. Please help us reach our year-end fundraising goal

Enough time has passed now, I think, that I can safely tell you about one of the stupidest things I have ever done. Almost a decade ago I decided to quit my well-paid job in advertising in order to pursue a precarious career in freelance journalism. The merits of that decision are up for debate but the real stupidity is in how I quit my job: I wrote a rather cringeworthy column for the Guardian about my “meaningless job in advertising” and publicly proclaimed that I’d decided to quit. My boss saw the piece and, well, he obviously wasn’t happy. (Sorry, Sean!)

I bring this embarrassing anecdote up because I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting recently on the reasons why I left advertising. Maybe this sounds twee, but I was sick of selling people things they didn’t need. I wanted to do something meaningful.

You know what, though? While selling underwear and vodka to the masses may not be entirely fulfilling, it’s better for the soul than selling people wars and genocide... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/media/2025/dec/15/its-the-medias-job-to-hold-power-to-account-this-year-too-many-got-into-bed-with-it-instead

They want you silent. Speak anyway Opinion

"... This is what authoritarianism looks like in America now.  Not jackboots. Not tanks. Just forms and subpoenas and investigations triggered by anonymous resentment. We don’t imprison you for your words—we just make you afraid to speak..."

"... We have entered an era where dissent is punished not just by political operatives, but by the system itself. You say the wrong thing, and suddenly the police want your papers. Meanwhile, the billionaires who own our national platforms—Zaslav, Bezos, Murdoch, and Musk—aren’t standing up for speech. They’re sanitizing it...

...These are the new gatekeepers. Not elected. Not accountable. But absolutely in control of who gets heard and who gets silenced.  They don’t have to delete your words. They just make sure no one sees them. They don’t ban books—they bury them in algorithms. They don’t need to arrest you—they just make you so afraid of being called out, canceled, or investigated that you say nothing at all.  

And in that silence, they win.  But here’s the thing..."  READ MORE in context  https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2025/08/they-want-you-silent-speak-anyway-opinion.html?gift=f7e0ead7-d04e-4b6f-a83b-3e2ffebe1203

 AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies]

"We shouldn’t have to wait for an Israeli newspaper to reveal what has been so painfully obvious about the hunger games operation of shooting at starving Palestinians for target practice daily at these death traps, but here we are." Dr. Omar Suleiman

 

Dr. Omar Suleiman

@omarsuleiman

We shouldn’t have to wait for an Israeli newspaper to reveal what has been so painfully obvious about the hunger games operation of shooting at starving Palestinians for target practice daily at these death traps, but here we are.

More journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza than in most major wars combined.

Free Speech & Journalists silenced

 

Jewish Voice for Peace @jvplive  Apr 7

Last night, the Israeli military deliberately bombed a tent in Khan Younis housing several Palestinian journalists next to a hospital. Terrifying video footage shows people frantically trying to save journalist Ahmed Mansour, who was engulfed in flames, still alive. Ahmed is now in critical condition. 

 

Palestinian journalist Ahmed Mansour succumbed to his wounds. (Photo: via social media)

Gaza Journalist Burned Alive in Israeli Airstrike Succumbs to Injuries

 

Israel Bombs Journalists As New Report Marks Grim Milestone For Gaza's Press

The deadly strike burned some media workers alive, days after a report found more journalists have been killed in Gaza's crisis than in most major wars combined.

 

 

An Israeli strike hit the media tent overnight near a hospital in Khan Younis, setting it ablaze and killing Palestine Today journalist Helmi Al-Faqawi, according to local media. Reports have also identified civilian Yousef Al-Khazandar as the second person killed in the strike.

Gruesome footage taken and shared online by other journalists shows a man burning alive in the tent while some witnesses try putting out the fire. The man, now identified as Palestine Today editor Ahmad Mansour, was in critical condition until Monday night, when his colleagues said he died of severe burns.

 

The Monday strike also reportedly wounded freelance photographer Hassan Aslih, Alam24 photographer Ali Aslih, Anadolu photographer Abdallah Al-Attar, BBC Arabic contributor Ahmad Al-Agha, freelance photojournalist Mohammed Fayeq, ABC News cameraman Ihab Al-Bardini, Al Jazeera cameraman Mahmoud Awad and Radio Algerie correspondent Majid Qudeih. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/israel-bombs-media-report-gaza-deadliest-journalists_n_67f44577e4b0743a1e4667da

 

Since the 2000s, national governments and terrorist groups – from Israel, Syria’s Assad regime and the United States to the Islamic State – have found ways to curtail conflict coverage through myriad means, from repressive policies to armed attack. All have killed journalists and helped to foster a culture of impunity, turning conflict zones like Syria and Gaza into “news graveyards.” The war in Gaza has, since October 7, 2023, killed more journalists than the U.S. Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined.

Worldwide, threats to journalists in conflict zones are increasing.

 

 

Israel has been deliberately targeting journalists in Gaza, having killed over 210 so far in its genocidal campaign against the enclave

 

Dear America- Israel wants enemies & religious extremism so it can raise more funds and sympathy from US. Israel wants us duped- and we are.

The Land & Love by Palestinian artist Ismail Shamout who was born in 1930 in Lydda - Palestine. During the Nakba of 1948, he and his family were forced out of their home during the assault of Jewish Zionist militant groups on their town. A long march on foot allowed them to settle in the refugee camps of Khan Younis in Gaza

 My most recent letter sent to my elected officials 10/2/2024

Dear America,

ISRAEL INVADES AMERICA again and again with every Zionist spokesperson on TV news spinning pro-Israel propaganda for an Apartheid nation that wants the "Holy" land, but not the native non-Jewish men, women, and children of that land.

Palestine- Gaza, the West Bank, and now Lebanon all bombed aggressively by Israel as it targets homes, apartment blocks, schools, roads and infrastructures, obliterating families and communities with American made lethal weaponry.

Israel wants enemies & religious extremism so it can raise more funds and sympathy from US.  Israel wants us duped- and we are.

Homegrown corporate corruption insists that the very foreign man-made Apartheid nation called Israel has "the right to defend itself", while refusing to see or explain the very real plight and suffering of Palestinians as Israel cruelly persecutes, impoverishes, and displaces them.

We don't have a Fourth Estate empowering our democracy, we have Zionism unfairly influencing our elected leaders & voters, leading US astray from American ideals of real democracy with full and equal rights for ALL people, regardless of supposed race or religion.

Taxpayer money should not be funding weapons and excuses for war mongering Israel.

And Israeli groups such as AIPAC should be registered as agents for a foreign country.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

NOTES https://anniesnewletters.blogspot.com/search/label/Notes

This terrifying tit-for-tat between Israel, Iran and its proxies will only bring more death and disaster - Lina Khatib in The Guardian ..." the scale of the humanitarian crisis is unprecedented "

In The New Yorker listen to his voice as Mosab Abu Toha reads his powerful poem Under the Rubble drawn from his most recent book “Forest of Noise.” #Gaza #Palestine #antiwar

“If we stay in our houses, they bomb us. If we shelter in a school, they bomb us.” Read @MosabAbuToha‘s poem on Zeteo

Jordan FM’s unusual assurance of security:"We're here members of a Muslim Arab committee mandated by 57 Arab and Muslim countries and I can tell you here very unequivocally all of us are willing to right now to guarantee the security of Israel in the context of Israel ending the occupation and allowing for the emergence of a Palestinian State independent state "

Nesrine Malik in The Guardian: With Gaza in ruins and Lebanon under siege, what defence remains for Israel’s actions? ‘Existential threat’ is a thin excuse: the out-of-control force that is pushing the Middle East to the brink is Israel itself

Palestine Refugees - Press Conference | United Nations Sep 27, 2024 UNWRA... On the polio vaccination campaign, coordinated with Israel, he said, “if there is a will, we can make it happen.” The campaign, he said, “was a complex operation” involving the Israeli government and various UN agencies, “but the one who administered the vaccine to the children below the age of ten, was primarily UNRWA

WATCH: King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein of Jordan addresses 2024 UN General Assembly

Queen Rania Al Abdullah of Jordan on Israel-Hamas war: ‘The world has failed'

Dear America- American blood Arab blood Christian blood Jewish blood Muslim blood all blood is just blood. Stop arming endlessly escalating war. Just stop.

Dear America- We are in this collectively- no exceptions... Stop the hate- and the pollution of war.

Dear America- Don't let Israel drive a wedge between you and the truth.

Dear America, Please Help Stop Institutionalized Bigotry & Injustice

Dear America- Israel can not be trusted, and should not be subsidized

Don't give Israel the power to destroy the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, International Law, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights... and America.

Accusing peaceful pro-Palestine protesters of being "antisemitic" pleases Israel but it does not make any Jews any safer anywhere.

Send an honorable message far and wide- we believe in freedom of and from religion... and we believe in real justice, peace, and security for ALL !

 

"Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..."   https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

 

The Israeli army has assassinated Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the son of Wael Al-Dahdouh, Al-Jazeera’s main correspondent in Gaza...

This is a photo of Hamza next to his father.

The Israeli army has assassinated Hamza Al-Dahdouh, the son of Wael Al-Dahdouh, Al-Jazeera’s main correspondent in Gaza.

 

In the first weeks of the genocide, they killed his wife and some of his children. Now his oldest son, who worked as a journalist.

 

Hamza was in a car moving to report on atrocities in Rafah and other southern parts of Gaza.

Pledge allegiance to America- not Israel please.

https://ifamericansknew.org/about_us/bethlehem.html#postcard

  Dear America,

"US states invest $300m in Israeli bonds since start of Israel-Hamas war"  https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/nov/03/state-invest-money-israeli-bond-florida-texas-arizona

I had to read that in the UK's Guardian because America's mainstream media has so seriously failed to do its job as our Fourth Estate. 

State funds should stay here in our state, or at least in the USA- but right now, Pennsylvania's taxpayers are funding a very foreign, very far away government that stands in long term & blatant violation of international law, basic human rights and real democracy here and there: Israel is not a good investment in any way, shape, or form.

America's well being, security, and economic future are being sabotaged by America's lack of compassion for stateless men, woman and children who happen to hail from historic Palestine.

America's "Not In My Name" Jewish activists have courageously tried to convince any one who will listen that Israel's war on the native non-Jewish people of historic Palestine is wrong.  

America's Arab Christian and Muslim citizens, as well as secular humanists worldwide try to speak out too, but they are too often either ignored or demonized and accused of supporting terrorism because they dare speak out in support of ending Israel's racist reign of terror in the Middle East.  

Semitic languages include Arabic, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Semites are the people who speak these languages. BUT the word "Anti-Semitic" excludes Arab Christians, Muslims and Secularists, in much the same way that Jews-preferred Israel refuses to give Palestinians full and equal rights, respect or freedom in the land of their birth.

Investing in Israel is not for the public good- here or there.  Pledge allegiance to America- not Israel please.

Sincerely,

Anne Selden Annab

American Homemaker & Poet

 NOTES

Palestine Remembered: A picture from inside the house of Hajj Fawaz Hussein Theeb 

Palestinian women wearing their unique traditional dresses from different regions of Palestine... Cultural Heritage from the River to the Sea

Stop arming and exasperating religious extremism and armed rage in "The Holy Land" !!!

New Icon Appears on Israel's Apartheid Wall - Jerusalem, Palestine 2023

A Palestine Belle in a ball gown with flowers in her hair 

Criticism of Israeli State Policies Is NOT ANTISEMITISM 

We need to empower real democracy with full and equal rights and respect for ALL... here and there!

From the river to the sea I (من النهر الى البحر ١), oil on canvas, 2021 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Loving Watermelons for Palestine

Israel-Palestine war: A love letter to my Palestinian family around the world by Susan Muaddi Darraj

Dear Elected Leader- Please stop empowering Israeli racism and violence.

Human Rights are NON-NEGOTIABLE

‘I’m so full of grief’: thousands take to the streets in support of Gaza

"The Immigrant" a painting by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Many Palestinian families still have the keys to the houses they left in 1948. 

Dear President Biden RE our militant "friend" Israel

Gaza must not become a graveyard for international law

 

Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations

The UDHR is a landmark document that sets out fundamental human rights to be universally protected and translated into over 500 languages. It was drafted by different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world and has inspired more than seventy human rights treaties.

 

Some (but not all) Reasonable & Honest Voices Worth Following on X [TWITTER] for Peace & Palestine ...

Israeli Occupation- Gaza, Palestine 2023

James J. Zogby

@jjz1600

Don’t quibble w/ me about the meaning of genocide. If this isn’t genocide, then what is? Palestinians were expelled to Gaza in 48 & now they are being devastated one more time. What Hamas did was inexcusable, but what Israel has been doing & is doing now is also inexcusable

 

If Americans Knew

@ifamericansknew

A 3-minute video from 2006 examining the situation in the #Gaza Strip after Israel's disengagement. The video shows that there was already an Israeli blockade of Gaza in 2002 - years before Hamas headed up the government. For more info on Gaza, see https://iakn.us/GazaFacts https://youtu.be/jZW_bThwK0I?si

Noura Erakat

@4noura

If a single Jewish-Israeli child were pulled out from beneath a pile of rubble of what used to be her home & obliterated the rest of her family, not a single Western gov’t would not condemn it or try to blame “both sides”. Racism & colonialism explain this. They expect us to die.

 

 

Omar Baddar عمر بدّار

@OmarBaddar

Palestine/Israel remains the ONLY contemporary context in which media discourse is obsessed with the invaders & occupiers’ right to “self defense” against the people they’re oppressing, but NEVER a word about the right of the occupied to defend themselves from their oppressors.

 

MIFTAH

@miftahpal

STOP THE ISRAELI AGGRESSION AND FACILITATE UNCONDITIONAL HUMANITARIAN AID.

 

@DrHananAshrawi

The Palestinians have been living with constant heart break & pain since the ethnic cleansing of Palestine began with the establishment of the state of Israel on their land in the nakba of 1948.

 

Dr. Omar Suleiman

@omarsuleiman504

A close friend here just found out all 21 of his family in Gaza were wiped out last night. Anyone with a phone in Gaza city just got a message from the Israeli army that if they havent evacuated, they are considered terrorists. They have nowhere to go. This is a genocide.

Husam Zomlot

@hzomlot

After the massacre at the Baptist Ahli hospital, the Greek Orthodox Church and the Palestinian Christian community in #Gaza are the target of Israel’s murderous air strikes! Enough!

 

IMEU

@theIMEU

Israel just demanded Palestinians evacuate the Al-Quds hospital in Gaza. 400 patients cannot simply evacuate. Neither can the 12,000 Palestinians sheltering inside. Israel has bombed hospitals, schools, churches, and homes. No one in Gaza is safe, no matter where they go.

Visualizing Palestine

@visualizingpal

Like any other community, Palestinians will not accept oppression in perpetuity. To help put the events of the last few days in context, here are a few resources you can use from Visualizing Palestine: https://bit.ly/vp-resources

 

Al Jazeera English reposted

Al Jazeera English

@AJEnglish

World leaders at the Cairo Peace Summit are trying to ‘de-escalate’ the Israel-Gaza war. Jordan’s King Abdullah used his speech to condemn the war crimes of collective punishment and the forced displacement of Palestinians 

 

Yousef Munayyer

@YousefMunayyer

Jordan's King Abdullah made the important decision to deliver these comments in English to make sure people in the West understand the dangers of their hypocrisy on this issue.

 

United Nations

@UN

Every child has the right to grow up free from violence and fear. Children must be protected -- always. They are #NotATarget.

#FREEPALESTINE