Western news media has been complicit in the Gaza genocide and needs to be held accountable

The time is now to hold the media accountable for its role in this genocide . . . To excuse the media's actions is to accept the normalization of violence against the innocent.

By Fareed Khan 

 

Despite the recent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas the world continues to watch a catastrophe unfold in Gaza.  Since October 2023 over 58,000 Palestinians have been murdered by Israel in a live streamed genocide, with a third of them children, and more than 800 babies under the age of one.

 

One of the most disturbing aspects of this genocide is how Western news media has been complicit in Israeli crimes through their biased coverage of the Israeli war in Gaza, and perpetuating Israeli lies without thoroughly investigating the claims made by Israeli officials.  One example is the claim made by Israel in the days following October 7th attack that Hamas soldiers gang raped Jewish women and beheaded babies. Based on almost 15 months of Western news media coverage of Israel's war on the people of Gaza it has become painfully clear that many Western news outlets have played an insidious role in facilitating what has been described as a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). 

While the ICJ is focused on holding Israel's leadership accountable for its criminal actions in Gaza, it is imperative that we acknowledge the complicity of many Western journalists and media corporations that have distorted the truth about the Palestinian struggle for freedom from Israeli occupation and oppression. The manner in which the stories of Palestinians have been covered by news organizations like the New York Times, the BBC, and CNN have enabled anti-Palestinian racism, and have enabled a cycle of violence that has been going on for more than half a century.

From the moment Hamas launched its attack on Israel a dangerous narrative was unleashed that resulted in support for the genocide of Palestinians. Israeli leaders made unequivocal declarations, dehumanizing Gazans by referring to them as "human animals." This rhetoric laid the groundwork for the blanket criminalization of an entire population, as Israel’s response escalated into a systematic and inhumane assault that has left tens of thousands of Palestinians dead and entire neighbourhoods and cities reduced to rubble. Such gross injustice should have ignited a fierce moral outcry, but instead, we saw a media ecosystem that largely normalized the violence and failed miserably to hold Israel accountable.

Western media’s portrayal of Israeli crimes has been characterized by grave misrepresentation and opportunistic selectivity. Rather than providing a balanced view, they have often opted to amplify Israeli voices while marginalizing Palestinian stories and experiences. This bias is not merely a journalistic oversight, it is a form of complicity in the suffering and extermination of a people. By allowing Israeli narratives that depict Palestinians as less than human and mere collateral damage in a broader conflict, the media have facilitated a silencing or distortion of the fundamental truth -- that Palestinians are being murdered by a rogue terrorist state with the complicity of the West.

Moreover, in their coverage Western media have fostered an environment where Israeli atrocities can be understated and ignored. The Israeli airstrikes that destroyed Gaza hospitals and killed medical personnel, the stories of children murdered and maimed, and lives irrevocably altered, are often relegated to footnotes in a larger story line that focuses on the violence committed by Hamas while giving Israeli crimes a pass. In failing to challenge the official Israeli narrative of “self defence,” news media in the West have diluted the gravity of Israel’s crimes while prioritizing fabricated accounts of violence against Israelis. This is not only irresponsible, it is dangerous and constitutes a moral betrayal of the journalistic responsibility to report truthfully and ethically.

The pain and suffering of Palestinians, presented through the lens of Israeli brutality and oppression, and the longest occupation in modern history, has been systematically erased from the narrative. The lives lost in Gaza do not merely represent numbers, they are a testament to the Palestinian struggle for dignity, survival, and basic human rights. The Western media's failure to elevate Palestinian voices — a chorus that has bravely emerged despite unimaginable danger — cries out for justice. Journalists on the ground in Gaza, whose courage should be lauded, have been met with silence from their Western counterparts, as they risk everything to report on the devastation and despair unfolding before them.

The absence of journalistic solidarity also speaks volumes. While many Palestinian journalists have met tragic fates, being targeted for assassination by Israel, the silence from major Western newsrooms about their plight is both telling and shameful. We have witnessed a massacre of journalists, yet the acknowledgement of this tragedy has been woefully inadequate. The Western media's silence is effectively an endorsement of a status quo which benefits Israel, one that prioritizes certain lives over others in a blatant act of racialized bias.

As Western citizens and consumers of the news, we must demand accountability — not just from political leaders but from those who shape our understanding of international conflicts. The notion that biased news stories and deflections from the truth are acceptable in reporting must be challenged and eliminated. To persist in publishing and broadcasting unbalanced coverage not only marginalizes the voices of the oppressed but also undermines our humanity. Journalists and media outlets willfully ignoring the long history of suffering endured by Palestinians do so at their own moral peril.

The time is now to hold the media accountable for its role in this genocide. We must call out those who perpetuate lies and misinformation, who sanitize the brutal realities faced by Gazans, and who have embraced complicity over truth. To excuse the media's actions is to accept the normalization of violence against the innocent. 

Ultimately, what is at stake is not just the future of the Palestinian people but humanity's moral compass. If we allow this complicity to continue unhindered, we risk endorsing a form of violence that dehumanizes us all. The call for accountability must reverberate through our institutions, from the halls of power, to the editing rooms of news networks, to all journalists committed to telling truthful stories. We must insist on a truth that encompasses all lives — one that affirms the dignity of every person, regardless of their background or where they reside. The media holds the power to either nuance our understanding of global conflicts or contribute to their devastation. Let us advocate for the former, and in doing so, reject the complicity of genocide once and for all.

 

© 2025 The View From Here.  © 2025 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.

As Canada marks the 60th anniversary of its flag Canadians need to unite against the fascist agenda of Donald Trump

Applying the label of "fascist" to Trump is not a casual accusation.  It is a descriptor that carries the weight of history, a term that evokes images of oppression, authoritarianism, and the suppression of dissent.   And in this context, it is an accurate assessment of the man and not hyperbole.  

 

By Fareed Khan

 

February 15th marks the 60th anniversary of Canada's iconic maple leaf flag.  It’s a day to celebrate the values that it represents – diversity, inclusivity, equity, pluralism and compassion.  Yet, as Canadians gather to commemorate this milestone, a chilling reality casts a long shadow over the "Great White North".   The threat of Donald Trump, a "malignant, narcissistic sociopath" whose rhetoric and actions since being sworn in as US president for the second time, echoes the darkest chapters of modern history, one where fascism was ascendant, and one which demands resolute action.

Trump's increasingly hostile posture towards Canada since being re-elected has alarmed and angered Canadians from coast to coast.  His threats to wreck this country’s economy with punishing tariffs and annex Canada as the “51st state” represent a direct assault on this nation’s existence as a free and sovereign nation and all that it represents.

Since being sworn in only a few weeks ago, his presidency has been punctuated by a constant stream of inflammatory pronouncements and policies, and is a masterclass in demagoguery and divisiveness.   His executive orders targeting migrants, refugees, the LGBTQ2 community, women, Muslims, and countless other vulnerable minorities in the US are also threats to those communities in Canada with Trump’s unofficial declaration of war on this country and its people.  The barrage of hate, misogyny, transphobia, and xenophobia that has emanated from the Oval Office, along with his ultimatums and decrees to Canada and other nations, are the actions of someone who wants to be a tyrant and cares little about the norms of diplomacy and international relations.

Applying the label of "fascist" to Trump is not a casual accusation.  It is a descriptor that carries the weight of history, a term that evokes images of oppression, authoritarianism, and the suppression of dissent.   And in this context, it is an accurate assessment of the man and not hyperbole.   Eleven former high-ranking officials from Trump's first administration, including his longest-serving chief of staff and the former head of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have publicly acknowledged the alarming reality that Trump is a fascist.   Their insider perspectives paint a picture of a man driven by a lust for power, contempt for democratic norms, and a willingness to use the powers of the presidency to violate treaties, laws and fundamental rights in pursuit of his personal and political agenda.

To millions of Canadian immigrants Trump’s threats against Canada are a threat to their homes, their livelihoods and their families.   They or their parents chose Canada by design, choosing to be Canadian not American, seeking better lives for themselves and their children, and refuge from the very ideologies Trump embodies.  To them, and indeed to all patriotic Canadians, Trump's threats are not just political manoeuvring, they are a direct assault on Canada's sovereignty, freedom and independence.

Trump's repeated and increasingly ominous musings about annexing Canada are not the bluster of a sane politician.  They are, rather, a window into the mind of a man whose sociopathic tendencies were laid bare for all to see in the 2017 book "The Dangerous Case of Donald Trump".   It offered a chilling diagnosis of the most powerful politician in the world.   Twenty-seven psychiatrists and mental health professionals, using their expertise, concluded that Trump poses a grave threat not just to the United States but to the entire world.  They described him as impulsive, immature, and incompetent, prone to sliding into the role of a tyrant when wielding ultimate power.  They characterized his sociopathic characteristics as undeniable, his malignant narcissism as profound, and warned that his unchecked behaviour could lead to devastating global consequences, including World War III.

Trump is not a man with whom Canada can engage in a conventional diplomatic dance like it would with a normal national leader.   He is a man who, through his words and actions, has declared himself an enemy to Canada with his tariff threats and musings about absorbing Canada into the US as the the 51st state.   So to this nation's political leaders the message is clear, we must treat Trump as the existential threat that he is and prepare to defend our nation with all means available.

Canada's news media also have a critical role to play in the battle for the body and soul of this country.   It is time for journalists and media executives to use the same frank language to talk about Trump that those with the most intimate knowledge about him have used.   The media must tell the whole story of the fascist sociopath occupying the Oval Office, and must stop couching the threat that he is in polite language.   They must convey the very real danger that we all face, and awaken the Canadian public to the peril that is upon us.

During World War II, over 45,000 Canadian soldiers, sailors, and airmen sacrificed their lives to defend this nation from a fascist threat.   Millions more from allied nations also paid the ultimate price, and their courage and sacrifice preserved Canada's freedom.  But freedom is never a permanent state.   It is a constant struggle, that requires vigilance and the willingness to confront evil where it appears and defend what is right.   To honor their legacy, we must stand firm against the resurgence of the hateful ideology of fascism embodied in Donald Trump, and refuse to let the very costly lessons of history be forgotten.

This 60th anniversary of Canada's maple leaf flag demands more than a simple celebration and patriotic flag waving.   It must be a moment for sober reflection, for unity, and for action in defence of this nation and its people.   Every Canadian who loves this country, who believes in the principles of justice and equality, who is committed to the vision of the just society that former prime minister Pierre Trudeau articulated over 50 years ago, must rise to this challenge.   We must stand together, shoulder to shoulder against Donald Trump, and defend our flag, our country, and our sovereignty against this fascist, racist, misogynistic, and transphobic demagogue who seeks to destroy our nation.

The time for decisive action to counter Trump's threats against Canada is now if Canadians want the red and white maple leaf to fly over a sovereign Canada for generations to come.  To borrow from the national anthem, “O Canada.  We stand on guard for thee”.

 

© 2025 The View From Here.  © 2025 Fareed Khan.  All Rights Reserved.