Target: Al Jazeera
Aside from Hamas, Israel is going after another target; the news channel Al Jazeera.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged to use a new national security law passed by parliament to ban the news channel, which has been critical of their war in Gaza, from broadcasting in the country.
"The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel. I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel's activities," Netanyahu said.
We have no issue with Israel taking revenge for those killed in the October 7 terror attack by Hamas, or with protecting itself against Hamas.
We don’t even have issues with Israel targeting Hamas itself. Because by their actions that day Hamas militants unmasked itself, and the whole world saw that by their targeting women, children, the elderly, and foreign nationals, they were not actually a group of freedom fighters but rather a band of terrorists.
However, in striking into Gaza, Israel has also gone above and beyond just waging war against Hamas. There is no more denying the unnecessary suffering they are causing.
There have been violent acts against Palestinian civilians who have nothing to do with Hamas or the war. There have even been acts against Israelis themselves, including three hostages taken last October 7 who survived Hamas captivity for months only to die at the hands of their own invading soldiers, hell-bent on revenge.
If Netanyahu thinks closing Al Jazeera’s bureau in Israel will somehow blunt the voices of thousands of Israelis calling for his resignation, or that it will somehow take the world’s eyes off Rafah, the last major target in their war, then he is mistaken.
It was Aeschylus, the father of Greek tragedy, who was quoted as saying “In war the first casualty is the truth.” True, Al Jazeera might have their own interests in coming up with their slants, but it’s no long just Al Jazeera being critical of how Israel is conducting this war; more and more people around the world are paying attention.