Almost six months have passed since the clash between the Israeli army and the Islamic organization Hamas. How is the local media reporting this battle? And how do people view such reports? Caster Mochizuki headed to the site and reported on the current situation in both Israel and Palestine.
*Broadcast on “Catch! World Top News” on April 2nd.
The video is 15 minutes 59 seconds long. It cannot be viewed on data broadcasting.
table of contents
voices of each citizen
What do you think about the differences in reporting methods?
attention
What kind of attitude do journalists who disseminate information take when reporting?
“Truth is the first casualty in war”
Open table of contents
table of contents
table of contents
voices of each citizen
What do you think about the differences in reporting methods?
attention
What kind of attitude do journalists who disseminate information take when reporting?
“Truth is the first casualty in war”
voices of each citizen
In this program, we have been reporting on how foreign media are reporting on the situation in Israel and Palestine on a daily basis, but we have also been exploring the current state of the local media.
yes. As I think about why this fighting has been going on for so long and why it hasn't stopped, I wonder what kind of attitude the local media is taking in reporting it, and how people are taking it. I had a question, so I investigated this point.
At the site, we first started by listening to the voices of each citizen.
I visited the square in Tel Aviv, the largest commercial city. Photos of civilians killed in Hamas attacks and soldiers killed in battle were placed there to pay their respects.
"No one expected the war to last this long. My daughter is a soldier and I feel anxious every day. She is stationed near the Gaza Strip."
What is the Israeli media reporting? I went to look at the newspapers being sold on the street corner.
Television news also largely covers people killed by Hamas and hostages, but
hardly mentions the suffering suffered by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
I asked Israelis how they were responding to the news.
Some people said they were collecting information themselves because local media outlets were biased.
"I choose my own news because I feel that TV shows a pro-government perspective."
What do you think about the differences in reporting methods?
On the other hand, what do Palestinians think about the differences in reporting methods? I visited the West Bank of the Jordan River in Palestine. Ramallah is a city about 20 kilometers north of Jerusalem.
Al Jazeera, a satellite television station in the Middle East that is often watched by Palestinians, has been reporting on the damage in the Gaza Strip in detail.
There were angry voices over the failure of Israeli media to report on the damage in the Gaza Strip.
"Israeli media claims they are victims of terrorist attacks."
“TV stations like Al Jazeera are reporting it like it is.”
“I follow the Israeli press and see how many lies they lie.”
attention
What kind of attitude do journalists who disseminate information take when reporting?
In Israel, I have the impression that the suffering of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip is not well communicated
.
Actually, I was also disappointed in that point. There are four television stations in Israel, but during my stay there,
I almost never
saw footage of the humanitarian crisis occurring in the Gaza Strip on any of their news programs .
Under these circumstances, Israeli citizens are increasingly criticizing the Netanyahu administration for its inability to conclude negotiations for the release of the hostages, but there are few voices calling for a cease-fire itself.Instead, the fighting continues in order to annihilate Hamas while the hostages return. Many people expressed their desire for this.
I don't think it's just the way the media conveys the story, but
I could easily imagine that it does have a certain influence.
So, I wondered what kind of attitude do the journalists who actually cover and disseminate information take when continuing to report?
Al Jazeera's bureau chief Wael Dahadouha and Israeli TV channel Channel 13's reporter Yishai Porat. We spoke to these two people.
I have been reporting on the damage situation in the Gaza Strip day and night.
I am Wael Dahadouha, the bureau chief of Al Jazeera Gaza. He was born and raised in the Gaza Strip and has worked as a journalist for many years. Immediately after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 last year, he has been reporting on the damage in the Gaza Strip day and night.
He is currently temporarily in Qatar receiving treatment for injuries sustained in the Israeli attack.
“On October 7th, I woke up in the morning and was getting ready to go to work. Then I heard the sound of rockets. I told them that it was going to be a tough time for a while. Then, I left my family behind and headed to the branch office, where I was in charge of broadcasting from the scene."
“When the Israeli military began its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, they targeted residential buildings.We have reported on many conflicts in the Gaza Strip, but this time, the quality, quantity, The method was completely different."
About two weeks later. Wael's wife, son, daughter, and grandson, who had taken refuge with relatives, were killed in an Israeli airstrike.
``During the broadcast, my nephew, who was in charge of the camera, received a phone call.When he answered the phone, his expression changed completely, so I could tell that something terrible had happened to his family.I went to a relative's house. When I got there, everything was destroyed." "It's tough.
I didn't know what I was supposed to do as a journalist
after knowing everything, including who was dead and who was injured. "
Later, he was also caught in a missile attack and suffered a serious injury to his right arm. Then, in January, his son, who also worked for Al Jazeera, was killed in an airstrike.
However, Wael chose to stand in front of the camera and continue to share his story.
Wael was forced to leave Gaza to receive treatment for his injuries. Once he recovers from his injury, he will return to Gaza to continue reporting.
“Honestly, the day we left Gaza through the checkpoint was very difficult and we cried a lot. Leaving Gaza for us
was like a kind of defeat, a poisonous It felt like I had swallowed it."
"For me, the least resistance to the Israeli occupation is to share my message through my camera, along with the message of the oppressed
people in Gaza. This is my resistance to Israel."
Reported on the progress of the Israeli military in its fight against Hamas.
On the other hand, what kind of attitude do Israeli journalists take in their reporting? Channel 13 is Israel's second most-watched commercial television station.
This is Ishai Porat, the reporter who responded to this interview.
In Israel, there is a conscription system for men and women over the age of 18, and Mr. Yishai has experience in military service.
"I was camping near my home in the Gaza Strip and sleeping in a tent with my daughters. An alarm went off and rockets were flying, so my wife, who was at home, called me and told me to come inside quickly." .
Since he was born and raised near the Gaza Strip, Yishai has focused on reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian situation. When the fighting began, he entered the Gaza Strip and reported on the movements of Israeli forces fighting Hamas.
"I never imagined something like this would happen. The scale of the damage made me realize that we all have no choice but to fight for our small country. This is our home. Because this is my country and I want to live here.”
As an Israeli reporter, Ishai believes it is important to continue reporting on hostages. He says that one of his most memorable interviews was with a 9-year-old boy who was held hostage by Hamas and later released. The boy's father and sister
had been killed by Hamas on the day of the attack.
"A 9-year-old boy spent 51 days in Gaza, in tunnels, barely having food. He told me everything. It was a powerful moment for me."
"We don't report much on Gaza. The Israeli press is, in a sense, mobilized. They're mobilized for the war."
“It may be hoped that newspapers and television would report from a neutral stance,
but things have changed. For Israelis and Jews, this country is very important. This is also reflected in my thinking as a reporter."
"I think the Israeli press is not trying to show what's happening in Gaza, but rather focusing on who they are."
“Truth is the first casualty in war”
An Israeli reporter talked about ``mobilization'' and said that little was reported about the damage in the Gaza Strip, but I have mixed feelings about whether that's what he meant.
On the other hand, I honestly felt that reporting from a neutral standpoint might be difficult. In Israel, the return of hostages
held by Hamas
has become a major concern,
not only in the streets, but also in the arrival lobby of Ben Gurion Airport , where photos of hostages are lined up in rows.
.
And Israel is a country where everyone serves in the military. It is in this situation that Israeli reporters are transmitting information.
In a new move, on the 1st, Israel's parliament adopted a bill temporarily banning foreign media deemed a threat to the country's security.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has indicated to X that Al Jazeera will no longer be able to report in Israel.
It is often said that the first casualty of war is the truth. If that is the case, then, of course, it will be difficult, but calm and neutral reporting is important.
The fact that more than 32,000 people have died and children are starving to death in the Gaza Strip is something that must be reported and should be known to the people of Israel as well.
Among the Israelis I spoke to in the field, some expressed alarm that they were moving away from the reality of the damage in the Gaza Strip and the fact that they were receiving criticism from the international community.
The same issue may be perceived and reported differently depending on the country or region. With this in mind, I have renewed my belief in the importance of conveying various perspectives and the need to look at the root of problems and report on them.