Tuning into daily news programs in Western media on October 7, 2024, was a painful experience for Palestinians and activists from the Palestine solidarity movement. The content was overwhelmingly dominated by Israeli narratives on the one-year anniversary of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, with Palestinian voices barely given space. “I thought yesterday that the Western media, the Western world is so anti-justice, so anti-Palestinian. They only care to cover the Israeli narrative,” reflects Yousef Alhelou, a British-Palestinian journalist and political analyst originally from Gaza.
Alhelou has recently been participating in different events in the West Balkans, engaging with local solidarity groups and challenging the dominant media narrative. “Why is everyone reporting from inside Tel Aviv, inside Israel? What about Palestinians? Why is the story and narrative of Palestinians ignored?” he questioned during an interview with Peoples Dispatch, highlighting the lack of Palestinian perspectives in mainstream coverage.
This absence of Palestinian voices is not simply due to the physical barriers imposed by Israel, as some in the Western media have claimed. While it’s true that Israel has blocked international press from entering Gaza since the beginning of the genocide, the question remains whether major outlets did enough to challenge these restrictions. At the same time, as Alhelou points out, many journalists accepted invitations to report from illegal settlements near Gaza, where they were fed Israeli propaganda without any pushback.
This reliance on Israeli sources is dangerous. Alhelou points to the infamous claim of 40 beheaded babies, a fabrication spread by Israeli media and widely republished by major outlets around the world. “This turned out to be a lie. Many of the Western media still did not apologize for copying that fabrication,” Alhelou says, highlighting the irresponsibility of the corporate media.
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The one-sided nature of the reporting also means that Western audiences are rarely given an honest analysis of Palestinian resistance movements or their significance. And while evidence of the genocide in Gaza has flooded social media, forcing some outlets to adapt their coverage, the bias remains clear. “There is more courageous work. They can’t completely ignore what is going on because they know the world disrespects them,” says Alhelou.
He believes that social media has played an important role in changing global perceptions of Israel’s actions. “You can manipulate the facts, but Israel will never be able to reverse its image,” he states. “The world will remember Israel as the country that killed children the most in the world. The country that crossed all red lines. The country that used lies to justify a genocide.”
For Alhelou, the global understanding of Palestine’s history is key to shaping future resistance and solidarity. He argues that people must grasp the context of oppression that led to the events of October 7, 2023. “The world should know there is a history of oppression, of injustice that led to that day,” he says. “People under occupation will never be intimidated. They will keep resisting.”
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Israel’s current actions are not even securing its safety, Alhelou insists. Despite this view being shared by many political analysts, the Israeli government continues to use unprecedented violence and dehumanization against Palestinians, and recently against people in Lebanon and Syria. In addition to media bias, this behavior is reinforced by the West’s failure to hold Israel accountable. “The arrogance of Israel is scary,” says Alhelou, adding that it is also fed by unconditional support and impunity coming from the US and its allies.
The failure of international institutions, particularly the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, to act is another key issue. Alhelou warns the UN Security Council has failed in its duty to address the situation. This has global consequences: if Israel can act with such impunity, what’s to stop other countries from following suit? “There is nothing that Israel did not do over the past year. They did all the things that you can imagine: mass graves, humiliations, starvation, phosphorus bombs… The only thing they haven’t done yet is nuking Gaza.”
Throughout this year of violence, the United States has done little to promote peace, and while Alhelou allows for the small possibility that some European governments might take a more active role in the future, this is far from certain. “Governments are still reluctant to do anything to stop the suffering, to stop the occupation,” he says. “And they know – they know – that Palestinians deserve to be free.”
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Solidarity movements in the West offer a glimmer of hope, and Alhelou has noticed a growth in awareness over the past year. He particularly commends the pro-Palestinian movement in the UK, which, he says, makes him feel proud. These movements could play a crucial role in pushing their governments toward a full arms embargo on Israel, but it is also vital that they continue to grow. “People should not be indifferent,” Alhelou warns, adding that future generations will judge those who stood by during the genocide in Gaza.
For now, the most urgent task is to bring the violence to an end. Gaza’s people are in desperate need of peace, and if international pressure can bring about a ceasefire, Alhelou believes it’s possible to imagine a different future.
