UNITED NATIONS — Freedom of expression is under more serious threat Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn region and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert said Friday.
Irene Khan, the UN’s independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the media targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza.
“The ban on Al Jazeera“The tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied territories appears to indicate a strategy by the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and hinder the documentation of possible international crimes,” she said.
Khan also sharply criticized the “discrimination and double standards” that have led to restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speeches. She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were “sharply suppressed.” American college campusesand Palestinian national symbols and slogans that have been banned and even criminalized in some countries.
The UN Special Rapporteur also pointed to “the silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and the arts, with some of the world’s top academic institutions failing to protect all members of their communities,” whether they are Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli, Arab.” , Muslim or otherwise.”
While social media platforms have been a lifeline for communications to and from Gaza, Khan said, they have seen a rise in misinformation, disinformation and hate speech – with Arabs, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians all targeted online.
She emphasized that Israel’s military actions in Gaza and its decades-long occupation of Palestinian territories are matters of public interest, investigation and criticism.
Khan previously presented her report on “the global crisis of freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza” to the General Assembly’s human rights committee.
She said Israel responded, explaining the country’s laws and “taking the position that the conflict in Gaza was not really of global importance, and that my mandate should not interfere with that.” Israel’s UN mission declined to comment at its press conference.
The surprise attacks in southern Israel led by Hamas militants who controlled Gaza on October 7, 2023killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the kidnapping of about 250 others, about 100 of whom remain hostages. The Israeli military offensive in retaliation has killed more than 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but says the majority were women and children.
Khan, a former secretary general of Amnesty International, emphasized that “no conflict in recent times has threatened freedom of expression as seriously or as far beyond its borders as Gaza.”
She said attacks on the media are “an attack on the right to information of people around the world who want to know what is happening there.”
Khan said she has called on the UN General Assembly and Security Council to take measures to strengthen protections for journalists “as essential civilian workers.”
“ Journalism must be seen as essential as humanitarian work,” she said.
The information industry has changed, Khan said, and the issue of access to conflict situations by representatives of the international media – who have been banned from Gaza by Israel – also needs to be affirmed. “It must be made clear that it is not okay to simply refuse access to international media,” she said.
Without naming countries, Khan asked why countries that pride themselves as champions of the media have remained silent in the face of unprecedented attacks on journalists in Gaza and the West Bank.
“My main message is that what is happening in Gaza sends signals around the world that it is okay to do these things because it is happening in Gaza and Israel enjoys absolute impunity – and others around the world will believe that there is absolute impunity will be. “Also,” said Khan.