In the face of the Palestinian genocide, Western embassies use their soft power to get Maltese journalists to talk about... press freedom
In the face of the Palestinian genocide, Western embassies use their soft power to get Maltese journalists to talk about... press freedom
Should it be at the behest of the embassies of states who do nothing in stopping Israel’s flagrant breach of international law and war crimes?
The Maltese press has been invited by various European embassies in Malta to participate on World Press Freedom Day in an initiative that will create a Malta diplomatic network of the London-based Media Freedom Coalition (MFC).
The invitation, made by the German embassy on behalf of others, could not have come at a more opportune moment for the state of these countries’ foreign policies and in the way they treat the humanitarian tragedy and ongoing genocide in the Middle East.
While America vetoes Palestine’s full membership bid for the United States, with the UK abstaining (and also vetoing three resolutions demanding a ceasefire), these same states join forces with another EU member-state, Germany, which has used its police forces to shut down any voice speaking out against Israel’s genocidal assault in Gaza.
These embassies (joined in Malta by those of the Netherlands, Greece, France, Italy and Ireland, the latter a clear outlier on foreign policy vis-à-vis the Middle East) are part of the embryonic MFC diplomatic network in Malta, that seeks to contribute to discussions on media freedom and improve and support media freedom.
The MFC is primarily composed of governments “working together proactively to advocate for media freedom at home and abroad.” The MFC also advocates for the safety of journalists and media workers, and claims to “hold to account those who harm journalists and severely restrict them from doing their job.” It also has a Consultative Network of 22 media freedom organisations providing advice.
Of course any effort at strengthening media freedoms is truly welcome and honourable of these embassies, and possibly important for the Maltese press; but this initiative is naturally also designed to bolster these countries’ soft power among an establishment of media workers, currying favour with them in what is a legitimate form of information-gathering for foreign government representatives.
Upon being invited to attend the MFC Malta meeting (my reduced-hours career means I do less journalism anyway, away from the newsroom, so my contributions are hardly valid), I registered my disappointment at this kind of posturing from countries that have failed to take meaningful action to protect the safety of journalists and access to information in Gaza.
Despite recent UN figures that at least 122 journalists have been killed in Gaza, the collective official silence of the MFC member states as a group regarding these killings, with increasing evidence of journalists being specifically targeted, along with the lack of actions to ensure that international journalists can access and report from Gaza, simply diminishes any collective ability to credibly stand up for media freedom globally.
The IPI and 39 civil society organisations, including PEN International, have spoken out on the serious risks to journalists’ lives, outlined in a joint letter of solidarity by international media outlets. The International Court of Justice in its January 24, 2024 order on provisional measures, underlined the importance of evidence collection; journalists play a crucial role in this effort, even more so when other pillars of accountability are weakened or absent.
The growing evidence of targeted killings of journalists in this war – by Israel – requires a clear and joint call for prompt, independent, effective and thorough investigations into these killings .
But then, we also have to question the foreign policy agendas of the countries that claim to promote media freedom, even in Malta.
Over 300 bodies have been uncovered so far from the Nasser medical compelx after Israeli forces withdrew on April 7, in a mass grave in Khan Younis, one of many among the several discovered since Israel launched its war, killing over 34,000 Palestinians. The lack of access for human rights investigators to Gaza has hampered effective investigations into the full scale of these human rights violations and crimes under international law committed. The International Court of Justice told Israel to take effective measures to prevent the destruction and ensure the preservation of evidence, which includes not denying access by fact-finding missions. The West should be pressuring Israel to comply with the ICJ orders by allowing the immediate entry into the Gaza Strip of independent human rights investigators and forensic experts, including the UN-appointed Commission of Inquiry and investigators of the International Criminal Court.
One asks, in the face of this Holocaust ad the indiscriminate bombing of entire cities, how could we even countenance a discussion on media freedom by representatives of the governments that refuse to take action against Israel or stop the madness of their genocide?
Strong-armed by the silent compliance of the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as EU leaders, the violence of Israel has spread all over the Occupied Palestinian Territories, with hundreds of settlers going on a deadly rampage in April, launching violent raids on Palestinian villages in the West Bank. In these attacks, in which settlers set fire to homes, trees and vehicles, at least four Palestinians were killed by either settlers or Israeli forces, including 17-year-old boy Omar Hamed near Ramallah, and two men shot dead near Nablus – Abdulrahman Bani Fadel and Mohammed Bani Jami’. In the latest violence, a Palestinian paramedic was shot dead in the village of al-Sawiya south of Nablus on 20 April.
Videos verified by Amnesty International’s Crisis Evidence Lab show Israeli forces were present and failed to intervene during attacks by settlers in Deir Dibwan, east of Ramallah.
This violence is appalling, and yet we hear nothing of what the powerful states of the West, who rightfully hold dear the value of media freedom, will do to dismantle illegal settlements, end Israel’s occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories and its longstanding system of apartheid.
Of course we should be discussing SLAPP in Malta – and surely Maltese journalists have taken the lead on media freedom – but should it be at the behest of the embassies of states who do nothing (and I am not talking about sanctions against the settlers) in stopping Israel’s flagrant breach of international law and war crimes?
Journalists, as workers, must also uphold freedom, justice and equality for Palestinians whose lives have been first undermined, and now obliterated by the regime of settler colonialism and Israeli apartheid. They too can make their voice heard for the voiceless of Palestine, with the countries that have the power to take meaningful action for peace.