Does one crime justify another? Israeli officials seem to think so. Every time they are criticized for committing crimes against humanity - wiping entire Palestinian neighborhoods off the map, bombing hospitals, schools and places of worship, targeting ambulances, television stations, electricity and water networks, roads and bridges - their response is simple: "Why are you always attacking us? Why don't you talk about what's happening in Syria?"

In fact, it may seem like a good comparison, although the situation in Syria is a regime that kills its own people, while in Palestine, it is a colonialist settler regime that kills the indigenous population. However, both regimes kill civilians indiscriminately, glorify the killers and demonize the victims.

But Syrians, at least, are more honest with themselves than Israelis. The Syrian regime does not claim to be the "only democracy" in the Middle East, or the bulwark of European civilization in a hostile environment. Israel, on the other hand, boasts that it is "God's chosen people" and has a divine mission to cleanse the land of Palestine of its indigenous inhabitants in order to create a "Jewish homeland." According to this logic, Palestinians should be grateful to them!

Silence is not enough... Thankfulness is required!

Israelis not only want a license to kill Palestinians without accountability, they also want them to be silent while they kill them, preferably with gratitude. Zionism, and by extension the Israeli state, has created a narrative that justifies the occupation of Palestine and the ethnic cleansing of its people. Israel and its influential lobbies in the West have managed to convince international organizations to ignore its violations of international law and even legitimize its criminality. Thanks to a complicit media and the purchase of political influence, especially in the US Congress, many have come to believe that it is the Palestinians who are trying to take over "the land of Israel," as if the status of "victim" is reserved for Jews only.

Social media has broken the media siege

With the rise of social media, a window of hope opened for all those who have suffered from the dominance of the Zionist narrative in traditional media. Palestinians and their supporters seized the opportunity to give voice to the voiceless, and for the first time in decades, the true voice of the victims was being heard in the world, and people in Europe and beyond were seeing the truth with their own eyes.

Global public opinion is gradually shifting in favor of the Palestinians. More and more journalists, parliamentarians, and activists of all faiths and backgrounds, including Jews, are speaking out in support of Palestine and against the occupation. Israel is working hard to marginalize and criminalize these voices and has even convinced some Western governments to associate support for Palestine with anti-Semitism, which is unacceptable and ludicrous.

The war on truth-tellers

But Israel's main battle is not with governments or traditional media professionals, but with those who debunk its colonialist narrative: Journalists, activists, and anyone who reports Israeli atrocities from the ground. They have become a direct target for assassination, arrest or threats.

As Palestinian journalists said in front of the British Parliament: "We want you to see our reality with your own eyes."

And the numbers don't lie: Since 2000, Israel has killed at least 39 journalists in Gaza and the West Bank. 16 of them in the last four months alone. Israeli forces also physically assaulted 64 journalistsWithin 186 violations against media professionals in the first half of this year; and30 journalists They were arrested. Since 2008, Israel has bombarded About 50 media organizations in Gaza. In 2017 alone, Israeli forces committed More than 2,100 violations against journalists, including mass arrests during protests.

Even Facebook is not immune to Israeli control

Israeli hegemony extends beyond traditional media to social media, especially Facebook. Many Palestinian activists have been arrested for expressing their views against the occupation on their personal pages. Even pro-Palestinian posts are deleted or banned by the Facebook administration, while pro-Israel posts, even if they incite violence against Palestinians, remain unchallenged.

Israel's biggest concern is that the crimes of its soldiers and illegal settlers will be documented and posted online. As happened with Abdel Fattah al-Sharifwho was shot in the head while wounded and lying on the ground. Although the Israeli soldier Elor Azaria He was convicted of manslaughter, but his sentence did not exceed Only nine monthswhich is far less than the sentences imposed on Palestinian youth for mere Facebook posts. Azaria was even supported by top Israeli politicians, including the prime minister.

Legislation criminalizing the documentation of crimes

In an attempt to minimize media damage, Israel has enacted a law that criminalizes filming or recording security personnel while they are committing crimes. Those who post such footage, even on social media, can be sentenced to up to Five years. According to the HaaretzThis law strikes at human rights institutions, not criminal soldiers.

Whoever tells the truth... gets arrested

Israel kills or eliminates witnesses to its crimes, just because it doesn't want the world to see what it is doing. This week, Palestinian journalist Why risk from her home in Hebron during a night raid. The images that documented her moments of saying goodbye to her children were heartbreaking. She is likely to face a prison sentence, not because she committed a crime, but because she is a journalist who did her job, documenting and denouncing the crimes of the Israeli occupation.

The Zionist state is not a "normal" entity in the Middle East; it is a violent colonial project that fears the truth, and fears the camera more than the bullet.