To close this week, our media review highlights an article in UK media that focused on a theme our readers should be quite familiar--the fake stories that were amplified by political leaders and Western media about the war on Gaza are many. The problem has been the lack of retractions by the media, a mere tweet often appears to be enough, in the view of their editors and publishers, to absolve them of any responsibility for the injuries and harm (including deaths in a couple of cases), they have caused.
We begin today's media tour with an article published by Mehdi Hassan in the British newspaper The Guardian, entitled "What is worse, Israel's lies about Gaza or its Western backers who are repeating them?"
Hassan begins his article by quoting an Italian proverb that says, “If a man deceives me once, it is not my fault, but it is my fault if he deceives me twice.”
Mehdi Hassan says, “Since the horrific attack that occurred on October 7, the far-right Israeli government and its army have deceived Western politicians and journalists, not once, not twice, but several times.”
He adds that there are many lies and distortions that must be traced, including “the story of the forty children who were beheaded by Hamas,” which “did not happen.”
Hassan recalls that, in his opinion, there was no hideout under Al-Shifa Hospital, and the list hanging on the wall of Al-Rantisi Hospital did not display the names of those detained by Hamas, but rather just the days of the week in Arabic.
Hassan asks about those atrocities that the Israeli forces denied committing - out loud - and then revealed that they were responsible, according to the writer, who considered that there are “examples of this, such as the flour massacre in February, the bombing of the refugee convoy last October, and the attack White phosphorus in southern Lebanon in October as well.
But Hassan believes, according to him, that “there is no Israeli lie more harmful, destructive and deadly than the one that claimed that UNRWA and its employees had colluded with Hamas and participated in the attack on October 7.”
He comments on the question, “Why was this the most harmful lie?” Then he answers: “You have helped deepen a devastating and ongoing man-made famine inside the Gaza Strip.”
As a result, Mahdi says, 16 donor countries, including the United States, the main funder of UNRWA, suspended about $450 million in aid provided to the agency.
He added that "Israel starved the people of Gaza," criticizing "the fools who helped it justify this."
Hassan explains that the parties funding the Israeli file against UNRWA were warned that it contained only “false and unproven allegations,” but - according to Hassan - they trusted Israel.
The author continues by saying that many countries have resumed their funding to UNRWA, including the German government, which is the agency’s second largest source of funding, after an independent review of UNRWA’s work concluded that the agency’s work “remains pivotal in providing life-saving humanitarian assistance and basic social services.”
Hassan confirms that the independent review stated that Israel has not yet provided evidence to support these allegations, so it was, once again, “a lie from Israel.”
The writer says that, worst of all, is the statement made by Anthony Blinken, the Democratic Secretary of State, on January 29, when he admitted that “the United States did not have the ability to investigate the allegations itself.” Despite this, Washington went ahead Describing the unverified Israeli allegations as “highly credible.”
He added, "Blinken has not yet apologized for his false claim or even retracted it."
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