"The Media's Struggle for Truth in the Gaza War: Violence, Disinformation, Censorship" Symposium organised by the Directorate of Communications began with its first session entitled "Journalists' Safety in Conflict Zones and Attempts to Suppress and Intimidate Journalists."
The session moderated by the Head of the Public Diplomacy Department of the Presidency's Directorate of Communications, Assoc. Prof. Oğuz Güner, was attended by Al Jazeera's Lebanon Reporter Carmen Joukhadar, Anadolu Agency's (AA) photojournalist Mustafa Hassona, Spanish journalist David Segarra and TRT Arabic Editor Somaya Abunima Abueita.
Noting that this symposium will shed light on Israel's attempts to intimidate and suppress journalists, Güner emphasised the urgent need to protect journalists and press freedom in Gaza.
Güner mentioned that journalists in Gaza face immense challenges in ensuring their personal safety, yet they make significant sacrifices in order to communicate the situation in Gaza to the rest of the world.
Al Jazeera's Lebanon Reporter Joukhadar indicated that journalists in Gaza and south Lebanon are being targeted and she added, "In south Lebanon and Gaza, when you are a journalist and wear a vest with the word press on it, you become a target."
Joukhadar said, "For years, Israel has enjoyed impunity. It was not punished, and no one could bring it to court. This is by far the most challenging aspect."
Emphasising that Israel must be held accountable for killing journalists and attacking them, Joukhadar stressed that no journalist should be targeted.
Joukhadar stated that Israel also violates humanitarian law and commits war crimes and said, "It absolutely does not respect the law. What they did in southern Lebanon and Gaza shows that they do not abide by the law."
"This war needs to end," Joukhadar said, citing Israel's targeting of "journalists' discourse."
"We are the ones who will inform the world about all the despotic acts of Israel"
Hassona, an AA photojournalist from Gaza, stated that he has been through almost five wars since 2009 and added: "The weapons used (by Israel) in the most recent war are weapons targeting journalists and civilians."
Noting that a journalist is killed every day in Gaza, Hassona said, "We always pray among ourselves that another journalist will not be killed each new day."
Hassona said that they also had trouble accessing food due to the Israeli massacre and that this was a "type of systematic attack." Emphasising that Israeli forces sought to kill them because they were journalists, Hassona said, "We are the ones who will inform the world about all the despotic actions of Israel. That is why it (Israel) wants to silence us."
Displaying the photos he had shot in Gaza, Hassona recounted the stories behind them as well as his experiences.
"They are striving to silence journalists here (in Gaza), but even if they succeed in doing so, they will not be able to mute their thoughts," said Segarra, a Spanish journalist.
Segarra noted that the Western media and media hegemony reported the discourse in Gaza through two distinct lenses, with some media outlets comparing Palestinians to "animals" and others portraying them as victims. Segarra said, "Palestinians are not silent. They, too, have a voice. They are home to some of the best journalists, authors, intellectuals, academics, and even photographers."
Stressing the need to contact with Palestinian journalists and convey their stories, Segarra said, "Palestinian journalists contribute significant value to the world. They explain to us what is right and what is wrong. That is why there is an attempt to silence them. It is also intended to stifle the voice of Palestinian culture and civilization."
"Israel attacking all that is lovely in the world"
TRT Arabi Editor Abueita said, "Israel is attacking all that is lovely in the world. Anyone is a target for Israel."
After October 7, Abueita said that he was among the first journalists to enter Gaza, adding that Israel was showing the world "one side of the picture." Abueita stated that Israel plays "mafia" on journalists and attacks all journalists. Explaining that they were targeted by Israeli forces while they were in a hotel in the Gaza Strip, Abueita said that Israeli forces attacked the lobby of the hotel.
Abueita referred to the difficulties some journalists in Gaza are facing due to Israeli attacks.
The massacre of journalists in Gaza was symbolised at the entrance of the hall where the symposium was held, with shattered rubble representing the wreckage of buildings and journalists' equipment damaged under the rubble.
"The Illusionist Face of Digital Media: The Palestinian Cause" session
In the session moderated by Mevlüt Selman Tecim, Director of TRT World, Electronic Intifada Director Ali Abunimah, GZT Editor-in-Chief Doğukan Gezer, Journalist Zahra al-Akhrass and Anadolu Agency (AA) Fact-Check Line Manager Ömer Faruk Görçin spoke.
"They are trying but still failing to control the dominant narrative"
Abunimah, Director of Electronic Intifada, said: "If we look at conventional media in the West and in the US and compare it to social media, there is a huge difference. The same thing applies to private and independent media outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and BBC. They act as the mouthpiece of the Israeli government. They are trying but still failing to control the dominant narrative although they do everything they can."
Recalling Haretz's reports on the failure of Israel's online propaganda campaigns, Abunimah said that despite Israel's attempts to hide the horrific scenes in Gaza, it has failed to cover up the truth.
Abunimah explained the manipulations carried out by pro-Israeli media outlets since October 7 by providing visual examples.
Abunimah highlighted the widespread opposition in US society to Israel's actions and the support for Palestinians, saying that this is the success of media outlets that broadcast on the side of the truth. Abunimah concluded his remarks in Turkish by saying, "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."
"Social media platforms have put enormous pressure on digital broadcasters"
Gezer, Editor-in-Chief of GZT, stated that since October 7, social media has been going through a highly interventionist period. Gezer said, "We were under the influence of social media platforms such as the land, naval and air elements in the war, using social media as a weapon in favour of Israel in the Palestinian-Israeli war. Social media platforms have put a lot of pressure on digital broadcasters, just like Meta, which is the first thing that comes to our minds when we think social media, and Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp made citizens feel."
Gezer said that as a digital broadcaster, they take substantial precautions to move in a minefield and that platforms that did not intervene in posts in the Russian-Ukrainian War imposed a great censorship on Israel's actions against Palestinians and prevented pro-Palestinian accounts from gaining new followers.
Gezer said that social media platforms bypassed their own procedures and removed content calling for boycotts of pro-Israel companies without warning, and even posts mentioning "Hamas" were restricted.
"As Palestinian journalists, we constantly live in a state of fear"
Journalist al-Akhrass said, "We talk about how people's perceptions of media outlets are changing, that people turn to social media for news instead of mainstream media outlets, especially on the Palestinian-Israeli issue. There is a reason for that. As Palestinian journalists working at media outlets in the West, we constantly live in a state of fear. Every time we try to challenge the status quo and support the Palestinian people, we are thrown out the door. We are hushed, threatened and, should we insist too much, we are kicked out of the industry." Noting that Israel wields a lot of influence in the US media, Al-Akhrass stressed that media outlets are just as culpable as Western governments. Al-Akhrass stated that she was fired from her position at Global News for refusing to remove her social media posts condemning Israel and supporting Palestine, and that her coworkers who backed her had to keep silent in order to avoid the same fate.
"What we're trying to do is disturb them"
Görçin, the AA Fact Check Line Manager, discussed how lies are spread and disinformation is carried out through the use of state authority. Görçin said that a claim was made that 40 babies were beheaded on October 10 and that Turgut Alp Boyraz, the AA Middle East News Director, asked the Israeli army about this claim and was informed that there was no evidence.
Noting that a few days after this claim was made, US President Joe Biden said he had seen the evidence, Görçin remarked, "When a government official makes such a statement, no one feels the need to check or deny it. Therefore, this claim starts to be widely accepted as true by the international public. Once you produce disinformation and circulate it via the media or social media, it tends to remain at a certain level, but if such disinformation and propaganda are adopted as state policy, we need to label it by another name. Because such disinformation carries much more serious implications."
Görçin provided examples to show that the AA Fact Check Line has covered over 200 claims since October 7 and that many of the disinformation accounts are backed by accounts of Israeli government.
Emphasising that Israeli officials feel entitled to say anything because they are confident that they will not face scrutiny by the West and that disinformation has become a state policy in Israel, Görçin said, "What we're trying to do is disturb them."