Freedom of expression has never been so threatened as in Gaza, says UN rapporteur

By Merve Aydogan

HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - A UN special rapporteur on Friday strongly denounced Israel's increasing censorship and attacks on journalists, particularly in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.

"In no other conflict has freedom of expression been so seriously or so far beyond its borders than in Gaza," Irene Khan, special rapporteur on freedom of expression, said at a news conference in UN headquarters in New York.

Emphasizing the extensive restrictions imposed on journalists and media organizations, Khan noted the challenges faced by those reporting from the region.

"Only one [journalist] has been permitted to enter (Gaza) by Israel," she said, highlighting the severe limitations placed on international media coverage.

"The banning of Al-Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied (Palestine) territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct documentation of possible international crimes," Khan added.

Describing a broader pattern of media suppression in Gaza, she noted the targeted killings of journalists, the destruction of press facilities, and the arbitrary detention of media personnel.

"We all know the deliberate killing of a journalist is a war crime, yet not a single killing of a journalist this past year, or in previous years in the occupied Palestinian territory has ever been properly investigated, prosecuted or punished," she said, stressing that "impunity is total."

"Gazan journalists who are working for international media or for other they are the ones who are carrying the brunt of all this, because there is no one else to report," she added.

Expressing alarm at the implications of such censorship on global perceptions of the conflict, she warned that "what is happening in Gaza is sending signals around the world that it is okay to these do these things. Because there it's happening in Gaza and Israel is enjoying absolute impunity."

- Demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine

On the international response to pro-Palestine demonstrations, she noted a troubling trend of "discrimination and double standards restricting freedom of expression in support of Palestinian rights."

"Bans, including some blanket bans of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, have been imposed in many European countries," Khan said, describing how protests supporting Palestinian rights have faced stringent restrictions, often not applied to pro-Israeli demonstrations.

She criticized this as "inherently incompatible with international human rights because they fail to meet the test of necessity proportionality and the principle of non-discrimination."

Khan also highlighted the role of social media platforms as significant vectors for disinformation and bias, and said: "Many companies, most companies actually, have shown a bias in their responses."

"As far as I could see, all of them are showing a bias in their responses, being more lenient regarding Israel and more restrictive about Palestinian expression," she added, warning conflating political criticism of Israel with antisemitism undermines the fight against real hate speech.

She further noted the "silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and in the arts," and said: "Some of the best academic institutions in the world, as you know, have failed to ensure equal protection to all members of their academic communities."

Khan said she received complaints from scholars about a chilling effect on their research and discourse related to Palestinian issues, stressing that artists and writers have been threatened, isolated, and excluded from events because they expressed their views on the Gaza conflict or criticized Israel.

"This kind of discrimination is occurring, and it is extremely damaging to both academic freedom and artistic freedom, which as we know is the lifeblood of democratic societies," she added.

Reiterating her call to the UN General Assembly and Security Council to take all measures necessary to strengthen the protection of journalists as essential civilian workers, Khan urged for accountability for the violations occurring in Gaza.

She stressed that the ongoing situation not only endangers journalists and humanitarian workers but also sets a dangerous precedent for global human rights standards.

"The plight of the wounded is terrible, from babies to women to elderly to journalists and others and doctors and others humanitarian workers themselves. That is why I think this carnage in Gaza, this genocide, has to stop," she said.