Last week the ABC carried a story about the death of many Israelis on 7 October 2023 as a result of firing by Israeli tanks and helicopter gunships.
The controversial “Hannibal Directive”, which Israel says isn’t named for the famous Carthaginian general who took poison rather than be captured by the Romans, was reportedly enacted after the 7 October Hamas attack, with revelations detailing attacks by IDF tanks and helicopters on homes and vehicles returning to Gaza.
What was significant about the ABC story was that it was 11 months out of date.
In November last year, Pearls and Irritations carried a detailed account of deaths at the hands of the IDF in October 2023.
It is journalistic malpractice for the media to still be repeating so credulously the Israeli military claims about deaths on 7 October.
We cannot claim we broke the story at Pearls and Irritations. Many other independent journals carried quite detailed stories about the ‘Hannibal Directive’ at that time.
But we know that the MSM largely chose to ignore this issue. It was all part of partisan media coverage in support of the Israeli genocide in Gaza. That partisanship continues despite the Israelis turning Gaza into a killing field.
Any honest observer would ask how much damage on October 7 could be inflicted on cars and buildings by Hamas with its small arms. But Western media chose not to ask. It would not suit its agenda.
We don’t know the full details of deaths and destruction on 7 October but we do know without any doubt that most Western media including the ABC and BBC behaved shamefully. And still do on Gaza.
Video: Many Israeli citizens were killed by Israeli forces on 7 October
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