On its homepage you will read that “The National Press Club (NPC) is a vigorous champion of media freedom and a home away from home for journalists”.

So when the NPC cancels its invitation to a world-renowned, award-winning journalist who intends to inform us about the deliberate assassinations of more than 278 journalists, that our mainstream media chooses to ignore, we have to ask why. Why would this “home away from home for journalists” cancel one of their own for speaking about the deliberate killing of other journalists?

The answer the NPC gives to this question is: balance. In the interest of balance, it has cancelled Chris Hedges’ talk on how the media, by amplifying Israeli lies, has betrayed Palestinian journalists. Presumably balance in the eyes of the NPC will be achieved if defenders of Israel are given equal time to present their “side”.

With this in mind, let us consider what is meant by balance. A dictionary definition would typically include something along the lines of: “taking everything into account; fairly judged or presented”. How, then, is a balance achieved, particularly when antagonistic parties are unable to reach agreement?

It is important to note here that balance in reporting about the colonisation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine might be regarded as an obscenity. Nevertheless, for the sake of weighing evidence, here is what a balanced inquiry might look like. A respected arbiter could be employed to assess both sides of a situation and reach a verdict. Once a position is reached by said arbiter, then it is reasonable to say that balance has been achieved, even if one of the parties does not agree. One such arbiter might be the United Nations Independent International Commission on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel.

In its recent report, this august body determined that Israel and its military is committing genocide in Gaza. Balance in this debate has been achieved. Israel’s atrocities in Gaza have been found by an independent arbiter to be genocidal. Allowing Zionists and their apologists equal time and media coverage to spin falsehoods and defend the indefensible therefore cannot be about balance.

At its best, our media speak truth to power. However, when hijacked by interested parties, Western media allow power to trump (Trump?) truth. We need, more than ever, to hear from and about courageous journalists who put their lives on the line to bring us truth. The unbalanced position of the NPC in cancelling Hedges is part of an ongoing undermining of free speech. Undue support for the notion of antisemitism in Australia and its conflation with criticism of Zionism is at the heart of the problem here. Hence we have a press club in Australia that doesn’t want us to know about the slaughter of journalists in Gaza.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.