WESTMINSTER lobby journalists who have “failed” in reporting on Israel and Palestine have been given a handbook on reporting “during a genocide”.
The Independent Alliance group of MPs – which includes former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn as well as MPs Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan, Adnan Hussain, and Iqbal Mohamed – had around 100 copies of the guidebook given out to mainstream media at Westminster on Monday.
The handbook, which you can download here, details areas in which the group says that the media has failed to hold the UK Government to account over its involvement in Israel’s illegal occupation of Gaza.
Key areas include:
- The export of parts for F-35 jets, which have been documented being used by Israel in Gaza but the Labour Government has allowed to continue despite blocking other weapons sales.
- The involvement on UK air bases in Israeli military operations, and the RAF recording spy plane footage over Gaza which the Labour Government has declined to publish – such as on the day that British aid workers were killed.
- The Labour Government’s stonewalling of dozens of MPs calling for a full public inquiry into the UK’s involvement in Gaza.
- Labour ministers, including Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Foreign Secretary David Lammy, having “contradicted” UK Government policy on the definition of genocide when talking in the context of Israel and Palestine.
- The Foreign Secretary has publicly accepted that F-35 components “might be used to commit… a serious violation of International Humanitarian law.” How is the government’s decision to continue exporting F-35 components consistent with Britain’s legal obligations?
- When will the government publish a full list of military shipments from the UK to Israel since October 2023?
- Will you release video footage from RAF spy planes that have flown over Gaza? How many hours of footage do you have from the war zone?
- Have Israeli F-35 jets been stored and/or repaired at RAF bases?
- How many US Air Force flights have flown from RAF Akrotiri to Israel since October 7, 2023?
- Has the government sought legal advice over the continued use of RAF Akrotiri to support Israeli military operations?
The handbook concludes: “Exposing the truth comes at a cost. In Gaza, journalists have paid with their lives. Here in Britain, journalists may damage personal relationships or hamper their professional ambitions.
“In an ongoing genocide, these risks are surely worth taking.”
Former Labour leader Corbyn told Novara Media: “Gaza has been a test for our mainstream media. They have failed.
“They have failed to stand up for their colleagues being murdered abroad. They have failed to treat all lives with equal worth. And they have failed to hold our government accountable for its complicity in crimes against humanity.
“That is how you normalise a genocide – and to that end, the media have shamefully succeeded.”
According to Al Jazeera, more than 61,000 Palestinians – including some 17,000 children – have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The outlet reports that a further 14,000 people are missing and presumed dead, while more than 111,000 injured.
International experts including the charity Amnesty International have concluded that Israel is committing a genocide in Gaza, which Labour ministers have denied.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is also wanted for arrest for alleged crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
