Freedom of expression on Israel's Gaza war crushed harshly: UN

Freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn territory and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert has said.

"No conflict in recent times has threatened freedom of expression so far beyond its borders as the war in Gaza", an expert appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Friday in New York.

Irene Khan, the UN independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza.

While taking on Israel for imposing blanket bans on media like Al Jazeera and attacks on journalists she said:

"These actions seem to indicate a strategy of Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct documentation of possible international crimes."

Khan also sharply criticised the “discrimination and double standards” that have seen restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speech.

She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were “crushed harshly” on US college campuses, and Palestinian national symbols and slogans prohibited and even criminalised in some countries.

"Public display of Palestinian national symbols like the flag or the keffiyeh, as well as certain slogans, have also been prohibited and even criminalized in some countries," she said.

The UN special rapporteur also pointed to “the silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and the arts,” with some of the best academic institutions in the world failing to protect all members of their community.

While social media platforms have been a lifeline for communications to and from Gaza, Khan said, they have seen an upsurge in disinformation, misinformation and hate speech — with Arabs, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians all targeted online.

She stressed that Israel’s military actions in Gaza and its decades of occupation of Palestinian territories are matters of public interest, scrutiny and criticism.

'Champions of the media'

She said attacks on the media “are an attack on the right to information of people around the world who want to know what is happening there.”

Khan said she has called on the UN General Assembly and Security Council to take measures to strengthen the protection of journalists “as essential civilian workers.”

“Journalism should be seen as essential as humanitarian work,” she said.

The information industry has changed, Khan said, and the issue of access to conflict situations by international media representatives — who have been banned from Gaza by Israel — must also be affirmed.

“It has to be clarified that it is not okay to just deny access to international media,” she said.

Without naming any countries, Khan asked why nations that pride themselves as champions of the media have been silent in the face of unprecedented attacks on journalists in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

“My main message is that what is happening in Gaza is sending signals around the world that it is okay to do these things because it’s happening in Gaza and Israel is enjoying absolute impunity — and others around the world will believe that there will be absolute impunity, too,” Khan said.