Public Health Policy Reviews 10:
Collateral Damage – Israeli Defense Force Attacks on Gaza’s Hospitals, Schools, and Civilian Infrastructure – Part 2.
On Saturday, April 27th, 2024, pro-Palestinian protesters appeared at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC to decry biased and pro-war media coverage of Israel’s invasion in Gaza by the mainstream US national press corps. Photo courtesy: unknown.
NOTE: Nazia Saeed, a Human Resources professional living in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, contributed significant research and writing for parts of this article.
**********
After Russia’s President Vladimir Putin launched his “special military operation” to invade Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, every North American and Western European international media outlet harshly critiqued Russian military attacks on Ukraine’s civilian population and civil infrastructure.
President Putin’s response was to crack down on independent reports of his invasion of Ukraine from local media and international press outlets on March 4th, 2022. Mr. Putin’s suppression of press reports on military war crimes in Ukraine fueled even more public anger from the Western press.
This past Saturday, April 27th, the corporate and legacy American press corps held their glitzy annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC. All the major media outlets and independent individual journalists who attended the “star-studded” event had a chance to interrogate US President Joe Biden about his support for similar war crimes committed on a much larger scale by Israel during their near seven-month military invasion of Gaza.
**********
“You look beautiful in your blood-stained gown…”
Pro-Palestinian protesters opposed mainstream media guests and high public-profile national celebrities at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, DC this past Saturday. Photo courtesy: unknown.
Yet, on Saturday, the American media establishment failed to challenge President Biden or any of the other US Congress members in attendance.
Reporters and media companies chose to ignore the carnage happening in Gaza and the protests roiling US college campuses over the past two weeks. “You look beautiful in your blood-stained gown” – was a common refrain that wealthy and influential attendees to the correspondent’s dinner heard from heckling protesters.
Because international media outlets in North America and Western Europe consistently fail to critique Israel’s destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, people who care about the invasion and the student protests spreading across the West are turning to independent sources of news.
International media outlets like Anadolu Agency, France-24 English, Palestinian partisans like Al Jazeera, and Russia Today News (RT) are experiencing increased viewing traffic from people searching for alternative news on the war in Gaza and the student protests.
Hypocritical views on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine versus Israel’s invasion of Gaza have also become a significant issue for the international press corps.
**********
Independent reporter and freelance journalist Rachel Blevins. Image courtesy of Twitter: @RachBlevins.
Before the Ukraine invasion in 2022, RT was the largest Russian-state-operated international media outlet.
After American government regulators shut down RT in the US, the Russian government began independently funding and promoting some former RT American freelance journalists who remained loyal to the media organization.
Chief among the former freelance reporters is Rachel Blevins. Rachel Blevins is a 28-year-old News Presenter from Texas who graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2017.
Rachel Blevins in 2017. Image courtesy of Twitter: @RachBlevins.
Ms. Blevins, who now lives in and works from Moscow, Russia – covers US government corruption, foreign policy, censorship, and media hypocrisy. While Blevins was not a well-known journalist at RT when the outlet was operating in America, she is now attracting attention for aggressively covering the US college campus protests and Israel’s brutal military bombardment of Gaza.
Blevins and other independent journalists are providing important context for people seeking to understand why there is an absence of withering scrutiny of Israel’s wholesale destruction of Gaza’s hospitals, schools, and civilian infrastructure from the mainstream international press.
**********
Hospitals Under Fire
A July 2023 photo of an emergency room staging area at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City before the Israeli invasion of Gaza. Image courtesy of Anadolu Agency.
Hospitals in Gaza, already struggling with limited resources and capacity, have repeatedly come under Israeli attacks during military operations.
The attacks on hospitals by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) violate international humanitarian law and have dire consequences for the provision of medical care to the civilian population. The IDF has destroyed hospital building infrastructure, medical equipment, and vital medical supplies. These actions are crippling the ability of hospitals to treat the wounded and save lives.
The targeting of hospitals inflicts not only immediate harm but also has long-term repercussions for public health in Gaza. The loss of healthcare facilities exacerbates the already dire humanitarian situation - leaving civilians, including children - without access to essential medical services.
The psychological toll on healthcare workers, forced to operate in dangerous conditions while witnessing the suffering of their patients, is immeasurable.
Israeli military operations have also taken a heavy toll on schools, universities, and educational institutions in Gaza.
**********
Schools Caught in the Crossfire
The courtyard of Mamounia Girls High School in Gaza City after Israeli fighter jets attacked the school in October 2023—image courtesy of Anadolu Agency.
The war suspended the academic year in Gaza, denying children the right to education in addition to exposing them to grave danger.
The loss of educational opportunities – such as those that existed before the invasion – is happening in one of the most financially deprived regions on the planet. The deliberate attacks on schools and educational facilities by the IDF rob children of future social prospects and perpetuate cycles of illiteracy, poverty, and despair.
Even when Israel does not target school buildings in Gaza, they often become casualties of the broader conflict – suffering damage from nearby airstrikes or artillery fire. The fear and trauma experienced by children who witness violence and destruction in their communities will have long-lasting consequences for their mental health and well-being.
It is difficult to dismiss the idea that Israeli and American public health policy entails depriving an entire generation of Palestinian young people of any chance for a better future.
**********
Civilian Infrastructure in Ruins
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF) is indiscriminately bombing civilian housing, government buildings, businesses, and the utility infrastructure in Gaza after October 7th, 2023—image courtesy of Anadolu Agency.
Beyond hospitals and schools, civilian infrastructure in Gaza has been systematically targeted and destroyed by Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages.
The IDF is leveling residential buildings, roads, water and sanitation facilities, and electrical grids, leaving vast swathes of Gaza in ruins. The indiscriminate nature of these attacks violates the principles of proportionality and distinction, leading to civilian casualties and widespread displacement.
The destruction of civilian infrastructure exacerbates the already dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza, depriving civilians of access to essential services and necessities. The lack of clean water, electricity, and sanitation facilities increases the risk of disease outbreaks and intensifies the suffering of the civilian population, particularly children and vulnerable groups.
Like the bombing of schools, American policy support for Israeli destruction of the infrastructure of Gaza is entrenching the cycle of poverty and social marginalization for Palestinians.
The humanitarian aid blockade imposed on Gaza by the IDF further compounds the challenges faced by humanitarian organizations seeking to deliver aid and support to those in need.
**********
Protesters at the recent White House Correspondents’ Dinner created a display of bloody press vests to symbolize all the Palestinian journalists killed by the IDF during Israel’s invasion of Gaza. Image courtesy of Emilie Frank on Twitter/X: @emiliefrank.
Joe Biden has described himself as a committed Zionist and the most pro-Israel President in American history.
Thus, the young people protesting the war in Gaza at colleges across the country are not obligated to be “objective” regarding the impact of Mr. Biden’s foreign aid and public health policies. But the mainstream US and international press corps from Canada and Western Europe claim objectivity to the facts of military conflicts and contentious international issues as its raison d’etre.
How, then – should consumers of the American corporate press analyze the lack of serious investigation into the impact of Israeli attacks on hospitals, schools, civilian infrastructure, and children in Gaza?