Chico Alves: Murder of starving people in Gaza and the lack of modesty of Jornal Nacional

Murder of starving people in Gaza and the lack of modesty of Jornal Nacional

Major media outlets minimize the killing carried out in Palestinian territory

By Chico Alves*, at ICL Notícias

On many occasions, the Brazilian press was complicit in shameful episodes that made history in local and international news.

In the domestic sphere, the sensationalist campaign against Getúlio Vargas comes to mind, which led to his suicide; initial support for the 1964 military coup; the partnership in the legal atrocities of Lava Jato and the naturalization of the extremist Jair Bolsonaro, which facilitated his rise to power.

In the international field, the local press made several headlines praising Hitler, at the beginning of his career; supported the assassination promoted by the United States in the Vietnam war and endorsed the false version of the North American government that Iraq was responsible for the attack on the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.

The new ongoing shame is the coverage of the massacre that Israel imposes on the civilian population of Gaza, using the most cruel methods of extermination against women, children and the sick.

Since October 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded Tel Aviv, killing more than a thousand people and taking around 200 hostage, major media outlets have minimized the killing carried out in Palestinian territory by Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.

Yesterday, witnesses reported the action of Israeli soldiers who shot at hungry Palestinians in the food line. Hit by gunfire or trampled by the crowd that fled the attack, 112 people died.

The episode shocked the world, but not those responsible for the main Brazilian television news program.

Audience leader, the National Newspapercalled the news this way in its opening, in the voice of Renata Vasconcelos:

“A stampede in the delivery of aid to Palestinians leaves dozens dead and injured in the Gaza Strip.”

That’s right, a “riot” was the reason for the deaths, for the National Newspaper. Apparently a mere logistical problem caused the tragedy.

When the article was presented, the same “riot” was again blamed for the deaths.

In the 3 minutes and 30 seconds of the report, the speech of the Israeli government spokesman largely prevailed and only three sentences were given to authorities who accused Israeli forces for the massacre, quick quotes from Hamas, Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations. More than 90% of the time was dedicated to diverting the focus from the horror caused by the killing.

The newspaper State of São Paulo followed this ignominious path and printed the headline on the front page that “Death in the aid queue in Gaza stops possible truce, says Biden”.

The text below begins by saying that “according to Israel, victims were trampled to death”.

The globe chose a different path than National Newspaper and headlined that “More than a hundred Palestinians are killed while seeking humanitarian aid” and, correctly, mentions in the text that Hamas and witnesses accuse Israel of shooting.

The approach most consistent with the cruelty of the episode was to Folha de S. Paulowhich did not mince words: “Israel shoots crowd waiting for food in Gaza”.

Unfortunately, as we know, the majority of the Brazilian population gets their information through TV.

The number of readers who will look for details of the murder of Palestinians in the food line in print newspapers or even on social media is much smaller than the number of viewers who watched the presenter and reporter from the JN going out of their way to minimize the fact.

And so, once again, giants of the national press (TV Globo and Estadão) act to misinform the Brazilian public about an important moment in history.

Can we say that they are accomplices to barbarism?

*Chico Alves He is a journalist, twice won the Embratel Journalism Award and was an honorable mention at the Vladimir Herzog Award. He was assistant editor at ISTOÉ magazine and editor-in-chief of the newspaper O DIA. He is co-author of the book ‘Paraíso Armado’, about the Public Security crisis in Rio, in partnership with Aziz Filho. He is currently editor-in-chief of the ICL Notícias website.