Israel ramps up military censorship of the media amid its genocide

Israel has ramped up its censorship and political persecution during its genocidal campaign against Palestinian people.

This includes an increase in the government’s longstanding censorship of the media.

It has come to that: Haaretz went to print with chunks of text redacted by the censor. This is the price Israelis pay for the continued genocide: loss of their own political rights within Israel. pic.twitter.com/LTbhVF7tr3

— Yanis Varoufakis (@yanisvaroufakis) May 29, 2024

Israel’s so-called ‘democracy’

While the Israeli state censor refuses to release monthly breakdowns, the overall spike in articles facing censorship in 2023 is because it is covering for its genocidal campaign.

In 2023, the Israeli military prevented information from reaching the public an average of nine times a day. It outright barred the publication of 613 articles and redacted part of another 2703 articles.

It’s worrying how Israel has normalised such censorship in the state. Israeli law requires journalists working in Israel or for Israeli publications to submit articles dealing with “security issues” to the censor.

The military censor can then redact the articles in full or in part.

The “emergency regulations” date back to Israel’s founding in 1948 where it killed and displaced Palestinian people, taking over 78% of Palestine and naming it Israel.

The longstanding censorship is cover for Israel’s ongoing colonial endeavour and brutal subjugation of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Arrested for social media posts

Another example of the authoritarian crackdown is police arresting hundreds of Palestinian citizens of the state for social media posts.

The charges are inciting terrorism but many of the posts simply support Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza.

Israeli police arrested Palestinian citizen and singer Dalal Abu Amneh. That was for posting a Palestinian flag on social media with the phrase “There is no victor but God”.

Palestinian citizens of Israel make up about 20% of Israel’s population. But only 8% of them live in mixed cities with the majority segregated.

71% of Palestinian citizens of Israel do not feel comfortable expressing their views on the occupation and genocide on social media. And 84% are worried about their physical security.

Both Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak hail Israel as a shining democracy. But even for Palestinian and Jewish people who are citizens of the state, it’s clear this must be some sort of joke.

Featured image via IsraeliPM – YouTube