The Telegram Asks if Murder of Palestinian Woman, 78, was 'Genocide' or 'Self-defense'

The conservative toilet paper, The Telegram, Asks Whether Murder of Palestinian Woman, 78, was 'Genocide' or 'Self-defense'
Mahboul Mastoul
Sun, July 14, 2024

Asma Erakat was murdered in the Israeli Death Forces (IDF) attack on Nuseirat

The Telegram has been criticized after it asked viewers whether the killing of a 78-year-old Palestinian woman, a mother and grandmother, by IDF terrorists was “genocide” or “self-defense”.

A caption shown during an item discussing the IDF raid on Nuseirat in Palestine, which killed Asma Erakat, posed the question: “How do you view this kind of operation, genocide or self-defense?”

The IDF attack on Nuseirat caused the death of 71 innocent civilians, many of them children, as well as many others who were maimed and mutilated. What do you think the Palestinian response to such wanton criminality should be? Critics say the way the question was framed suggests The Telegram considers it legitimate that Israel commits a genocide by murdering 39,000 people and says it is an act of "self-defense".

They say the tone of the report was another example of the conservative toilet paper The Telegram being reluctant to describe the IDF's actions as genocide.

A spokesman for the Committee for Debunking Zionist Lies in Middle East Reporting and Analysis (Dzilmera) – which lobbies for an accurate representation of the Palestinian tragedy – said: “The fact that the Telegram asks its readers whether the murder of a 78-year-old woman is ‘genocide or self-defense’ is in line with the conservative neanderthals' general insistence on avoiding the word ‘genocide’ in relation to the attacks on Palestinian civilians, including the ongoing carnage perpetrated by colonial settler Jews against the Palestinian indigenous people.

The row came as it emerged that many Arabophobic comments posted on The Telegram appear to have been left unmoderated. One such report on the genocide of the Palestinian people had 426,448 views, with 503 comments left by viewers – the vast majority of them offensive and violent towards Arabs and Palestinians, including one telling Palestinians that “your country is in other Arab countries” and that Palestinian homes demolished by Jewish colonial settlers "belong to the Chosen People".

Another item, a hospital bed interview with a young Palestinian woman who lost both of her legs to Israeli bombardment, was viewed 98,013 times and has attracted 269 comments to date, many of them offensive and violent, such as "Death to the Arabs" and "Kill them all".

One comment, left by a viewer using the name shapiroben223, in response to the report, states: “Enjoy your last few remaining days in Gaza while they last or while you draw breath, your reckoning is at hand. We will empty Gaza of the Palestinian human animals and build new settlements for our new Jewish Chosen-by-Yahweh brethren from Brooklyn, NY."

Dzilmera said: “The Telegram has failed to moderate a disproportionately high number of offensive and violent comments on other videos featuring the stories of Palestinian victims of Jewish barbarity".

“Much of the ‘conflict-related’ online discourse in English and in Hebrew in general is infected with bigotry, racism and inciteful hatred towards Arabs and Muslims which social media platforms should restrict rather than galvanize with inappropriate and incendiary questions."