In this era, media is no longer a minor influence; it has become an integral part of our lives and a significant platform for every actor and rights holder. In the context of media, narrative wars are waged just like weapon wars. The aggressor constructs a fabricated victimization narrative through their media and that of their supporters. The prevailing party spreads its narrative to crush any remnants of action or justifications for the real victim. In recent years, the executioner emerges through their media as a hero, while the true victim always gets blamed, regardless of the oppression, humiliation, killing, and displacement they endure.
The recent war and ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip were not far from the above-mentioned model. Since October 7, 2023, the world has been mobilized to blame the Palestinian victims, distorting facts as much as possible to serve the occupation, propagate its myths, and present its narrative. Consequently, the question of whether one condemns “Hamas” became recurrent in dozens of talk shows and media programs, deliberately overlooking the establishment of the cancerous entity within our borders, with all the atrocities and crimes it committed, let alone its acts of killing and colonization. The occupier had an overwhelming media mobilization, resembling their military and political crowds supporting it with instruments of killing and annihilation. They believed that their familiar manipulations would yield results and that this broken record they keep repeating would lead them to the same outcome, allowing them to carry out their crimes without any accountability.
Media has become an integral part of our lives and a significant platform for every actor and rights holder
However, times have changed, and anyone can now be a journalist, able to document scenes and atrocities they have witnessed. Social media played a significant role in revealing the horrors occurring in Gaza and the atrocities committed by the occupation forces, whether in the air, sea, or land. Despite the flood of clips and scenes, the occupation still fears the voice of an honest and free journalist. From the beginning of the war, it worked on two fronts to silence journalists.
The first front involved preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza with flimsy pretenses and unfounded arguments. In truth, it does not want any Western voice to witness the tragedy up close, even though their presence will make no difference at all, as the facts are already exposed to anyone with a beating heart.
The second front was the escalation in targeting Palestinian journalists and reporters. Even if some of them only publish on their personal accounts, they are still exposed to killing, bombing, and kidnapping. Many of them received direct threats from the occupation forces, and the number of journalist martyrs has exceeded 119 so far. Some of them were martyred while at home with their families, and others were martyred while covering events in the Gaza Strip.
Gaza’s Voice
Journalist Wael al-Dahdouh from “Al Jazeera” was indeed an example of an accomplished journalist, with his long experience, deep insight, and meticulous follow-up of all developments during the aggression. Despite being repeatedly targeted along with his family, he remained steadfast in performing his journalistic duty, forming a model of patience and determination to convey the voice of Gaza and its suffering to the world. Like every Palestinian in the Strip, he is not without concerns. Similar to his family and friends, he endures hardship to secure basic necessities such as food, clean water, and other essential requirements for himself and his family. He has been targeted by the occupation forces multiple times, and we have witnessed in recent months of war the challenges faced by this heroic journalist through consecutive losses.Top of Form
Al-Dahdouh is an example of a brave journalist who did not waver in conveying Gaza's suffering to the world
One of the first tragedies that befell him occurred in October 2023, when the occupation air forces targeted the house where his family had sought refuge. Wael al-Dahdouh's wife, Um Hamza, his son Mahmoud, who aspired to become a journalist like his father, his daughter Sham, and several other family members were killed in the bombing. The image of al-Dahdouh crying and comforting his family while saying, “It’s okay... They are avenging us in our children!” was a beacon of light in complete darkness. Despite this heartbreaking loss, al-Dahdouh, just a few hours after burying his family, returned to the screen, grief-stricken but resilient, delivering the voice of freedom, truth, and justice. He deserves to even be called by some the “Mountain of Bearings,” for he is a symbol of patience, determination, and endurance.
This wasn't the only time al-Dahdouh was targeted. On December 15, 2023, while covering the conditions of displaced people and the challenges they face, the occupation forces targeted him again. Although he survived thanks to Allah, he suffered direct, significant injuries to his hand and various parts of his body. Unfortunately, on the other hand, his colleague, photographer Samer Abu Daqqa, couldn't escape the targeted area and bled for hours due to the occupation forces' attack on medical crews until he was martyred.
A Zionist Message
Al-Dahdouh emphasized that this targeting was a direct message from the occupation, urging him to stop reporting the situation in the Gaza Strip. This incident followed the targeting of the homes of several journalists in Gaza, with the occupation intelligence engaging with some of them to halt publishing the enemy's massacres and atrocities.
Gaza journalists join in defending the strip with simple tools and the weapon of truth
The latest loss suffered by Al-Dahdouh was the assassination of his eldest son, the journalist Hamza Al-Dahdouh, who was killed on January 7, 2024, by an airstrike targeting his car in the southern Gaza Strip. His father mourned him with words filled with tenderness, sorrow, and anguish, saying: “There is nothing more difficult than the pain of loss, let alone the loss of the eldest son, the apple of the eye. Hamza was not just a part of me; he was my entire being, my entire soul, and everything.”
Nevertheless, Al-Dahdouh remained dedicated to his journalistic mission, becoming a messenger for the pains of his people in Gaza. He was forced to leave Gaza to continue receiving medical treatment in the Qatari capital, Doha. Every photo taken of him in Doha carries echoes of the hardships he endured, a glimpse into the Palestinian sorrow of being compelled to leave his homeland.
Al-Dahdouh is a model of a fearless journalist who never wavered or surrendered. His voice has accompanied us through the long years, witnessing every aggression launched by the occupation on the Gaza Strip and every war where the resistance managed to break the occupier, inflicting them with the bitterness of defeat.
Al-Dahdouh is a model of the heroic journalists of Gaza, defending the Strip and Palestine with the weapon of truth and using very simple media tools. However, they face a great deal of harm, killings, and Zionist arrogance. Al-Dahdouh and his colleagues are the voices of Gaza that must not be gone or forgotten.
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