CrossFireArabia
“The most brilliant propaganda does not need to violently censor truth. It simply creates a society so deeply addicted to meaningless noise that the truth no longer matters.”
— Aldous Huxley
#AldousHuxley#Quotes#LiteraryQuotes#CriticalThinking#BraveNewWorld#PhilosophicalQuotes
CrossFireArabia
Members of the Media Freedom Coalition (MFC) issued a joint statement Tuesday expressing concern over the safety of journalists and media workers and the impact of escalating regional tensions in the Middle East on access to information.
The coalition said independent media play a critical role during armed conflicts by providing accurate and timely information to affected communities and the international public.
In the statement, the signatories said they were concerned about what they described as an increasing number of journalists being killed, arrested or detained across the region.
“The safety of journalists and media workers, and the access to information are under serious threat,” it said.
The statement accused the Israeli government of preventing independent international journalists from entering Gaza for over two years, saying the restrictions have limited independent reporting on the conflict.
“We strongly condemn all forms of violence directed against journalists and media workers, including media infrastructure, press facilities, and clearly marked media vehicles,” it said.
The coalition further expressed concern over what it described as a crackdown on journalists and freedom of the press in Iran, including internet shutdowns.
The statement said the reported incidents raise concerns about the protection of journalists under international humanitarian law and press freedom in conflict situations.
It called on all parties involved to comply with international humanitarian law and to ensure the protection of civilians, including journalists.
The coalition also said deliberate attacks on journalists are unacceptable and may constitute war crimes, while stressing that detained journalists should be treated in accordance with international law.
The statement was signed by Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Ghana, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. Anadolu
CrossFireArabia
Nelson Mandela spent 27 years behind bars, much of it confined to a damp concrete cell on Robben Island. For decades, his name was banned from public mention in South Africa, and he was forced into grueling labor in a lime quarry. Most people would have let their vision of a free society wither away under the crushing weight of isolation and silence. Mandela did the opposite. He used those years to study, to understand the psychology of his captors, and to refine his vision for a democratic future.
His life serves as the ultimate proof for his own conviction: A winner is a dreamer who never gives up. It was not mere optimism that carried him through nearly three decades of imprisonment. It was a disciplined, unwavering commitment to a dream that most of the world had written off as impossible.
When he was finally released in 1990, he did not seek revenge. He sought reconciliation. He understood that a true winner does not just overcome their circumstances but transforms them.
CrossFireArabia
By Ismail Al Sharif
Imagine you are sitting with your children at home when a violent knock shakes the door. You open it to find a blond, European-looking man holding a weapon in one hand and a Torah or Talmud in the other, with soldiers behind him.
He orders you to leave the house, saying: “God gave me this house 3000 years ago.” You reply, “But it’s my home; I was born here, and my father and grandfather were born here before me.”
They push you aside, storm into your house, and throw your furniture outside. Your children cry, they throw your wife out, and your blood boils. You wrest the weapon from the blond man and shoot him. They kill you, and then a bulldozer comes to demolish your house.
The next day, the world’s newspapers headline: “Army kills terrorist after he tried to attack occupation soldiers.”
You might go out in the morning to graze your sheep, and in the distance, you see a few fair-haired young men who have pitched a tent on a fenced-off plot of land on a hill. At first, the scene seems fleeting, but soon you see them approaching your land, wandering among your olive trees and your flock, then attacking you, stealing your livestock, and burning your trees.
After that, they seize part of your land and annex it to the area they have taken over. The fence extends day by day, growing longer and wider. Over time, your land, and the land of your relatives, friends, and all the people of your village, becomes part of the nucleus of a new settlement.
Roads change, streets are closed, and checkpoints are erected, until reaching a place only a few hundred meters away becomes a journey that takes hours.
These scenes are repeated daily in the West Bank, where settlers terrorize, assault, and kill Palestinians under the protection of the occupation army, while ministers from the occupation government appear in the background of these attacks. The goal is clear: To empty the West Bank of its original inhabitants, both Muslims and Christians, and uproot them from their land, paving the way for its seizure and Judaization.
All of this is happening in full view of the world, amidst President Donald Trump’s objections and the condemnation of the international community, at a time when his 20-point peace plan was announced in a celebratory atmosphere on September 29th of last year.
However, time has revealed that this plan was nothing but ink on paper. The occupation continues to control over 60% of the Gaza Strip, demolishing buildings and bulldozing agricultural lands in the areas under its control. It also continues its daily bombardment of the Strip, which, since the plan’s launch, has resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 Gazans and injured more than 3,600 others. This is while the siege continues and humanitarian aid is prevented from entering.
As for the West Bank, settlement outposts have expanded, and the occupation government recognized 19 additional settlements after the plan’s launch. This coincides with an unprecedented escalation in settler attacks, the continued demolition of homes and displacement of their residents, as well as the ongoing incursions into Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps.
The government of war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu makes no secret of its plans to annex the West Bank and thwart any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, while its leader orders the occupation army to launch continuous military campaigns in West Bank cities, villages, and refugee camps.
The West Bank today sits atop a powder keg, fueled by accumulated feelings of anger, fear, frustration, and resentment, awaiting a spark that could ignite the situation. Then, the sporadic confrontations could transform into a widespread popular uprising, which could very well extend beyond the borders of the West Bank.
No one knows how wide the circle of confrontation might widen, where it might spread, or the extent of the repercussions it might have in Jerusalem, the Palestinian territories within Israel, and neighboring countries. Arab governments and their armies may find themselves facing mounting popular and political pressure, pushing them either to engage in a confrontation they do not want, or to take positions and actions they have long sought to avoid.
This article was originally written in Arabic by Ismail Al Sharif and published in Jordan’s daily newspaper Ad Dustour and is reprinted in crossfirearabia.com. Mr Al Sharif long worked in newspaper management and publishing in Amman.
