Why is the Media Silent About Amnesty’s Genocide Report on Palestine?
This report isn’t just about Palestine; it’s about whether the world still believes in the principles of human rights and justice. Let’s not look away.
The Overwhelming Evidence of Genocide
Amnesty International's recent report has confirmed what many of us have known in our bones for over a year: Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people. It’s not just a conflict, a crisis or a war— it’s a deliberate, calculated campaign to destroy an entire population.
Despite this fact, Western media outlets and political establishments continue to bury this truth, prioritizing Israel's denials over the irrefutable evidence laid out by one of the most respected human rights organizations in the world.
Why? And what does this silence mean for international human rights?
The evidence is overwhelming. Amnesty’s 290-page report unequivocally concludes that Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the legal criteria for genocide. These are not isolated acts of violence; they are systematic, coordinated efforts to eradicate Palestinians — and they’re not just carried out through bombings. The report details how Israel’s strategies are designed to destroy Palestinians over time: blocking humanitarian aid, dismantling medical services, and targeting agricultural infrastructure.
In Gaza, the goal is clear: to leave Palestinians with no means to survive.
Israel's Denials and the Global Silence
So what does the world do with this damning evidence? We get the same tired talking points from Israel’s defenders: "We’re doing everything to minimize civilian harm" or “We have a right to defend ourselves” as if even a 5 year old would believe that Israel’s actions are “defensive”, even without the context of decades of occupation, apartheid and siege.
Yet, after months of relentless airstrikes, the destruction of vital infrastructure, and the weaponization of starvation, this rhetoric crumbles under the weight of the reality on the ground. And still, the response from the West is not one of accountability but of gaslighting apathy.
Why? Because Israel powerful allies like the U.S., the U.K., and others have their own political and economic interests at play. Because standing against Israel risks upsetting the geopolitical status quo.
The Media's Failure to Highlight the Truth
Amnesty International’s report is a wake-up call — but only if we allow it to shake us. Israel’s genocidal intent is not just inferred through its actions, but through explicit statements from Israeli officials, calling for the destruction of Gaza and the erasure of Palestinians. These statements, when coupled with Israel’s actions, paint a chilling undeniable picture. Amnesty's report also shines a light on the complicity of the U.S. and Germany in Israel’s campaign of ethnic-cleansing and war crimes. Despite knowing how these weapons are being used, these nations continue to supply arms to Israel, violating their legal obligations to prevent genocide.
And yet, what do we hear from the Western media? Silence, or worse, deliberate obfuscation. Mainstream outlets like The New York Times and the BBC barely gave the Amnesty report any space. The New York Times buried it on page eight, with the majority of the piece dedicated to Israel’s denials. The BBC took a full 12 hours to even acknowledge the report, and when it finally did, it was relegated to the bottom of their news feed. The report didn’t make the headlines on BBC News at One. One day later, the story has disappeared from the top page of the BBC News website.
The Guardian put the story on its front page, but much farther down the page, with a very understated headline.
The New York Times' coverage of Amnesty's report arrived a full 14 hours later than most other outlets—just 420 words, and unlike their 2018 coverage of Myanmar's genocide, the Israeli denial is prominently featured at the top and woven throughout the story, rather than being relegated to the end.
Why this disparity in coverage? Why, in 2018, was Myanmar’s genocide front-page news, but Israel’s genocide is buried? The answer lies in the power of pro-Israel lobbying and political influence, which has succeeded in shaping the media narrative. The media is desperately trying to maintain Israel’s broken and unfounded narrative of self-defense.
The Suppression of Accountability
Look beyond the media's lackluster coverage, and you’ll find an even more dangerous trend: the active suppression of accountability. Israel, with the support of the United States, is working tirelessly to discredit Amnesty’s findings and the legal rulings of bodies like the International Criminal Court. The U.S. and Israel have labelled the ICC ruling “deplorable,” using every tool at their disposal to reverse or remove the charges. But is this legal?
The silence surrounding this abuse of power is deafening. This is where journalists come in — because right now, the media is not just failing to report and failing to stand in solidarity with the unprecedented and relentless targeting and killing of journalists by Israel — the media is actively obfuscating the truth.
Journalists must be as relentless as Israel’s bombs, and shine light on how international law is being undermined. We must push back against this narrative that Palestine is somehow the “exception” to global human rights standards. We have a moral obligation to call out this injustice, to refuse to let the voices of those in Gaza be drowned out by the political calculations of Western powers.
How has the media constructed a protective ‘cocoon’ that shields Israel from accountability?
explains.
In January, Israeli historian Lee Mordechai released a 124 page report — Bearing Witness, with 1,400 footnotes detailing evidence of Israel’s genocide. Did you read about it in any western press?
Israeli historian Mordechai just released an updated edition of the powerful and meticulous report. Haaretz calls it "the most detailed documentation in Hebrew," with over 1,400 footnotes referencing thousands of sources—photos, videos, eyewitness accounts.
A Test for Global Human Rights
Let’s also be clear: what’s happening in Gaza is not just about Palestine. It’s a litmus test for global human rights advocacy. The selective enforcement of international law is a betrayal of the very principles that underpin the Genocide Convention. If Israel can act with impunity, what message does that send to the rest of the world? It tells every oppressive regime that the international community will turn a blind eye as long as the right political allies are in place. This undermines the credibility of international law as a tool for justice, and it weakens the global advocacy needed to protect vulnerable populations worldwide.
The Call to Action
We must act now. Amnesty’s report is not just an academic exercise. It’s a call to action. It is not just an indictment of Israel; it is a test of our collective commitment to human rights. Will the global community stand by and let political considerations override the principles of justice, or will it demand accountability and justice for the Palestinian people?
Politicians must halt arms transfers to Israel and demand independent investigations into the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Journalists must fight against editorial pressure that minimizes the significance of reports like Amnesty’s. They must hold power to account, refusing to let their voices be silenced by geopolitical concerns. Human rights professionals and legal scholars, much like
does, must all call for reforms that insulate international institutions from political interference, so that justice can be truly served.
The question remains: how many acts of genocide does it take before the world recognizes what is happening? The time for action is now. Let us not turn away from the truth.
How many acts of genocide does it take to make a genocide?” @zeteonews’s @PremThakk presses the US after Amnesty International concludes that Israel is committing genocide. Thakker shares a litany of Israel’s most recent genocidal attacks in Gaza, including the killing of a teenager on a wheelchair.
The U.S. and Israel are not just dismissing Amnesty International’s findings—they are waging an all-out campaign to discredit and suppress accountability for their actions. The labels of "deplorable" that they’ve slapped onto the findings and the ICC ruling aren’t just dismissals; they are desperate, calculated moves to avoid facing up to their complicity in genocide.
When Israel and its powerful backer, the United States, try to use diplomatic pressure and media manipulation to block accountability, we are witnessing not just a legal challenge but an attempt to gut the very fabric of international law.
Journalists, this is our moment. The world is watching, and our job is not to give a platform to those seeking to erase and suppress the truth; it’s to call out the hypocrisy, to question the narrative that shields powerful states from facing the consequences of their actions — to hold them accountable.