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The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

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  • Book Author(s):Robin Andersen
  • Published Date:July 2026
  • Publisher:OR Books
  • ISBN-13:9781682196267

by Ramona Wadi  walzerscent

While independent and alternative media wrought a change in US public opinion since the start of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, mainstream media provided Israel with a coverup for its crimes. “This book does not make for easy reading,” Rashid Khalidi wrote in the introduction to Robin Andersen’s The Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza (OR Books, 2026). While legacy media justified genocide and acted as a mouthpiece for Israel and the US, independent media illustrated genocide as it happened. As Israel’s genocide continued without political opposition, legacy and mainstream media framed Palestinians in Gaza and anyone opposing the genocide as “the villains of the story, rather than the war criminals who perpetrated these murders, and this destruction and starvation.”

Mainstream media portrayal of Israel’s genocide in Gaza followed not only a predictable sequence, but also one that became ingrained and fortified despite the countless times such reporting was debunked by facts.

One notable discrepancy, Andersen writes, is the readily available information from Israeli media itself on the start of the genocide. While Western journalism simplified the start of the genocide through Hamas’s infiltration and attack on Israel, Israeli media noted the military’s role in the killing of Israeli civilians, with testimonies from Israelis expressing anger at the military. Andersen notes that if US media had included Israel’s killing of its own citizens while implementing the Hannibal directive, “the rudimentary narrative structure would have lost a good deal of its persuasive value.”

Indeed, the simplistic narrative emphasised by US mainstream media required a starting point. October 7 provided the peg not only for supporting Israel’s genocide, but for obliterating the entire Zionist colonial history and appropriation of Palestinian territory. Without context, news became a series of events obfuscated and far removed from history. However, language still played an important role. As Andersen states, “Genocide does not happen without a language to incite it.” From the initial statements by Israeli officials, the media hastened to demonise Palestinians also by choosing to omit the accurate terminology which would have described Israel’s genocidal actions.

Leaked memos from legacy media showed the extent to which news was disseminated in a manipulated manner. Editorial directives controlled the narrative omitting genocide, even as genocide was livestreamed through alternative and social media.

Israel’s kill toll was questioned as rhetorical propaganda, while  outlets such as CNN and the New York Times failed to attribute airstrikes to Israel. Language depicting Palestinians’ living conditions during the genocide also eliminated how Israel forcibly displaced Gaza’s population – neighbourhoods, instead of camps. Evidence of dead bodies was framed in assumptions that questioned realities, while Israel’s massacres at the so-called aid sites were described as “food-aid related deaths” by the Guardian, for example. The New York Times fared no better: “Death of Gazans Hungry for Food Prompt Fresh Calls for Ceasefire”.  

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Similar tactics were employed by mainstream media’s discussion of Israel’s bombing of Al-Shifa hospital. Focusing on Israel’s propaganda justifying the strikes – a Hamas command and control centre beneath the hospital – mainstream media linked Al-Shifa to war crimes, but not Israel. As happened during the start of the genocide, when many statements were debunked by alternative media, Israel’s narratives on al-Shifa proved to be false. However, mainstream media still relied on Israel’s official narrative, which were altered several times as independent investigations progressed. When Israel targeted a refugee camp and burnt Palestinians to death, CNN reported on what Israel told the Biden administration. “It’s what Israel said to us,” a US official stated to CNN. Language, in the context of Israel’s attacks on al-Shifa hospital, was even more ambiguous. Andersen quotes the New York Times, which frames the attacks within the language of natural disasters – al-Shifa “stood in ruins on Sunday, as if a tsunami had surged through it following a tornado.” 

Andersen notes that for every instance of mainstream media’s manipulation of genocide for Israel’s benefit, alternative and independent media carried the investigations and answers to the public. From the initial disproven claims of beheaded babies that unleashed a frenzied support for Israel’s genocide, to claims of rape attributed to Hamas, independent media provided not only the proof of untruths, but also the network that supported the disseminated lies. Independent media also established the targeted killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, creating a sharp contrast between journalists covering genocide in real time, and mainstream reporters whose priority was to impart the Zionist narrative. Mainstream media’s refusal to mention targeted assassinations of Palestinian journalists contributes to Israel’s efforts to silence journalists reporting from Gaza – the only sources available also considering that Israel refused entry to international journalists. The tacit silence from mainstream media in the US contradicts the essence of journalism, all for preserving the continuation of genocide. 

“The many examples of journalistic malpractice include in this book expose corporate media’s acquiesce to power and their abandonment of independence and the mandate to inform,” Andersen writes in the conclusion. Israel’s genocide in Gaza exposed the extending parameters of incitement, and the reach Zionism has at an international level. Mainstream media in the US contributed to a growing divide not only between media sources, but also in disrupting clarity – those that advocate for justice are now equated with terrorists, and those that defame people calling for justice are thriving in impunity.

The numerous examples Andersen cites in her extensive research of media reporting on Gaza call for a sobering scrutiny, not only on intent, but on the violation of language and its repercussions on Palestine, on Gaza, and on all people opposing colonialism and genocide. 

Andersen notes that the manipulation of Israel’s genocide in Gaza had other precedents, such as the US war on Iraq which was based on fabricated claims of weapons of mass destruction. Within the Iraq context, however, mainstream media had issued public apologies for their propaganda. Andersen notes that none have been forthcoming so far with regard to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. 

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This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.

Continue ReadingThe Complicit Lens: US Media Coverage of Israel’s Genocide in Gaza

Israeli airstrikes kill at least 10, injures 8 in southern Lebanon

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Relatives mourn during the funeral ceremony held for seven people, including a child, who were killed in an Israeli strike targeting the town of Al-Saksakiyyeh in Sidon, Lebanon on May 10, 2026. [Mohammad Abushama – Anadolu Agency]

Ten people were killed and eight others injured Tuesday in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon, including two civil defense workers killed while carrying out a rescue mission in Nabatieh despite ceasefire, according to official Lebanese media, Anadolu reports.

An overnight Israeli airstrike targeting an inhabited house in Lebanon’s southern town of Kfar Dounine has killed at least six people and injured seven others, according to the National News Agency (NNA). The wounded were taken to hospitals in Tyre.

Israeli artillery shells also targeted the outskirts of the towns of Mansouri and Majdal Zoun at dawn.

In a separate incident, NNA reported that a Syrian man was killed and his wife wounded after an Israeli drone targeted their motorcycle on the Tayr Debba-Hammadiya road in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon.

Two paramedics, from the Nabatieh regional civil defense center, were killed in an Israeli strike while they were evacuating an injured person following an earlier Israeli raid in Nabatieh, said the agency.

A young civilian was also killed in the same strike, it added.

Since March 2, Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed more than 2,840 people, injured over 8,690, and displaced more than 1.6 million, about one-fifth of the population, according to the Lebanese officials.

The Israeli army continues daily strikes in Lebanon and fire exchanges with the Lebanese group Hezbollah despite a ceasefire that was announced on April 17 and extended until May 17.

READ: Bangladesh slams Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon

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Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.

Continue ReadingIsraeli airstrikes kill at least 10, injures 8 in southern Lebanon

UK to deploy drones, fighter jets, warship for future Hormuz security mission

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UK Defense Secretary John Healey leaves Downing Street after attending the weekly Cabinet meeting at Downing Street in London, United Kingdom on October 14, 2025. [Raşid Necati Aslım – Anadolu Agency]

The United Kingdom will deploy drones, Typhoon fighter jets and the Royal Navy warship HMS Dragon as part of a future multinational mission to secure the Strait of Hormuz, the UK Defence Ministry said on Tuesday, Anadolu reports.

The announcement came after a virtual summit involving defence ministers and representatives from more than 40 countries participating in the planned multinational military mission.

According to the ministry, the UK contribution will include autonomous mine-hunting systems, counter-drone capabilities and mine-clearance specialists, backed by 115 million pounds ($152 million) in new funding.

The package will also feature the Royal Navy’s modular “Beehive” system equipped with autonomous Kraken drone boats designed to detect, track and respond to threats.

HMS Dragon is already heading to the Middle East after additional preparations and training, the ministry said, adding that the destroyer’s advanced Sea Viper air defence system would be available for potential future operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

British Typhoon fighter jets stationed in the region will also be prepared to conduct air patrols over the strategic waterway.

Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK was “playing a leading role to secure the Strait of Hormuz.”

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“New funding for autonomous mine-hunting and counter-drone systems, our advanced Typhoon jets and HMS Dragon are strong and clear commitments,” Healey said.

“With our allies, this multinational mission will be defensive, independent and credible,” he added.

The ministry said the operation would become active “when conditions allow” and stressed that the mission’s purpose was to restore confidence in commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a key global trade route through which around one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

The UK currently has more than 1,000 military personnel stationed across the region, including counter-drone teams and fast-jet squadrons, according to the statement.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. 

dizzy: Starmer & Co are clinging on to support Israel and increase the UK’s active participation in Israel’s genocidal expansion despite clearly lacking a mandate.

Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel's genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism "without qualification". Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer explains that UK is actively supporting Israel’s genocidal expansion and repeats his previous quotation that he supports Zionism “without qualification”. Keir Starmer said “I said it loud and clear – and meant it – that I support Zionism without qualification.” here: https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/keir-starmer-interview-i-will-work-to-eradicate-antisemitism-from-day-one/
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza's hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.

Continue ReadingUK to deploy drones, fighter jets, warship for future Hormuz security mission

Palestine Action barrister wins appeal in contempt case

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https://www.declassifieduk.org/palestine-action-barrister-wins-appeal-in-contempt-case/

A protest outside Woolwich Crown Court where the Palestine Action activists were tried (Photo: Alamy)

Rajiv Menon KC faced proceedings which his chambers said were unprecedented in English legal history

A leading human rights barrister has won his appeal against contempt of court proceedings, which were levelled at him for a closing speech in the trial of Palestine Action activists. 

The court of appeal’s ruling on Tuesday in the case of Rajiv Menon KC comes as it has also emerged that four of the defendants found guilty in a retrial can be sentenced as terrorists.

Three court of appeal judges found that the trial judge, Mr Justice Johnson, “had no jurisdiction” to refer the case against Menon to the High Court. 

…

Campaign group Defend Our Juries (DoJ) said: “Rajiv Menon KC did what every defence barrister should be free to do – in discharging his duty to his client: he told a jury the truth about their own rights.”

“The fact that contempt of court proceedings were even brought against a barrister for his closing speech – for the first time in British legal history – should deeply concern everyone who cares about the rule of law,” the group added.

Menon had been accused of violating Johnson’s orders in the first trial of six activists who broke into an Israeli-owned arms factory near Bristol in 2024 at the height of the Gaza genocide.

He barred the lawyers from inviting the jury to disregard the court’s ruling of law or to acquit the defendants on the basis of conscience, known as the principle of jury equity.

…

Original article at https://www.declassifieduk.org/palestine-action-barrister-wins-appeal-in-contempt-case/

Keir Starmer says that he's banning words and phrases now as well as placards.
Keir Starmer says that he’s banning words and phrases now as well as placards.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine 'Private Eye'.
Palestine Action joke that appeared in the UK satirical magazine ‘Private Eye’.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn't know anything about democracy.
Keir Starmer confirms that he doesn’t know anything about democracy.
Continue ReadingPalestine Action barrister wins appeal in contempt case

Campaigners and union reps demand NHS ‘cease all contracts with Palantir’

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https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-and-union-reps-demand-nhs-cease-all-contracts-palantir

 NHS staff blockade the entrance to NHS England’s headquarters in central London demanding the cancellation of its contract with Palantir, which campaign groups say supplies advanced technology to Israel’s military, April 3, 2024

US tech giant granted ‘unlimited access’ to patients’ data

HEALTH union reps, public ownership campaigners and Amnesty International UK demanded the NHS “cease all contracts with Palantir” today after the US tech company was granted “unlimited access” to patients’ data.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting was urged to reconsider a “staggering decision” to grant external staff from firms including Palantir access to patients’ identifiable data while working on its flagship platform.

An NHS England internal briefing note published today by the Financial Times said it would create an “admin” role which “permits unlimited access to non-NHS England staff” to the National Data Integration Tenant (NDIT) and identifiable patient data within it.

The NDIT is a part of a larger tool made to aggregate disparate NHS data into a single system called the Federated Data System, which earned Palantir a £330 million government contract in 2023.

As well as the controversial US tech firm, access to patients’ data could be given to any other outside firm contracted to work on the Federated Data System.

Previously, access to sensitive information required individuals working on the NDIT to apply for permission for specific data sets, the FT reported.

All-round access was initially meant to be reserved for NHS England employees with security clearance.

…

Article continues at https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/campaigners-and-union-reps-demand-nhs-cease-all-contracts-palantir

Related: Palantir to be granted ‘unlimited access’ to NHS patient data

Continue ReadingCampaigners and union reps demand NHS ‘cease all contracts with Palantir’