Israel-Hamas war: Freedom of expression threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, says UN expert

U.N. expert raises issue of severe threats to freedom of expression in Gaza, with journalists targeted and Palestinian supporters suppressed globally.

Freedom of expression has been threatened more seriously in Gaza than in any recent conflict, with journalists targeted in the war-torn territory and Palestinian supporters targeted in many countries, a United Nations expert said on Friday (October 18, 2024).

Irene Khan, the U.N. independent investigator on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, pointed to attacks on the media and the targeted killings and arbitrary detention of dozens of journalists in Gaza.

“The banning of Al Jazeera, the tightening of censorship within Israel and in the occupied territories, seem to indicate a strategy of the Israeli authorities to silence critical journalism and obstruct the documentation of possible international crimes,” she said.

Ms. Khan also sharply criticized the “discrimination and double standards” that have seen restrictions and suppression of pro-Palestinian protests and speech. She cited bans in Germany and other European countries, protests that were “crushed harshly” on U.S. college campuses, and Palestinian national symbols and slogans prohibited and even criminalized in some countries.

The U.N. special rapporteur also pointed to “the silencing and sidelining of dissenting voices in academia and the arts”, with some of the best academic institutions in the world failing to protect all members of their community, “whether Jewish, Palestinian, Israeli, Arab, Muslim, or otherwise.” While social media platforms have been a lifeline for communications to and from Gaza, Khan said, they have seen an upsurge in disinformation, misinformation and hate speech — with Arabs, Jews, Israelis and Palestinians all targeted online.

She stressed that Israel's military actions in Gaza and its decades of occupation of Palestinian territories are matters of public interest, scrutiny and criticism.

Ms. Khan earlier presented her report on “the global crisis of freedom of expression arising from the conflict in Gaza” to the General Assembly's Human Rights Committee.