The media war confronting Palestinians is argued to be as devastating—if not more so—than the physical conflict itself. According to Abdullah M. Abu Shawesh, the Palestinian Ambassador to India, media narratives have long been used to delegitimise, dehumanise, and “Zionise” global perception, obscuring the realities of occupation and Palestinian suffering. He traces this phenomenon back to pre-state Zionist propaganda, noting how slogans such as “a land without people for a people without land” shaped Western discourse and paved the way for the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians during Al-Nakba, or “the Catastrophe.”
Abu Shawesh contends that the success of this propaganda relied heavily on exploiting European guilt over Nazi crimes and centuries of antisemitism to craft a narrative that absolved the international community from moral responsibility for Palestinian dispossession. He describes this long-standing effort as the “Zionisation of global conscience,” a deliberate manipulation that continues to distort perceptions of the conflict. The Ambassador highlights that, in the aftermath of events such as October 7, the dominant narrative frames Palestinians as aggressors while silencing decades of historical injustice, occupation, and systemic oppression.
Repetition of slogans like “Israel has the right to defend itself” and “Israel’s legitimate security concerns” is central to this media strategy. Abu Shawesh emphasizes that these phrases are presented as unquestionable truths, despite being legally and morally contestable. Under international law, an occupying power does not possess the unilateral right to self-defence against the population it occupies; rather, it is obligated to protect civilians. Yet mainstream media coverage consistently omits this context, framing Israel’s military actions as defensive while erasing Palestinian agency and the right to resist occupation.
Abu Shawesh further critiques how media narratives manipulate public perception. Stories about Gaza tunnels and human shields are selectively amplified to justify military action, while reports on Palestinian trauma and casualties are largely ignored or trivialized. Coverage routinely elevates Israeli suffering, portraying it as collective trauma warranting state-sanctioned retaliation, while Palestinian grief, injury, and displacement are marginalized. Even Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza face delegitimisation, with Western media insinuating bias despite the risks these journalists undertake to document daily realities.
The Ambassador also draws attention to the systematic erasure of occupation from public discourse. Terms like “Israel” and “Hamas” dominate narratives, but references to the ongoing occupation are suppressed, leaving audiences with a skewed understanding of causality and context. The cumulative effect, Abu Shawesh argues, is a global conscience conditioned to accept injustice as inevitable, to internalize Israel’s self-justifying rhetoric, and to view Palestinians through a lens of delegitimization.
Ultimately, Abu Shawesh frames countering this media manipulation as a critical extension of the Palestinian struggle. While physical conflict results in tangible destruction and loss of life, the media war undermines identity, humanity, and international support. He calls for a sustained effort to challenge these narratives, de-Zionise global perceptions, and restore recognition of Palestinian rights and experiences. According to him, accomplishing this task is both a moral imperative and a necessary strategy for advancing justice and peace.
