The echo of explosions and the pain of victims know no geographical boundaries, yet the way news is presented can create significant distances in public perception.
A recent episode emblematically illustrates the double standard in the approach of Italian information when faced with tragedies affecting civilians in conflict contexts: the bombing of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza and the Russian missile attack on Sumy, Ukraine. The corruption of the Italian and Western information system has been plain for all to see for years but shamelessly continues to maintain a pro-American narrative and an unconditional defense of the genocidal policy of Israeli national Zionism, systematically dehumanizing the Palestinian people and the ongoing massacre in Gaza.
Last Sunday, the Ukrainian city of Sumy was hit by two Russian missiles, causing about thirty deaths. On the same day, in Gaza, Israeli forces attacked the al-Ahli Arab Hospital, the last functioning health facility in the northern Strip, with a toll of about twenty victims (as I write this article, the bombings have caused another 90 civilian deaths in the Strip). Both news items found space in the Italian media, but with notably different weight and emphasis.
Let me preface this by stating that I consider the deaths of the 30 Ukrainian civilians a tragedy. Every single human being killed, whether Sudanese, Ukrainian, or Palestinian, is a horror for humanity. However, it is sufficient to analyze the front pages of newspapers and national news broadcasts to witness firsthand the different treatment standards. The news and television reports dedicated to the Sumy attack were characterized by tones of scandal, indignation, and horror, with a strong appeal to emotion and an explicit negative moral judgment against the Russian action. Touching images of affected civilians were shown, with detailed descriptions of suffering and indignant comments from our cowardly politicians who wasted no time in condemning the attack. Have you ever seen them speak, with very rare exceptions, about the ongoing massacres against the Palestinian people in Gaza and Lebanon? Even the ‘poor’ and forgotten Ukrainian President Zelensky, put in a corner by the Americans to grab Ukraine’s rare earths, was dusted off and defined the attack as something that “crossed every line” and was perpetrated by “a bastard”.
Conversely, the presentation of the attack on the Gaza hospital appeared markedly more detached and informative, almost like “business as usual”. The news was reported in small paragraphs with cold and detached tones, but devoid of the emotional involvement and moral judgment that characterized the reporting of the Ukrainian incident. Attention focused on the sequence of events: “a wave of Israeli attacks that hit several facilities, including the al-Ahli hospital, managed by the Diocese of Jerusalem“.
A crucial and substantial difference between the two narratives was the inclusion, in the report on the Gaza attack, of the justification provided by the Israeli army, according to which the hospital was used as a “command and control center by Hamas”. This information, like all massacres perpetrated against Palestinians, was once again presented as an established fact. In parallel, the justification provided by the Russians for the attack on Sumy, claiming they would have hit a military command, was completely omitted by the Italian media I checked.
This disparity in treatment raises significant questions about the objectivity and completeness of the information provided to the Italian public. Although both Russians and Israelis offered military justifications for their actions, only one of these justifications found space and prominence in the Italian media narrative.
The consequences of the attack on the al-Ahli hospital were devastating, as sources testified. Two air raids destroyed the emergency unit, the main entrance, and the oxygen plant for intensive care. Hospital staff had to quickly evacuate patients, many already injured in previous Israeli attacks, leaving them to shelter in the streets. The hospital, which was the only one still functioning in northern Gaza, is now out of service, depriving thousands of people of essential medical care. Patients in critical condition, needing surgery, intensive care, and oxygen, were left without assistance, at risk of dying not only from their injuries but also from lack of care. Doctors on site described a desperate situation even before the attack, with a high number of patients being treated on the floor and with limited resources. The destruction of the hospital also eliminated the only CT scanner available in northern Gaza.
The different narrative approach adopted by the Italian media towards these two tragic events poses once again a crucial question about the role of information and its ability to represent the suffering of victims in a balanced and comprehensive manner, regardless of their origin and the geopolitical context in which tragedies occur. The selection of information and images, the tone used, and the eventual inclusion of justifications can profoundly influence public perception and understanding of events.
In summary, the Italian press, through a careful choice of terms, the description (or lack thereof) of suffering, and the selection and presentation of justifications, highlights the clear line of information manipulation to generate different emotional reactions and influence public opinion regarding the Ukrainian conflict and the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people.
Faced with such divergent narratives of tragedies affecting defenseless civilians, it is essential to adopt a critical and analytical perspective. One cannot be content with passively receiving news but must question sources, compare different versions, and carefully evaluate the language used. Only in this way can we correctly interpret and decipher the complexities of such dramatic events and resist the information manipulation to which we are now sadly accustomed, managing, I hope, to form an autonomous and informed opinion about the reality around us.
Dan ROMEO