Media Confronting Genocide: Open Discussions vs. “Shadow Bans”
As I noted in my recent report on Madrid’s October 15, 2023 Palestine solidarity march, protesters here in Spain have been seeking to focus attention on the genocidal aspects of Israel’s actions in Gaza. “No es una guerra, es un genocidio!” (“It’s not a war, it’s a genocide”) is one of the most common slogans heard at these solidarity events.
For this reason, I was very interested in an interview featured in Spanish public broadcaster RTVE’s nightly news program La Noche en 24H last evening (October 18). Program host Xabier Fortes sought to shed light on the genocide issue by speaking with one of the most important international voices on war crimes prosecution. It was a refreshingly direct conversation.
I thought it was important to share this story with a broader, English-speaking audience for at least three reasons:
It directly implicates the U.S. and its European allies, who have provided consistent and often uncritical support to Israel instead of taking strong steps to prevent genocide.
It validates the ongoing calls from Spain’s leftist Podemos party for Spain to bring a case against Israeli leaders to the International Criminal Court.
My own experience of posting about the interview on Facebook reinforced recent reports that there are active efforts to “shadow ban” users who post about genocide in Palestine.
A genocide in progress
During a program that included in-studio discussion/debate as well as reports on various aspects of the ongoing Israel/Hamas story, Fortes interviewed Argentine lawyer Luis Moreno Ocampo, who was the first prosecutor for the International Criminal Court between 2003 and 2012. Moreno Ocampo played a key role in helping to prosecute members of Argentina’s military junta for crimes committed during the country’s dictatorship (1976-1983).
[The full program is available to view (in Spanish) on RTVE’s website at https://www.rtve.es/play/videos/la-noche-en-24-horas/18-10-23/6992771/. The interview with Moreno Ocampo begins at the 1:12:00 mark.]
In response to Fortes’ direct questions about possible war crimes, Moreno Ocampo began by noting that the ICC has the jurisdiction to hold both Israelis and Palestinians accountable for such crimes.
On the question of genocide, he was clear and direct, referencing relevant provisions of international law. He affirmed that Israel’s actions in Gaza could absolutely be considered genocide because they include blockading an entire population, preventing the entry of essentials such as food and water, and forcibly transferring members of the population. These actions, he insisted, demonstrate that there is not simply a threat or possibility of genocide; rather, there is a genocide already underway. (Note: Many Palestinians would argue that the genocide has been underway for 75 years.)
When asked about the massacre at the hospital in Gaza, Moreno Ocampo said that while it is obviously important to determine what happened and who is responsible, the issue of Israeli war crimes (including the crime of genocide) was clearly established before that incident ever took place.
The perspective that Moreno Ocampo offered in this interview was entirely consistent with what he has been saying publicly in recent days.
U.S. and European complicity
One of the most important parts of the interview concerned the issue of international responsibility and complicity. Moreno Ocampos emphasized that as signatories to the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide, the U.S. and its European allies have the obligation to prevent genocide from happening. In other words, it is not enough to do something after the fact; failure to take concrete steps to prevent genocide constitutes complicity.
When asked what Spain, specifically, could realistically do, he affirmed that Spain could ask the ICC to open a case against Israel for genocide. This is exactly what Spain’s Minister of Social Rights Ione Belarra and other members of her Podemos party (which is part of the country’s current coalition government) have been calling for in recent days. In an October 19 interview, Belarra spelled out the steps that would be required: cut off diplomatic relations with Israel, push for a European arms embargo, levy economic sanctions against top Israeli leaders (similar to what was done against Vladimir Putin after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine).
Media silences and “shadow bans”
As is often the case, I found myself comparing Spanish media coverage with the coverage found in the U.S., where open discussions of Israel war crimes tend to be limited to independent outlets like Democracy Now!. (See their recent interviews with Raz Segal and Mustafa Barghouti.)
The coverage in Spain is certainly not perfect; indeed, one could argue that major Spanish media have been helping to feed a process of moving Spanish public opinion away from support for Palestinians toward sympathy for the EU’s position in support of Israel. But the RTVE interview with Moreno Ocampos was different and undeniably important in terms of providing viewers with an essential perspective on international law and its relevance to what is happening on the ground in Gaza. Imagine if American viewers tuning into CNN or MSNBC were to be exposed to a similar perspective…
Finally, it must be noted that this issue is directly connected with ongoing and very troubling dynamics on social media, where some users have found themselves subjected to so-called “shadow bans” while posting material in support of the Palestinian people. I am seeing increasing discussion of this issue in my networks among people whose accounts have been directly affected.
Last evening, a friend messaged me to ask me, in reference to my Facebook presence, “What happened to your Share button?” I had just posted a brief summary of the Moreno Ocampos interview on my Facebook wall (with audience set to “Friends”).
And sure enough, when I checked, I discovered that the Share option was missing.
