Gaza journalists Motaz Azaiza, Bisan decry world apathy towards Israel's onslaught

Young Palestinian journalists and content creators who have been key in bringing the realities of life in Gaza to the global stage have expressed their intense frustration over the international community's lack of response to the atrocities they report.

Since Israel began bombarding Gaza almost two months ago, journalists and filmmakers in the Palestinian territory have persevered through communications blackouts, relentless airstrikes and deep personal loss to document the devastation, sharing content through various social media platforms.

But several of these journalists have said that their will to keep up the indispensable work is waning, as a seemingly unfazed Israel persists with a brutal onslaught that has so far killed more than 15,500 people.

"The phase of risking your life to show what’s happening is now over and the phase of trying to survive has started," wrote Motaz Azaiza, a photographer-turned-journalist born and raised in the Deir al-Balah refugee camp in Gaza.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Plestia Alaqad | بلستيا العقاد (@byplestia)

Azaiza's work initially focused on picturing everyday life in Gaza, before evolving to cover Israel's wars on Gaza in 2014 and 2021.

His following on Instagram has grown exponentially since Israel began its latest military campaign on 7 October, from 25,000 to more than 13 million.  

"Remember that we’re not content to be shared, we are a nation that is getting killed and we’re trying not to be ethnically cleansed," he said in a recent post.

Young filmmaker Bisan Owda has also garnered worldwide attention for her heart-wrenching video updates from Gaza, which open with some variations of the line: "I’m still alive."

In a post made on Instagram over the weekend, she spoke of her diminishing hopes of survival and her struggle with physical illness and nightmares.

"My message to the world: You are not innocent of what is happening to us, you as governments or peoples that support Israel’s annihilation of my people," she said in the caption of her post.

"We will not forgive you, we will not forgive you, humanity will not forgive you, we will not forget, even if we die, the history will never forget."

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Bisan’8 - حكواتية (@wizard_bisan1)

Saleh Al Jafarawi ia another journalist who has been documenting violence against those in Gaza since the war's onset.

Despite reportedly being on the Israeli army’s "red list" for assassination, he continues to post updates, though he says that he fears the world will only awaken to the suffering of the people of Gaza once it is too late.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by صالح الجعفراوي (@saleh_aljafarawi)

Hamza El Dahdouh, who lost his mother and siblings in an Israeli airstrike in October and is the son of Al Jazeera correspondent Wael El Dahdouh, questioned the world's inaction despite the continuous stream of information on what i s happening in Gaza.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Hamza Wael (@hamza_w_dahdooh)

"58 days of documenting and publishing everything that happens to try to convince the world that what is happening is a crime and genocide against civilians and no one moved. Do you need another 58 days to confirm?", Dahdouh wrote.