Thread by @NimerSultany

A thread on Israeli journalists and "direct & public incitement to commit genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza:

In January the @CIJ_ICJ ordered Israel to take all measures to prevent & punish incitement to commit genocide. The Court "reaffirmed" this in March and May.

In South Africa's 29 May public dossier that was submitted to the UN Security Council, Annex III includes 7 pages on incitement to genocide by 5 prominent journalists and pundits.

The importance of these examples lies in the fact that they repeatedly and publicly, over 8 months, continued to incite to genocide, and genocidal acts, including as we shall see more recent examples.

Their incitement promoted the view that all Palestinian civilians in Gaza are killable, that it is permissible to target innocent civilians because they do not exist in Gaza, that all of Gaza should be wiped out.

One of those mentioned by South Africa is Shimon Riklin of Channel 14.

Recently, after the massacre in Al-Nusseirat, Riklin retweeted a long post by journalist Schlesinger that denies the existence of "uninvolved" (i.e. innocents) in Gaza (see below) and commented that destroying the entire Gaza is a religious duty.

Yehuda Schlesinger, "a reporter for Israel Hayom, one of the most widely distributed newspapers in Israel", repeatedly tweeted that there "are no innocents in Gaza" and "no ordinary civilians".

Recently, 11 June, he repeated his claim that "there are no uninvolved in Gaza" - a euphemism for "all Palestinians in Gaza are killable and deserve to be killed".

In fact, on 9 June, he wrote a quasi-manifesto seeking to show how broad and systematic is the lack of innocence and lack of civilian status in Gaza: voters, those who cheered, doctors, UNRWA workers, all 2.3 million. All not innocent.

As mentioned above, another prominent journalist Shimon Riklin concluded from this mini-manifesto that all of Gaza should be destroyed.

Another prominent journalist that South Africa includes in its submission, is Zvi Yehezkeli, who until recently worked for Channel 13.

Another example is Almog Boker of Channel 13, known for repeated calls to destroy all of Gaza and rejecting the distinction between Hamas and the civilian population.

On 9 June, Boker jumped on the rumor that a hostage was held in the house of "Al-Jazeera journalist", which Al-Jazeera denied, to repeat the mantra that the family of anyone "involved" and even their "silent" neighbours are killable.

Important to note that while Channel 14 and Israel Hayom are pro-Netanyahu outlets, Channel 13 is not, but is considered a relatively more liberal channel. Thus, the incitement to genocide extends beyond the Ben-Gvir and Netanyahu crowds.

As Israel's prominent TV “expert” on Arab and Palestinian affairs for over 2 decades, where he promoted racism against Arabs & Muslims, Yehezkeli’s statements carry a special weight and impact.

As one Haaretz journalist wrote on 28 December, Yehezkeli represents "the spirit of the time and place".

The legal importance of these examples is threefold:

1. they show Israel's lack of punishment and prevention of incitement to genocide. Quite the contrary, these prominent journalists continue to be provided with platforms to spew hatred, over 8 months.

Note that legally that a conviction of "direct & public incitement" does not require proving that the result was achieved. The content of the message is sufficient. Unless, incitement is considered as a form of "complicity in genocide", which is a separate violation.

2. They serve as another indication of Israel's violation of the ICJ provisional measures in Jan, March, and May 2024, solidifying Israel's status as a rogue state.

3. They also provide a further indication of Israel's violation of Israel's duty to prevent genocide. This duty imposes a "positive obligation" on states, meaning that they are required to act to ensure that violations of the Genocide Convention do not occur.