Pope Praises Journalists, Ignores Netanyahu's Media Bloodlust
While His Holiness offers platitudes about 'land bloodied by bombs,' (Al Jazeera, 2025) the world watches Israel systematically target Palestinian journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists reports over 100 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023 – overwhelmingly Palestinian. This isn't just collateral damage; this is a deliberate strategy to control the
narrative, a tactic Israel used in 2008, 2012, and 2014, and now escalated beyond anything seen before. Perhaps the Pope missed the footage of Israeli forces bombing press offices or shooting reporters' vehicles. Perhaps the 'bravery' he praises only counts when it's not exposing the crimes of an allied state. It's easy to praise journalists when they're safely reporting from Ukraine, but a divine
silence descends when those same journalists are being silenced by the very 'land bloodied by bombs' that Israel's military operation creates.