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Source: https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/22869/gaza-hamas-controls-media-story
How Hamas Controls the Story Coming Out of Gaza
(Gatestone Institute) Khaled Abu Toameh - Palestinian journalist and photographer Motaz Azaiza's images from Gaza reached millions of people around the world. He was named one of TIME magazine's "100 Most Influential People." Azaiza recently revealed how journalists operated under Hamas rule. They were pressured to suppress criticism of Hamas. When Palestinians blamed Israel, the cameras kept rolling. When Palestinians blamed Hamas, the cameras were turned off. Azaiza said that stepping outside this framework exposes journalists to intense backlash, including organized online campaigns, accusations of treason, and physical intimidation inside Gaza. He also disclosed that he grew up supporting Hamas and that Hamas's culture of "resistance" was part of his childhood environment. These admissions help explain why the outside world has heard relatively little from Gaza about Hamas's responsibility for the suffering of Palestinians under its rule. How much of the story coming out of Gaza has been shaped by what journalists were permitted to show? Journalism conducted under intimidation cannot automatically be treated as independent journalism. Azaiza also said he filmed Israeli hostages being beaten by Palestinian crowds after they were kidnapped to Gaza. He said he chose not to publish the footage because he feared that publication could allow Israel to identify the people involved. Azaiza's account offers a possible explanation for one of the most striking features of the coverage from Gaza: the extraordinary visibility of Palestinian suffering accompanied by comparatively little visibility of Palestinian anger toward Hamas. Azaiza's interview proves that the process by which information emerged from Gaza was not as independent as many people assumed.