Which death is less valuable than the other?

Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian Ambassador to Britain, asked the presenter on BBC television: "You invite us when Israelis die. Did you invite me when more than 200 Palestinians were killed in the last two months?" This question devastates any journalist whose conscience has not darkened. 

      Ambassador Zomlot approached the issue from a fundamental point. The lives of Palestinian civilians are just as valuable as the lives of Israeli civilians. However, the US and European media generally did not approach what is happening in Gaza with equal scales. They emphasized Hamas militants targeting civilians—women and children alike—while silently approving of the Israeli army raining bombs on civilians in Gaza and displacing them.   

    US President Biden, ignoring the fact that dozens of Palestinian children lost their lives due to Israeli bombs, was able to say "that he had seen photos of babies beheaded by Hamas." Although this was later denied by the White House, a major lie had already been conveyed to the public by the highest authority.

     Unfortunately, there were also those in Turkey who justified and supported Israel's disproportionate violence.However, our media highlighted the state terrorism that Palestinian civilians are subjected to more prominently. This was also the dominant trend on social media. Writer Sevan Nişanyan even justified the killing of over 200 civilians at a rock festival by Hamas militants, stating, 'Attempting to hold a rock festival right across from that concentration camp is an extreme end of shamelessness and baseness. I think anyone who attempts such a thing deserves everything.' Naturally, other extremists emerged to support him.

      It is understandable that Gaza being turned into a massive cage for years, the disregard for human rights, and the systematic violence inflicted upon them have created immense hatred among Palestinians. However, understanding this should not mean accepting Hamas's violence against civilians. 

      Once you start justifying one side's violence against civilians, you become a tool in the propaganda war. False photos and images are introduced; while one side's murders are condemned, massacres on the other side can be overlooked. When it comes to Israel and Gaza, those who oppose the killing of civilians by both sides can still apply double standards to murders within Turkey.

     One of the most recent examples is the mainstream media's stance on the October 10 Ankara train station massacre. The commemoration ceremonies on the 8th anniversary of the massacre, where 103 people lost their lives, did not even make the news in the mainstream media. Yet, the same media published extensive reports on the anniversary of the Kobani incidents, where 50 people died, and commemorated 16-year-old Yasin Börü, who was killed during those days. They did well to do so, but was the life of 9-year-old Veysel, who was killed in the Ankara train station massacre, any less valuable? 

   A second example is the pro-government media's stance regarding the banning of Gaza protests in European countries. They reacted to the bans there, but this week they did not mention the banning of the 'Saturday Mothers' protest at all. 

      This double standard must be the result of the moral decay in our country's journalism.

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ERKAN BAŞ'S UNJUSTIFIED COMPLAINT 

TİP Chairman Erkan Baş, who marched from Hatay to Ankara to protest the continued imprisonment of MP Can Atalay, complained about the media but made an exception for Sözcü:

   “The media is ignoring our march. Only Sözcü reports on our activities every day. I would like to express my gratitude for this support you provide in the name of informing the public.”

    Upon seeing these words from Baş in the October 11 edition of Sözcü, I immediately checked the archives. Sözcü had announced the start of the march on its front page on October 2;