Since Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel has launched a massive military offensive and imposed strict restrictions on journalists’ access to Gaza, leading some to describe the situation as an “information war.” With limited access, the media struggles to get a full picture of what is happening on the ground—in a world plagued with violence, journalism is more important than ever.
Samer Badawi, a Palestinian-American journalist, shared his critical insights on journalists’ role in covering the Gaza crisis on Nov. 19 at JCU. His writing and analysis have been featured by +972 Magazine, The Progressive, Al Jazeera, BBC, The Washington Post and other outlets. Badawi reported from Gaza during the 2014 conflict and has been covering the ongoing tensions between Israel and Palestine for the better part of two decades.
There has been over a year of violence in Gaza. In the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Israel responded with a massive military response. As of Nov. 23, the Gaza Health Ministry reports that approximately 44,056 Palestinians have been killed and 104,268 wounded since the start of the conflict, in addition to 1,706 Israelis killed.
Of those thousands killed, between 134 and 149 journalists and media workers have lost their lives while trying to report on the war, the vast majority of which are Palestinian.
The event, “Journalism Amid the Ruins: Spotlight on Gaza,” was co-sponsored by the Arrupe Social Justice Scholars Program, Tim Russert Department of Communication, Smiley Chair in Business Ethics and Department of Political Science with JCU’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine.
In the Donahue Auditorium, approximately 50 students, faculty, staff and community members were dispersed among the rows as Philip Metres, who holds a doctorate in English and serves as a professor and director of the Peace, Justice and Human Rights program at JCU, introduced Badawi.
Badawi spoke for close to an hour, covering his experience as a Palestinian-American and child of Palestinian immigrants, before walking the audience through his time covering the 2014 conflict in Gaza on the ground and reporting on those in years prior (2008–2009, 2012, 2021) while showing gruesome photos of the violence and destruction inflicted on Palestinians.
He prefaced his talk with a claim that “seeing those of you who chose to be with us tonight, irrespective of your views on the matter, the point [is] for us to be able to convene together.”
He explained, “I have spent my entire life watching my parents watch the news and cry over and over and over again scenes of children being killed, homes being demolished, of innocent people ostracized and exiled from their homeland.”
“But if you came to hear me talk about two sides to the story that I call a genocide in Gaza,” he said, “you’ve come to the wrong place.”
“The only thing that I have to say about the word genocide is that the gentleman [Raphael Lemkin, a Polish Jewish lawyer] who coined the term, has an institute in his name, and that institute [sic] has termed what Israel itself is doing in Gaza genocidal.”
Badawi stated, “I’m not here to debate that with anyone, I’m happy to answer more questions about why I arrive at the conclusion that so many others have.”
He clarified that “the point of my talk is not to begin with that premise but rather to begin with what those of us in this room can do to end the killing and slaughter in Gaza, and to do it in a way that honors not only the more than 45 thousand people that have been killed.”
“Not only those people, we’re here tonight to think about ways to honor the children, the parents, the women, the elderly, that died on Oct. 7 because lord knows that the Israeli leadership empowered today is doing nothing to do that,” exclaimed Badawi.
He wrapped up his talk by looking to the future and sharing his ideas on how the average citizen can help end this conflict.
“What you have in the state of Israel is a nuclear-armed country with the largest military in the Middle East,” said Badawi, “by virtue of the fact that it has American support.” He proposed that part of the solution may lie in working across the aisle with “MAGA Republicans” to “game the system to make this happen.”
“It’s high time that we stop framing Gaza and the people in it and the West Bank— and indeed Lebanon— as people who are hapless victims whose only job is to survive and be resilient,” he said, “We are here to liberate our land.”
A member of the audience (whose identity is unknown) asked Badawi, “From the beginning to the end, the majority of your theme was around genocide, but you never defined it. Could you give a brief definition of that for us today?”
Badawi quickly responded, “Sure. If you look at what’s happening in Northern Gaza right now, which is the emptying out of—” The audience member cut him off and reiterated his question, “Could you give us a textbook definition?”
“No. I would invite you to go read the textbook definition,” said Badawi, showing no signs of backing down from this exchange, “I told you I wasn’t going to begin with that premise.” He did state this at the beginning of his talk, however, he also said, “I’m happy to answer more questions about why I arrive at the conclusion [genocide] that so many others have.”
“This is a college but you don’t want to answer,” said the audience member.
Badawi fired back, “I told you, you can go to the Limkin Institute. Would you like me to pull it up online? I’m not here to defend whether the Lemkin Institute has a definition that it [sic] has applied to Gaza.” The exchange only escalated from this point.
The audience member snapped, “Who taught you well?”
“Who taught me well?!” said Badawi. The two began to talk over each other at this point and what was exactly said is difficult to decipher. The full talk is embedded in this article.
Badawi, again showed no interest in de-escalating the situation and said, “Explain it to me.”
The audience member said, “How many of those were terrorists? How many of those were murderers, rapists, that burned the elderly alive?”
Badawi response was, “Let’s go. Let’s go. Come on.”
The rest of the exchange was a myriad of shouting while other audience members, growing uncomfortable, began to tell the audience member arguing with Badawi that what he was saying were “lies.” Another faculty member and Metres intervened and took the microphone away from the man and tried to move forward and give others opportunities to ask questions.
That audience member left once a JCUPD officer, who was present at the start of the event, but left before this heated exchange, returned. The rest of the event went on as planned.
The heated exchange during Badawi’s talk highlighted the intense emotions and deep divisions that surround the Israel-Palestine conflict. Yet, the event ultimately underscored the power of journalism to challenge narratives and bring hidden truths to light. As Badawi emphasized, the role of the media in exposing the realities of war is essential, not just for understanding the current crisis, but for fostering dialogue and inspiring action toward a just and peaceful resolution.
