How should the destruction in Gaza be reported?
Back in October Howard Jacobson wrote and article in which he equated the reporting on dead children in Gaza to class medieval antisemitic blood libel. I obviously had an incredibly strong response to this article. I've kind of been thinking about this for the last few months. There's this trend I noticed since the very beginning of the initial response to October 7 among some of the most prolifically online pro-Israel posters would often discourage people from looking at the images of the damage in Gaza especially the images of the dead, while at the same time saying everyone needs to see the images of October 7. Moving forward in the last few days Google earth imagery has been updated with images of Gaza at it's current level of destruction, allowing one to use the historical imagery to see the before and after of the war. I;ve seen some anger among a subset of pro-israeli posters online that google updated the imagery saying that it would cause an increase in anti-semitism.
Personally I believe that people should look at as much imagery of this war as they can take for their own mental health. I think people should see the images of October 7, and the images of the destruction and death in Gaza. I think people should have to have to reckon with the realities of war and not be able to just ignore the real world consequences of war. Human empathy is a strength not a weakness to be avoided.
A few questions to further encourage discussion
How should death in destruction in war be reported on generally?
Should it be reported on any differently for this specific conflict?
Do you think people should view the images of October 7?
Do you think people should view the images of death and destruction in Gaza?
Is empathy a weakness or a strength?
How much of a role should empathy play in our decision making?