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topicnews · October 24, 2024

CNN’s condolence piece about an Israeli soldier backfires after war crimes allegations surface

CNN’s condolence piece about an Israeli soldier backfires after war crimes allegations surface

On October 21, CNN published an article addressing the psychological trauma experienced by Israeli soldiers involved in the invasion of Gaza. The article failed to mention that those it sought to humanize had committed acts of murder, destroyed civilian infrastructure, and even filmed themselves doing so.

The story, titled “Israeli soldiers who returned from war with trauma and suicide,” received significant backlash. Readers have criticized CNN for trying to generate sympathy for combatants who, under international law and overwhelming video evidence, are responsible for committing war crimes

The article focused on the story of Eliran Mizrahi, a reserve soldier in the 271st Combat Engineering Battalion. Mizrahi took his own life after being injured by Palestinian resistance fighters. He was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

CNN presents Mizrahi as “a civilian most of his life who worked as a manager at an Israeli construction company.” After witnessing the Hamas massacres, he felt the need to fight.” This characterization was given to CNN by the soldier’s mother, Jenny provided, who also speculated: “I wonder if my son killed someone and didn’t come to terms with it.”

In reality, Mizrahi lived in the illegal, Jewish-only settlement of Ma’ale Adumim in the Palestinian West Bank, raising questions about what role his construction company may have played in building on occupied land in violation of international law. Mizrahi held the rank of Advanced Master Sergeant and was featured in an Israeli Channel 13 documentary entitled “Back from Gaza,” which included videos of him singing, smiling and laughing while taking part in the destruction of civilians houses took part.

His childhood friend Guy Zaken, who worked alongside Mizrahi as a D9 military bulldozer driver, testified before a Knesset committee that he and his crew had “run over hundreds of terrorists, dead and alive.”

“After Mizrahi took his own life, videos and photos emerged on social media showing the reservist leveling homes and buildings in Gaza and posing in front of destroyed buildings,” the CNN article says, adding that he “allegedly” shared the content on his own social media accounts. The article also quotes Mizrahi’s sister Shir, who said the online backlash was “hard,” adding, “I know he had a good heart.”

However, after reviewing Palestinian reporter Younis Tirawi’s material cataloged on social media, CNN’s characterization can be considered incorrect. The videos were uploaded online back in December 2023 and show Mizrahi layering strange music over footage of himself destroying civilian infrastructure and blowing up houses with explosives.

Tirawi has meticulously documented numerous cases in which Israeli soldiers released videos of themselves humiliating Palestinian civilians, destroying businesses, burning buildings, and wearing the underwear of displaced and murdered women. He has also highlighted cases of soldiers adding music to videos of themselves defecating in and destroying civilian homes. This trend, widespread among Israeli soldiers, has been described as a new form of “snuff film.”

Furthermore, both video evidence and the testimony of Mizrahi’s friend confirm that he was involved not only in the mutilation of Palestinian corpses and the extermination of living people, but also in the destruction of civilian infrastructure. A report published by Amnesty International said the actions of D9 bulldozer drivers like Mizrahi warrant a war crimes investigation.

“The Israeli military’s relentless campaign of annihilation in Gaza is a wanton campaign of destruction. “Our research has shown how Israeli forces have destroyed residential buildings, forced thousands of families from their homes and made their land uninhabitable,” said Amnesty’s Erika Guevara-Rosas.

Despite the reality, which was carefully researched and documented not only by Amnesty International but by a majority of human rights organizations around the world, CNN used language that carefully constructed a sympathetic narrative about the mental health of a soldier involved in actions , which the World Court has recognized as a plausible case of genocide.

Critics argue that CNN’s story is emblematic of a broader trend of double standards within the corporate media. For example, the New York Times has reported Israeli soldiers’ “panic attacks” as newsworthy, but offers no comparable coverage for the mental health of Lebanese or Palestinian civilians who are being killed and injured in large numbers.

Israel’s indiscriminate pager attack in Lebanon, which killed dozens and injured thousands, was praised and described as an act of ingenuity even though it targeted innocent civilians. Former CIA Director Leon Panetta called it a terrorist attack. But when Hezbollah launched a targeted drone strike against a military base, various media outlets referred to the four killed Israeli soldiers as “teenagers” and Sky News ceremoniously announced their names live.

In contrast, a Sky News presenter recently referred to a young Palestinian girl who was shot dead by an Israeli soldier as a “young lady” and explained that the bullet “found its way into her.”

Feature photo | A collage of photos from Eliran Mizrahi’s social media accounts documenting his time in Gaza

Robert Inlakesh is a political analyst, journalist and documentary filmmaker currently based in London, UK. He has reported from and lived in the occupied Palestinian territories and is host of the program “Palestine Files.” Director of “Theft of the Century: Trump’s Palestine-Israel Catastrophe.” Follow him on Twitter @falasteen47

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