Why I haven't written environmental news since Hamas's massacre - opinion

I haven’t written an article since October 7. One reason was that I have been completely swamped with reporting for WION, the TV station I work for. From the moment I wake up – as many of us do – I check the headlines, start work at 7 a.m., and in the first weeks I didn’t switch off until close to midnight. However, the other reason I haven’t written my usual monthly column is that it just didn’t seem to be so relevant, given the massacre that had taken place.

Who would care about carbon-reducing innovations or water-saving techniques when 3,000 Hamas terrorists had infiltrated Israel, shattering people’s feelings of safety and security? Really, who would be bothered to think about energy reductions or sustainable farming methods when farmers on the southern border weren’t even able to reach their crops in the early days and are still having to rely on volunteers to keep things going? And my usual favorite topics – healthy eating and food security – well, they went out the window. Chocolate has become a guilt-free daily staple; what does eating healthily matter when you see slaughter and read accounts of sexual violence?

No writing about Israeli environmental news after October 7 massacre

I was one of the 100 foreign journalists invited to watch the first screening of the raw footage from Hamas’s Go Pro body cams and the kibbutz CCTV cameras. I tried to detach myself somewhat, watching the footage while also observing the reactions of colleagues. It struck me that while some journalists in the room were crying from the start of the screening, for many the first audible gasp I heard was not when they saw people being slaughtered at the Supernova music festival or on the highways, but when a dog was shot.

I came away angry that I had felt it necessary to watch the footage because many people were already starting to question whether or not the October 7 atrocities had happened. One European journalist turned to me at the start of the screening to warn that this was Israeli hasbara (PR) and that the footage had not been verified, to which an American journalist reminded her that Hamas’s own social media had boasted of the atrocities.

OVER THE weeks that have followed since, we have seen intersectionality at play, with some progressive campaign groups appearing to throw their weight behind Hamas. Greta Thunberg, arguably the most high-profile environmental campaigner, was photographed holding a “Stand with Gaza” sign a mere two weeks after Hamas’s massacre and before the war started in full. Israel retweeted, saying, “Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets, which have BUTCHERED innocent Israelis.”

The support for Hamas of Queers 4 Palestine has been compared by some to “Chickens for KFC,” with Hamas’s clear stance on homosexuality, which includes throwing gay people off buildings. Black Lives Matter activists have been seen marching with signs reading “White Silence Is Violence.” However, commentators pointed out that they didn’t see a comment from the group when Tanzanian agriculture intern Joshua Mollel was taken hostage and killed in captivity.

The MeToo movement, which emphasizes the need to believe women when they say they have been raped, was accused of morphing into “MeToo except if you’re a Jew.” Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll, co-founder of the women’s rights organization Chochmat Nashim, said: “The denial of the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli women by women’s organizations around the world is a denial not only of our humanity but of the values that we have all worked so hard to bring to light.”

While many Israelis have played a supportive role in these campaign groups in the past, it appears that this support is not being reciprocated. No matter how tolerant Israel is of women’s rights or gay rights (often receiving Palestinian women or LGBTQ+ people fleeing from the threat of honor killings), Israel often stands accused of “pinkwashing.” And no matter how much technology Israel produces to help businesses and people improve their carbon footprint, Israel is often accused of “greenwashing.”

Those who make such accusations appear united in expressing concern for Palestinian civilians, many of whom have been internally displaced, sometimes multiple times as they seek to find safety away from the fighting. Israel repeatedly says that the IDF is not targeting civilians but Hamas, in a war that Israel did not start but that must end with the end of Hamas. That’s because Hamas has publicly stated that it plans to carry out multiple October 7-style massacres against Israelis “again and again and again.”

White House spokesperson John Kirby has suggested that Israel has done perhaps more than even the United States would do to give warnings to Palestinian civilians – and therefore also to Hamas – in advance of strikes. He said he doesn’t know of many militaries around the world that would “telegraph its punches” like that. And US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan confirmed that Hamas hides behind civilians (using them as human shields) and fights in populated areas, including hospitals, mosques, and schools.

ISRAELIS HAVE also been badly affected by the war that has followed October 7, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people, thousands of rockets, over 130 hostages still being held captive in Gaza, and widespread PTSD across the country. In addition, Israelis are also having to deal with repeated accusations of genocide, denial of the Hamas atrocities committed against Israel, and growing antisemitism abroad, including calls to globalize the intifada.

The war itself is still very much ongoing, with Israel now facing attacks on seven fronts, according to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant: by Hamas in Gaza, Judea and Samaria (the West Bank); Hezbollah in Lebanon and Syria; the Islamic Resistance in Iraq; the Houthis in Yemen; and by Iran itself. While many progressive groups abroad see the lack of a two-state solution as being the source of the violence, Israel sees Iran at the center of this war.

Iran has itself said that October 7 was a response to the killing of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani. While Hamas has denied this, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has accused Iran of raising tensions in the region by backing its proxies, and called on Iran to de-escalate.

Despite various ongoing talks to try to end the war, release all the hostages, and find a long-term solution in Gaza, the fighting is not expected to end anytime soon. In fact, it’s expected to continue throughout 2024, although at a lower intensity. In the meantime, while many Israelis of course believe that protecting the planet is important, most agree that saving lives in the short term has to be the number one priority for Israel right now.  

The writer is Middle East correspondent for India’s WION (World Is One) TV news. The author of Tikkun Olam: Israel vs COVID-19, she has helped numerous multinationals report on their contributions to tackling the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. On X: @JodieCohen613