Israel's 'empire of lies' fuelled by disinformation, censorship: Altun

Members of the "global community of conscience" must act more forcefully to raise awareness in the world on war crimes Israel is committing, Türkiye's communications director has said.

"As members of the global community of conscience, we must use every means at our disposal to bring the situation in Gaza to the forefront of the agenda and shout out more forcefully to the world that Israel is committing war crimes," Fahrettin Altun said on Friday in his address at a symposium in Istanbul.

The two-day symposium, titled Media's Struggle for Truth in the Gaza War: Violence, Disinformation, Censorship, was organised in Istanbul by the Turkish Communications Directorate.

Altun said eminent figures from all over the world, each of them experts and experienced in their fields, were taking part in the symposium.

'Systematic disinformation campaigns'

He underlined that efforts have been ongoing since October 7 to call global attention to the "genocide committed by Israel in Gaza," as well as to expose Israel's "systematic disinformation campaigns, and to make the just voice of the oppressed people of Gaza heard all over the world."

Today, Israel is trying to destroy and eradicate a city, never to exist again, Altun said.

"It massacres civilians, children and women. It is deliberately targeting and killing health workers, journalists and civil society volunteers."

Israel is committing war crimes and genocide, he said, stressing the need to analyse, prove, and fight against this policy of genocide.

For this purpose, politicians, so-called scientists, soldiers, and technologies being used in this process must be exposed, said Altun.

Israel's 'image making industry'

To correctly analyse and fight against this "genocidal policy," Israel's "image-making industry," must be problematised, he added.

"Israel is an empire of lies," said Altun, adding that the country had become the most worldly and contemporary representative of fascism, racism, and colonialism in the Western sense.

"Israel has been persecuting the Palestinian people since its establishment and is the twentieth-century representative of Western imperialism and colonialism, which was institutionalised in the 19th century," he added.

In Western media and academia, Israelis are considered "progressive subjects of the Enlightenment", Palestine "an empty desert", and Palestinians, in the words of Edward Said, "a community of reactionary nomads," he said.

Altun added that the West sees Tel Aviv as the "representative and guarantor" of its interests in the Middle East and that Israel's "empire of lies" is fueled by violence, disinformation and censorship.

120 journalists killed in Gaza

Noting that Israel killed 120 journalists in Gaza since October 7, he said did this because they revealed the "truth."

He said Türkiye is working "intensively" to decipher the disinformation put out by Israel.

"We see it as a conscientious responsibility and duty on behalf of humanity to bring the war crimes committed by Israel and the genocide policy it pursues to the world's agenda."

The voices of Palestinians, journalists, and intellectuals who support Palestine are being silenced, he added.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on besieged Gaza after a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

At least 26,083 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 64,487 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.