Amira Hass: "Even I find it difficult to say that Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide."

BarcelonaAmira Hass (Jerusalem, 1958) is an Israeli journalist and writer internationally recognized for her coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hass is the author of the book Drinking the Sea at Gaza, has documented daily life in the Gaza Strip and the West Bankwhere she has lived for thirty years. The writer is one of the most respected and challenging voices in her country. We spoke via video conference.

To what extent has living in Gaza—not just reporting on it—transformed your understanding of employment and Palestinian society?

— When I arrived, I already knew I was against the occupation, and living there reinforced my position. Then, of course, you get to know people not just as a consequence of employment or oppression. I loved that society: warm, welcoming, full of humor, innovative, and very patient and tolerant. I never had to hide that I am a Jew born in Israel.

How did he manage the boundary between journalistic observation and personal involvement with the families who hosted him?

— The difficulty was seeing what life is like under occupation: it's so unjust... In the 1990s, in some ways, it was easier because everyone had hope for change. I was skeptical, but there was a feeling that things would get better. Now, living in the West Bank, seeing the injustice and these evil policies every day, it's very difficult.

After so many years covering Gaza, what has impacted you the most about the current situation?

— Do you mean genocide? I can't believe I'm witnessing the complete destruction of a society. The people have extraordinary resilience. But I know many also want to flee. Although the national narrative says no, that people are going to stay, reconstruction depends on Trump's whims and Israeli decisions.

He has spoken of genocide. It won't be easy to do so now in Israel.

— No. It's not even about the silence and complicity of the Israeli opposition with the settlers' attacks every day. The Israeli opposition does nothing. For me, it's already difficult to say that Israel has committed and continues to commit genocide. Of course, there's enormous denial of this fact in Israel. The Israeli media doesn't show them what they've seen in Spain.

Here, the social support for Benjamin Netanyahu is difficult to understand. What is sustaining him politically? Is it just a media issue, or is there strong, political support?

— Look, according to the polls, his party, Likud, gets the highest percentage of the vote, but it's only 23%. And the parties that directly support him represent less than 50%, but we have the feeling that they are very powerful because everyone benefits. Likud, the religious Zionists—the most racist—and the Orthodox Jews, who aren't considered Zionists but are, in fact, Zionists, have attacked the bourgeois and liberal judicial system of the middle class, which was never liberal toward the Palestinians but tolerated and expanded the liberal rights of Jews.

Does it make any sense to talk about two states today?

— In 2016, Bezalel Smotrich [Minister of Finance and leader of the Religious Zionist Party] presented a plan that denied Palestinians the right to a state and to express their national identity within the country. They were told they had to accept being second-class citizens or leave, and if they resisted, the army would deal with them. This plan has been implemented over the past two and a half years. When the two-state solution was discussed in the 1970s, it was to recognize that there were two peoples with equal rights. Today, only Israeli Jews have rights in Israel, and without equality, there is no secure future for either people.

Returning to journalism: how do you manage the pressures and criticism within Israel to document the Palestinian situation with a critical eye?

— It's very difficult to write about something readers don't want to read about. This has been my biggest problem from the beginning. When I started, in the 1990s, I was naive: I thought that if I told the story, people would see it, that the occupation wasn't over. Before, people were more willing to hear that there was repression and oppression. But with the Oslo Accords It was very easy to say, "We already have an agreement, the Palestinians are no longer occupied, what are they complaining about?" This has been the problem.

Have you experienced forms of censorship, explicit or implicit?

— There is undoubtedly a social censorship that subtly influences the newspaper. Of course Haaretz It's the most open newspaper among the mainstream media. You notice it, especially at the beginning and during, for example, the Second Intifada, and also afterward. the Hamas attack of October 7Editors subtly suggest that "now is not the time" for certain approaches or that "there's no space." The problem lies with those who don't want to know and say so. "We don't want to show what's happening."

Journalists often have to demonstrate balance. What does it mean to be fair and rigorous in such an asymmetrical context?

— I don't know what it means balanceWe're talking about the truth. The truth isn't balanced. We have to be fair, professional, and make sure we're not being lied to, that the information is accurate. If I don't have all the details, I say so. I explain where I get the information. And sometimes I trust my friends more because I know they won't lie to me.

Have you experienced moments of emotional exhaustion?

— Yes. I live among Palestinians, but I can leave at any time; they can't. During the Second Intifada, there were times when Ramallah was bombed every morning, and one day I woke up and said, "Okay, that's too much." Compared to now, all of this seems easy.

How can we document what is happening in Gaza when international journalists are barred from entering and Palestinians are being killed?

— There are many young journalists who continue working, taking photos and videos, reporting. Visual evidence exists. The question isn't whether they are foreigners or locals. The issue is that Hamas has a very strong grip on the population. There are phenomena in Gaza that we may not be aware of because they cannot be openly explained. There is also a form of social self-censorship among Palestinians.

When did he last enter Gaza?

— In 2010. And, in fact, I entered three times in a year and a half. In November 2008, I arrived by boat. It was a Free Gaza initiative. And at that time, the Israelis were allowing boats to enter. I stayed with some friends, one of whom was very politically important in the Palestinian left. Hamas expelled me after three weeks. Three months later, the 2008-2009 war broke out, at the end of December. I entered Gaza through Rafah and stayed there for five months. The third time was only for three days.

CHow do we preserve trust in journalism?

— We need to explain the difference between journalism and social media messages. Journalism is about verifying facts, listening to different voices, showing different perspectives, checking information, and knowing how to use language that resonates with people and isn't hostile. And secondly, we journalists have a kind of unwritten contract with the public: that we amplify voices to hold power to account.