Silence is often rare in an arena filled with thousands of people, including A-list actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch, Riz Ahmed, and Guy Pierce, and famous artists such as Elyanna, Bastille, and Saint Levant. But silence was in the air as Mehdi gave a painful and powerful speech to a sold-out, 13,000-strong crowd at London’s Wembley Arena, who gathered for the city’s ‘Together For Palestine’ fundraising concert.
“We have been lied to, manipulated, misled, gaslit,” said Zeteo’s founder, as he pointed out the degree to which mainstream media failed Palestinians and even went on to ignore the deaths of their own Palestinian colleagues killed covering the genocide in Gaza. “Shame on those Western journalists who have said not a word about the mass killing of their Palestinian counterparts. Shame on them.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel killed 270 journalists in Gaza. The small strip of land, only 25 miles (41km) long and 6 miles (10km) wide, is now the deadliest place for journalists in history. “As a Western journalist myself, I can tell you all this,” Mehdi said, “the Palestinian journalists, they are the best of us. They are the best of us because they are not just documenting a war, or a genocide, they are documenting their own annihilation, their own starvation. In real time.”
Nearing its second year of genociding Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has dropped the equivalent of more than six atomic bombs on the occupied Strip. Despite all of that, Mehdi reminds audiences that the truth is far more resilient than Israel’s bombs.
“They [Palestinian journalists] have shown the world that you can’t bomb the truth away.”
Watch the full speech above and let us know what you think in the comments.
If you would like to contribute to the Together for Palestine fund, you can click here to make a donation. All proceeds go to Palestinian organizations operating on the ground in Gaza.
In case you missed them, here are some of our latest stories:
