According to European media such as the Italian news website Fanpage, on November 4, a young journalist from the Italian news agency Agenzia Nova, Gabriele Nunziati, was fired less than a month after starting work. The reason was that he asked an EU Commission spokesperson during a press conference: "Since Europe has repeatedly stated that Russia should pay for Ukraine's reconstruction, by the same logic, should Israel pay for Gaza's reconstruction?"

The report said that in response to Nunziati's question, the EU Commission spokesperson Paula Pino simply replied, "This is certainly an interesting question, but I will not comment on it."

Paula Pino, EU Commission Spokesperson, EU Commission

After this, the video clip of the dialogue quickly went viral on social networks. Many people believe that the EU has been ambiguous on this issue and clearly applied a "double standard" towards Russia and Israel.

Nunziati said that although he received some contact and support from netizens afterward, his superiors at Agenzia Nova soon called him twice with a tense atmosphere. Although he did not disclose the details of the calls, he was soon notified that Agenzia Nova would terminate its cooperation with him.

Gabriele Nunziati asking the question, screenshot from social media video

The spokesperson for Agenzia Nova, Civita, confirmed the news and admitted that the decision was made because Nunziati had previously raised the issue about Gaza. Civita claimed that Nunziati was fired because the question he asked was "technically incorrect," as "Russia was invading a sovereign country without justification, while Israel was responding to an attack."

"In fact, he insisted that the question was correct, which exposed his ignorance of the basic principles of international law," Civita said. "Even worse, the video related to his question was shared by Russian nationalist social media channels and Islamic media with an anti-European agenda, causing great embarrassment to our institution."

However, this explanation obviously did not satisfy everyone. Anna Laura Orrico, a member of the Italian Five Star Movement, condemned Agenzia Nova's decision to let Nunziati leave during an interview with an Italian newspaper. She said, "If the report is accurate, then the media making such a decision is shameful."

An anonymous source within Agenzia Nova told the news website The Intercept that Nunziati's dismissal was merely "the tip of the iceberg of censorship of journalists in Italy regarding the issue of Israel." This anonymous source said, "Nunziati was fired because he asked a difficult question to the EU Commission... The atmosphere was very tense in the following days." He also mentioned that after Nunziati was fired, "all the journalists in the editorial office fell silent."

According to The Intercept, Nunziati is not even the first journalist to lose his job for asking sharp questions or criticizing Israel regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict. Journalists reporting from the Gaza Strip have already suffered over 240 deaths, dozens of injuries, and nearly 100 arrests by Israel.

This article is an exclusive piece by Observers, and it is not allowed to be reprinted without permission.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7569441259744395802/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author. Please express your attitude by clicking on the [up/down] buttons below.