A recent documentary, NAZA, produced by The Guardian and JW Films, features interviews with 24 anonymous Israeli intelligence officers and military personnel who describe the use of artificial intelligence and automated surveillance in targeting Palestinians in Gaza after October 7, 2023. The film, co-directed by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, has sparked debate about the ethics of granting anonymity to sources who confess to atrocities. The documentary has won the Special Jury Prize and received a record-breaking standing ovation at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival.
The film's use of anonymous sources has drawn criticism from some who argue that it protects perpetrators from accountability. Nora Barrows-Friedman, an editor and author, has expressed revulsion towards the genre of film that people refer to as "shooting and crying," where soldiers or citizens express remorse for violence they took part in while continuing to carry it out or defend the system behind it. She argues that the filmmakers are protecting the identities of genocidal soldiers as though they have a legitimate right to be protected from accountability.
Others have also questioned the ethics of centering the testimony of anonymous sources who describe their participation in acts that may violate international law. Gur Tsabar, executive director of the Movement Media Hub, has written that he is "skipping NAZA" because the atrocities being described in the film are nothing new and have been documented by Palestinian journalists, many of whom have been killed by Israel. He points to a double standard in Western coverage of Israel-Palestine, where Palestinian victims of Israeli violence are challenged more than Israeli victims of Hamas attacks.
The use of anonymous sources in journalism is not uncommon, particularly when exposing wrongdoing by a state. Insiders are often the only people who can describe how a system works from within, and they rarely speak without protection. The case of Edward Snowden, the former contractor for the United States National Security Agency who leaked classified documents exposing global surveillance programs, illustrates the journalistic principle at work. When The Guardian broke the story in 2013, Snowden was an unnamed insider source.
The importance of anonymity in journalism lies in its ability to bring to light information that would otherwise remain hidden. NAZA would not exist without the anonymity granted to its sources, and there is little doubt that the film is having an impact. At a screening of the film, the audience sat in pin-drop silence as the credits rolled. The film has significantly unsettled Israeli audiences, including liberal Zionists who continue to hold the Israeli military in high regard or reject the characterization of Israel's devastation of Gaza as genocide.
The ultimate goal of documenting atrocities in journalism is accountability for war crimes, and that remains nowhere in sight. However, the film has raised uncomfortable questions about accountability and journalism itself. Ameer Fakhoury, an analyst at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute, says opinion polls indicate that about 80 percent of Jewish Israelis support the destruction being inflicted on Palestinians. They are arguably among those who most need to see NAZA.
The debate surrounding NAZA raises difficult questions for journalists seeking to decolonize their practices and examine whose voices their reporting protects and amplifies. Chief among them is whether it is ethically defensible to grant anonymity to sources describing their participation in acts that may violate international law. As journalists, their job is not to prosecute sources, but to gather and verify information, expose wrongdoing, and bring it to light.
Key points
- The use of anonymous sources in journalism can bring to light information that would otherwise remain hidden.
- The film NAZA raises uncomfortable questions about accountability and journalism itself.
- The debate surrounding NAZA highlights the need for journalists to examine whose voices their reporting protects and amplifies.
