Above photo: Palestinian journalists in Gaza attend a funeral for a colleague.
During the seven weeks of Israeli bombing of Gaza, Israel has killed a record high number of journalists as well as their families.
The world is waiting in cautious anticipation amid the four-day pause in hostilities in Gaza, giving Palestinians a brief respite from the incessant Israeli airstrikes. Israel did not cease its bombing of the enclave from October 7, when it declared war on Hamas following the surprise Al-Aqsa Flood Operation launched by Palestinian resistance groups, to the start of the pause on November 24. In these nearly seven weeks, over 15,000 Palestinians were killed and 33,000 have been injured. The number of missing is around 6,800, many of whom are presumed dead or still trapped under the rubble.
Amid these genocidal attacks on Palestinians, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate reported that over 63 journalists have been killed. The Committee to Protect Journalists has stated that the last month was the deadliest for attacks on journalists since it started keeping record in 1992. Many press freedom advocates have argued that the killing of journalists and communicators in Gaza appears to be part of Israel’s sinister efforts to prevent the truth about its brutal attacks from reaching the world.
In this context, a group of people’s media outlets from across the world issued a statement expressing solidarity with Palestinian journalists and demanding a definitive end to what constitutes a grave violation of press freedom, international law, and fundamental human rights.
Stop Israel’s Massacre Of Palestinian Journalists
We are outraged at the murder of over 60 of our Palestinian colleagues at the hands of Israeli Forces since October 7. The Committee to Protect Journalists reported that this past month was the deadliest for journalists since it began tracking attacks on media workers in 1992.
The targeting of journalists is one feature of Israel’s ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza, with the sinister intent of preventing the world from learning the full extent of their war crimes. Israel has a long history assassinating journalists, including Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, a US citizen who was killed while covering an Israeli raid on the Jenin refugee camp in May 2022.
We condemn all these killings, in which the US government is totally complicit. We salute the brave journalists of Gaza and the West Bank whose reporting has been indispensable, and whose work has touched the hearts and minds of the whole world.
We stand with our colleagues in Palestine who are risking their lives to tell the truth that the world so desperately needs to hear.
Signed:
Arg Medios
Brasil de Fato
Breakthrough News
Madaar
Pan African TV
Peoples Dispatch
The Insight Newspaper