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Stop killing journalists in Gaza
LONDON Freelance Branch rallied on 4 February to call for an end of the killing of journalists in Gaza. Jointly with the NUJ's London Magazine Branch, we met outside the BBC's Broadcasting House before the large march. The Branch also calls on members to write to your MP.
Mariam Elsayeh (right) addressed the rally outside Broadcasting House on 3 February
Our speakers included Pennie Quinton, a past chair of the Branch; Mariam Elsayeh, a current member of LFB committee; and Niall Mullholland of Magazine Branch. Pennie outlined the history and said "Now we are here - mired in the horror of witnessing the most intense slaughter of Palestinian civilians we have seen in the last fifty years. Amidst this carnage the voices of Palestinian journalists in Gaza are being destroyed daily." Her full speech is here.
Mariam gave an impassioned account of the suffering of journalists in Gaza and in the West Bank.
The Branch banner has also been in solidarity with medical staff - to at least three of the rallies organised by medics against the killing of their colleagues in the occupied Palestinian territory.
Branch Chair Tim Gopsill address a joint rally to honour the health workers and journalists who have been killed in Israel's war on Gaza - on 9 January, outside the TalkTV studio offices in London. He discussed the insufficient coverage and the role of propaganda in mainstream media, highlighting over 80 Palestinian journalists killed in Gaza since 7 October.
Journalists in solidarity with medics earlier rallies
Solidarity by journalists worldwide with colleagues in Gaza
We continue to update our remembrance list - see www.londonfreelance.org/fl/2311gaza-deaths.html - and at the time of writing 99 journalists were confirmed by multiple reports to have been killed in Gaza; 4 in Israel; and 3 in Lebanon. We have tracked unconfirmed reports of a further 33 journalists being killed in Gaza. Most of those killed there have, so far as we know, been bombed or shelled in their homes. The extent to which Israel's armed forces targeted these knowing they were journalists' homes will not be known until or unless someone blows the whistle.
Misinformation abounds
One prominent example of obfuscatory reporting was that of the killing of Hamza Dahdouh, a journalist and the remaining son of Al Jazeera bureau chief Wael Dahdouh. Hamza was killed in an Israeli attack on the car he was travelling in 7 January. Israel's armed forces first announced that they had killed three terrorists in a car; then that Wael and Mustafa Thuraya, a stringer for AP, were travelling in a car with a terrorist; then that their travelling companion was a drone operator and therefore a terrorist - rather than, say, someone recording the effects of bombardment.
See a Channel 4 report with a representative of the state of Israel doubling down on the claim that one victim was a "card-carrying member" of the Hamas Gaza City brigade. The United Nations Human Rights Office called for an invvestigation.
Write to your MP, please
The NUJ asks members to press your MP to sign Early Day Motion 288, which urges the International Criminal Court to expedite its investigation into the evidence submitted of the systematic targeted attacks on journalists by Israeli forces.
So far supported by 30 MPs, this motion reads:
That this House expressers its extreme concern at the mounting and unprecedented death toll of journalists in Gaza; notes that the independent Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded the death of 82 journalists in this conflict since October 2023; welcomes the support provided by the National Union of Journalists for the efforts of the International Federation of Journalists to promote the safety of journalists; and urges the International Criminal Court to expedite its investigation into the evidence submitted of the systematic targeted attacks on journalists by Israeli forces.
Please let the Freelance know of any responses you get.
The International Federation of Journalists has said that it will support legal action against Israeli politicians and military leaders if they fail to comply with the provisional determination of the International Court of Justice to prevent possible genocide in Gaza and that it will support the investigation by the International Criminal Court into the targeting of journalists there.
Please drop a line to your Member of Parliament encouraging them to sign Early Day Motion 288, which calls for an urgent investigation into the killing of journalists..