250 Media Outlets in 70 Countries Protest Killing of Journalists in Gaza
According to the English section of webangah News Agency, citing Mehr News Agency and Al Jazeera, the press freedom group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) announced that over 250 media organizations in more than 70 countries staged a protest on thier front pages, highlighting the deaths of more than 200 journalists during the Israeli occupation forces’ assault on Gaza’s oppressed population.
Thibaut broutin, RSF’s director-general, said in a statement: “At the rate at which journalists are being killed by Israel’s military in Gaza, soon there will be no one left to report on events.”
Reporters Without Borders reported that this protest, supported by the global movement Avaaz, appeared on news websites including Al Jazeera; UK newspaper The Autonomous; French newspapers La Croix and L’Humanité; and German newspapers Tageszeitung and Frankfurter Rundschau.
According to RSF data, as Israel’s war against Gaza began on October 7, 2023, about 220 journalists have been killed.
Independent Al Jazeera analysis showed that at least 278 journalists and media activists have been killed by Israel over the past two years. Among them were ten from Al Jazeera itself.
The protest took place one week after five journalists-Mohammed Salameh from Al Jazeera; Reuters cameraman Hossam al-Masri; freelance Associated Press correspondent Mariam Abu Daqa; Ahmad Abu Aziz; and Moaz Abu Taha-were killed in two Israeli airstrikes targeting Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
A total of seven people died in this attack including three other Al Jazeera employees: journalist Mohammed Qariqah (33), cameramen Ibrahim Zahir (25) and Mohammed Nawfal (29).
Al Jazeera reported that as Israel launched its war against Gaza’s oppressed people, international media have been denied unrestricted access to the territory.
Meanwhile, according to NPR (National Public Radio), over 250 news organizations worldwide signed a petition demanding protection for Palestinian journalists in Gaza. They also called for independent foreign press access to Gaza and evacuation of injured reporters requiring medical treatment. NPR is among those endorsing this appeal.
The petition organized by Reporters Without Borders and Avaaz notes that at least 220 journalists have been killed within less than two years of conflict between Israel and Gaza. Media observers and historians say this represents the deadliest period ever recorded globally for war correspondents.Palestinian authorities have recorded 247 journalist deaths as conflict intensified.
NPR cites an April study from brown University showing Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023 have killed more journalists there than during America’s Civil War, both World Wars, Korean War, Vietnam war, conflicts in Yugoslavia during the 1990s-2000s, or post-9/11 Afghanistan.The Committee to Protect Journalists states: “Israel is responsible for one of CPJ’s deadliest-and most deliberate-campaigns against reporters ever documented.” Israeli strikes also claimed dozens of relatives of prominent correspondents reporting from inside Gaza. A similar June petition signed by editors from major outlets including NPR, CNN, Reuters, AP, among others asserts these threats constitute ”a direct attack on press freedom and access to details.” They added independent entry restrictions imposed by Israel are unprecedented among modern wars. The only way foreign reporters can enter wartime Gaza has been accompanying Israeli troops or military spokespersons.
ID24 reported that an NGO confirmed more than 250 media outlets halted their activity as part of protests against journalist killings in Gaza.This blackout aims to draw attention to rising fatality rates among news workers there while demanding free press access despite ongoing restrictions following lethal assaults killing upwards of 210 reporters since October7. Organized jointly with Reporters Without borders, Avaaz,and International Federation Of Journalists,the coordinated global media blackout spanned outlets across over seventy countries protesting both escalating casualties among local correspondentsand forbidding foreign journalistic entry into strip under occupation.*
the organizers stated front pages appeared blackened with stark written messages while TV/radio channels suspended normal programming for joint statements.Online platforms marked solidarity through darkened homepages displaying unreadable text or banners.Journalists also participated sharing messages across social networks calling support for this campaign.
