Share:

As of Dec. 5, 2023, 63 journalists have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. The sheer amount of deaths is staggering and unacceptable in a profession that must report the truth about war. The international community, along with journalists around the world, needs to condemn it and demand that it stop.

Journalists are supposed to be on the front lines of very intensive conflicts and are expected to assess and weed out the truth in the fog of war. So why hasn’t the media not mentioned this more and condemned the killing of over 60 journalists within two months? If we are silent on this matter, we enter propaganda where one side is utter evil and the other side benevolently pure at heart. 

During this war, It was journalism that debunked the claim by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) that Hamas beheaded 40 babies in a Kibbutz. It was journalism that investigated whether or not a Palestinian rocket strike hit a hospital in Gaza. It was journalism that revealed last week that Israeli officials knew the plans of the Hamas attack a year in advance. These revelations are essential to challenge power and tell the story on the ground with its full context. 

The Geneva Convention under Article 79 codifies protecting journalists under international law.

“Journalists in war zones must be treated as civilians and protected as such, provided they play no part in the hostilities,” said Article 79. 

UN Security Council Resolution 2222 in 2015 states that it condemns violations and abuses against journalists, and a free and independent media constitutes the essential foundations of a democratic society, expecting a nation to comply with obligations under international law. 

Journalists in the past have been honored when a government kills them, when war breaks out, or when their cover-up becomes apparent. Whether it was Andrea Rocchelli in 2014 during the Donbas war, Jamaal Koushoggi in 2018, or Daphne Caruana Galizia’s car in 2017. These journalists have been praised and defended by democratic countries who believe their work is of value to society. 

In Gaza, the death toll is becoming overwhelming for reporters inside because their fellow workers are now gone forever with no goodbye or any warning whatsoever. Let’s be clear: being a journalist can be a hazardous profession, and you must expect the risks of reporting, which include death. 

But imagine the physical and emotional impact on a journalist seeing their colleagues killed one by one in a matter of months. Imagine how if you were in this situation in a deadly place, you might be thinking that you could be next, and your fear is on deaf ears by governments who claim to care about democracy and liberty. How much can you take before you are scared for your life because you could be next?

Mohammed Abu Hatab was killed along with his 11 family members due to an Israeli airstrike on Nov. 3. His death was announced by Salman al-Bashir, a fellow colleague of Palestinian Authority TV while covering Gaza and broke down in tears and described the sheer horror and agony over the past month.

“We can’t take it anymore; we’re exhausted,” said al-Bashir in Arabic. “We become martyred victims in a matter of time. We await our turn, one after the other.” 

Also, it is quite shocking how so many outlets and organizations seem to assume nefarious intent by the journalists themselves. Honest Reporting, a pro-Israel group, made an assumption that certain photojournalists, like Yousef Masoud, employed by CNN and the New York Times, had prior knowledge about the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. 

Honest Reporting admitted that they had no evidence to make such a claim. Nonetheless, Israeli officials and even United States Senators threatened reporters with criminal prosecution and suggested that they weren’t “real” journalists. 

Fortunately, some progress has been made in recognizing what is happening in Gaza. Over 750 journalists around the world signed a letter condemning Israel’s killing in Gaza and urged Western media to cover the atrocities against the Palestinians. This letter includes names like Boston Globe former board member Abdallah Fayyad, Intercept co-founder Jeremy Scahill, former Guardian national security writer Spencer Ackerman, and Jacobin Staff Writer Branko Marcetic. 

I want to honor and give thanks to those men and women wherever they are, especially inside Gaza, and condemn their deaths, which have been dismissed as just a casualty of war. It’s not! It’s a war crime, and it needs to stop now in the name of freedom and the truth.

Follow: