The IWW's Freelance Journalists Union (FJU) is supporting the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate PJS. Most Palestinian journalists have to source their own protective equipment, especially those who freelance or are employed by smaller networks or on a casual basis.
As the attacks on Gaza escalate this has become a dire issue. As such their is an ongoing fundraiser to purchase protective equipment for PJS members.
Link to that fundraiser is here https://gofund.me/bab101e9
The FJU is also sharing statements prepared by the PJS for international ordiances. As a member of the FJU I will also do so here.
In light of increasing violence in Israel and Palestine, the IWW Freelance Journalists Union expresses its solidarity with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
The ongoing war has already claimed the lives of at least 10 journalists, per the PJS. This current wave of killings occurs in the context of hundreds of violations and crimes against Palestinian journalists perpetrated by the Israeli occupation every year, as reported by the PJS.
To protect journalists, the PJS requires media outlets to provide safety vests, helmets and gas masks for employees, but this equipment is often unavailable to freelancers. The IWW PPWU-FJU is therefore fundraising to provide the PJS with 50 such kits for freelancers. We encourage all journalists, union members and others to support the PJS by contributing to this fundraiser and sharing widely both the fundraiser and the PJS’s most recent statement on the current war (below).
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate: In Gaza, crimes against journalists: 10 killed, 20 injured, 2 missed, 50 media institutions destroyed, more than 45 violations have taken place in the West Bank and Jerusalem, while crimes extend to journalists in Lebanon!
Ramallah, in a report issued by the Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, it was stated that since the beginning of the aggression against the Gaza Strip on 10/7/2023, 10 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli occupation aircraft missiles.
The PJS indicates that journalists in the Gaza Strip face very dangerous situation as a result of the Israeli occupation bombing, which caused the killing of 10 journalists in Palestine and one journalist in Lebanon.
In light with rapid developments during the brutal escalation in Gaza, the PJS has monitored the following crimes and violations since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip until Friday evening.
Names of killed journalists:
1. Ahmed Shehab, program producer on Voice of Prisoners Radio
2. Photojournalist Muhammad Al-Salhi, photographer of the “Fourth authority” agency
3. Freelance photojournalist Muhammad Fayez Abu Matar
4. Journalist Hisham Al-Nawajha, photographer for “Khabar” agency
5. Photojournalist Ibrahim Lafi from Ain Media Foundation
6. Journalist Saeed Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Fifth News Agency
7. Journalist Muhammad Jarghoun from Smart Media Agency
8. Freelance journalist Asaad Shamal
9. Journalist Muhammad Abu Rizq, Khabar Agency photographer.
10. Freelance journalist Salam Mema, whose death was announced after being pulled from under the rubble, three days after her home was destroyed
Missing Journalists:
1. Photojournalist Nidal Al-Wahidi, who works as a producer with Al-Najah TV
2. Journalist Haitham Abdel Wahed from Ain Media Media Foundation
Serious and injuries among journalists:
Due to the difficulty of movement and communication resulting from the abundance of missile bombardment, its intensity, and its spread in many locations in the Gaza Strip, the number of injured journalists may be more than this statistic that we have been able to monitor so far.
About 20 injuries were observed, the most violent of which was in the Gaza Strip, where some of the announced injury was journalist Ibrahim Qanan, correspondent for Al-Ghad TV, freelance photographer Ali Hamad, journalist Saleh Al-Masry from the Palestine Today Agency, and photojournalist Mahmoud Al-Hams, photographer for Agence France-Presse.
Moreover, the killing of the wife of journalist Sameh Murad, “a freelance journalist who worked these days with Al Arabiya during the aggression,” and the injury of the rest of his family as the displaced people who went out toward Khan Yunis were targeted while he was working to cover the events of the aggression in Al-Shifa Hospital.
Destroying of journalists' offices and homes:
About 50 headquarters and centers of media institutions and about 20 homes for journalists were completely and some partially destroyed as a result of the bombing, including the offices of the following news agencies and media outlets:
Al-Aqsa Media Network, Ma’an News Agency, Sawa Agency, Shehab Agency, Al-Quds Newspaper, Radio Baladna, Zaman Radio, National Agency, Khabar Agency, Al-Ayyam Newspaper, Event Media Services Company, Fadl Shanaa Foundation, Holy Quran Radio, Shams News Agency, APA Agency, Al Jazeera Network Office, Palestine TV, “AFP” Agency.
Additionally, many journalists were also subject to direct threats and incitement campaigns by Israeli pages on social media platforms, as happened with journalist Muthanna Al-Najjar from Gaza, as well as journalist Muhammad Turkman in the West Bank, apart from monitoring many Hebrew publications calling for the killing of journalists and describing them as saboteurs and terrorists.
Violations in the West Bank and Jerusalem:
Meanwhile, many Palestinian journalists were injured in the West Bank, and crews were beaten, detained, prevented from covering.
As 8 shooting cases have been recorded, as a result of which 3 journalists were injured. Additionally, PJS documented 21 cases of detention and preventing from coverage, 8 physical assault cases, 7 cases of confiscating and destroying journalists’ equipment, and some other violations .
Additionally, the Israeli forces have arrested 32 citizens who demonstrated for solidarity with Gaza.
Israeli crimes against journalists extend to Lebanon!
The Israeli occupation forces were not limited to targeting Palestinian journalists, but it extended to Lebanon, where the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdullah was announced and five journalists from Al Jazeera, Reuters and Agence France-Presse were injured in an Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon.
Journalists threatening:
Additionally, many journalists were also subject to direct threats and incitement campaigns by Israeli pages on social media platforms, as happened with journalist Muthanna Al-Najjar from Gaza, as well as journalist Muhammad Turkman in the West Bank, apart from monitoring many Hebrew publications calling for the killing of journalists and describing them as saboteurs and terrorists.
Moreover, the Israeli Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karei, was quoted to take a decision to stop providing Internet services to Internet companies in the Gaza Strip, starting at 00:00 on 10/14/2023, and to ban all types of services provided by Israeli Internet service providers to Gaza.
In this context, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate calls on the United Nations, especially UNESCO, to provide international protection for journalists from systematic killing and targeting, as well as to preserve their rights and their access to the Internet and other means of communication, so that they can deliver their media message to the Palestinians and the entire world about the war in Gaza.
As combating misleading information is one of the pillars of the International Code of Professional Ethics issued by the International Federation of Journalists, which must remain the backbone of the professional principles of journalists, and access to correct information is one of the basic rights of citizens.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the International Federation of Journalists and its trainers in its journalists’ safety network, in cooperation with the PJS, have updated the journalist’s safety guidelines for journalists in the field in line with the special situation of journalists in Palestine.
General Secretariat
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
Updates (4)
27 October 2023
by IWW Freelance Journalists Union, Organiser
EMERGENCY: PLEASE SHARE, ACT IMMEDIATELY!
EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION FROM PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS SYNDICATE: Israeli bombings have severed all communications in Gaza, including for journalists reporting on war crimes — https://www.pjs.ps/the-palestinian-journalists-syndicate-pjs-expresses-its-deep-concern-for-the-lives-of-fellow-journalists-in-gaza/
CALL YOUR REPS IN CONGRESS NOW TO DEMAND A CEASEFIRE: https://www.usa.gov/elected-officials/
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