To governments, international organizations, media outlets, and civil society:
We demand that Israel stop forcing journalists to starve and be targeted in Gaza, as the undersigned press freedom organizations, media organizations, journalists’ unions, and advocates of truth and transparency.
Gazan journalists are starving to death.
Not in a metaphorical sense. not gradually. but purposefully and constantly, while the world watches.
One in three people in Gaza currently spends days without food. Journalists are among the famined who are the final independent voices still covering Gaza. These individuals demonstrate the bravery required to keep the world informed about the magnitude of Israel’s conflict in Gaza. They are currently forced to die from hunger.
This is not an incident. This tactic is used.
Israel uses deliberate means to silence the truth by starving journalists, not by accident.
Over 230 journalists and media personnel have died in Gaza since October 2023. People who remain are now forced to choose between an air strike or starvation, and their families are constantly targeted, intimidated, and denied basic needs. Their situation is dire and getting worse every day. Their lives are in serious danger without the international community’s immediate response, and they may not be able to continue reporting.
It is our duty to raise our voices and mobilize all available resources to support our colleagues in this noble profession because both the world and the journalistic community are under enormous pressure.
The death of these journalists will be a moral catastrophe as well as the end of the truth in Gaza if the international community doesn’t take action. Our inaction will be remembered as a betrayal of the values that every journalist strives to uphold in history as well as a massive failure to protect our fellow journalists.
The undersigned asks that we:
Emergency food and access: All journalists in Gaza must be given urgent food, clean water, and medical supplies via designated humanitarian corridors.
End the Israeli press’s entry into Gaza and allow international journalists to run their own businesses.
Accountability: In accordance with international law, investigate and prosecute those responsible for the starvation and murder of journalists.
Permanent Support and Protection: Adopt long-term protection plans for journalists reporting in conflict-torn regions, with particular assistance for those who are under siege.
We won’t allow the death of the truth to pass. We won’t let our coworkers go hungry.
Signed:
Al Jazeera Media Network
UK-based Arab Organization for Human Rights
Ethical Journalism Network founder, Aidan White
Center for Defending Journalists’ Freedom of Expression (CDFJ)
Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
Human Rights Monitor for Euro-Med
Federation of African Journalists
Geneva Global Media Center (GGMC)
International Press Institute (IPI) research
International Media Support (IMS)
Censorship Index
The James Foley Foundation
The Rory Peck Trust’s Executive Director is John Williams.
National Press Club (NPC) and NPC Media Freedom Center
National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ)
Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
We urge immediate response. Now.
Source: Aljazeera
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