Human Rights Foundation’s Post

Journalism is not a crime.

I have lost count of how many times I have expressed similar sentiments over the past six months. But today, I yet again find myself shocked by the way Israel is conducting its war on Gaza.   On Sunday, an airstrike on the courtyard of Gaza’s Al-Aqsa Hospital killed at least four and wounded 17, with several journalists among the wounded. According to various media, the attack hit a tent sheltering displaced people and doubling as a makeshift workplace for a group of journalists.   The images speak for themselves: Journalists attacked from the air along with other displaced civilians while crowding in dismal conditions, trying to find whatever little protection they can while toiling to keep their fellow citizens and the world informed.   Depending on what sources you rely on, the number of journalists killed since October now stands at minimum 95. Some of those deaths are the result of targeted attacks, others a consequence of Israel’s use of enormous, unguided bombs in one of Earth’s most densely populated urban areas.   Israel claims that the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad command centre. Whether or not that is true, as I and so many others have said again and again over the past six months, there can be no excuse for neglecting the obligation of taking every possible precaution to protect civilians. Bombing a hospital from the air, killing and wounding large numbers of civilians, including journalists, is as far as it gets from taking that obligation seriously.   At some point, there will be a reckoning with Israel’s lack of will to protect Palestinian civilians. When that point comes, the work of Gaza’s journalists to document the reality of their neighbouring country’s conduct in war will play a crucial role. In the meantime, I call once again on Israel to stop making a mockery of international law and to start honouring its duty to protect journalists and other civilians.

Today, I once again condemn Russia’s brutal war against the people of Ukraine in the strongest possible terms. For the past two years, Ukraine’s journalists have been working extremely hard – and often at great personal risk – to keep the world informed of the war’s horrific consequences. During the war’s first year, IMS’ focus was on providing journalists with safety measures, including hardware such as helmets and vests. While safety support is still crucial, in response to an ever-growing need we have increased our focus on providing mental health support to Ukraine’s embattled journalists – an often-overlooked but crucial need. As with all wars, this one is also an ongoing battle of truths and narratives. That is why another of our key efforts is to continually push for global tech companies to counter Russian disinformation and propaganda. Moreover, with and an eye on the longer-term perspective we support local investigative journalism initiatives working to ensure transparency around the allocation of reconstruction funds. The importance of sustaining independent journalism in war zones, in Ukraine and elsewhere, cannot be overstated: It provides potentially life-saving information to those in the line of fire; secures evidence of war crimes; and keeps citizens and decision makers informed of the reality on the ground. Without it, we become blind to the gruesome realities of war. Today, I once more salute the courage of Ukraine’s journalists and their colleagues in war zones across the world. Be it in Ukraine or Gaza, Sahel or Syria, they are working tirelessly so that we are never allowed to forget the plight of the millions of innocent people suffering under the ruthless ambitions of callous rulers.

📢 Dozens of Ukrainian civil society organizations and journalists issued a statement about the lack of access of the media and the public to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The large-scale Russian aggression affected various spheres of society and institutions in Ukraine. The Verkhovna Rada is no exception. In fact, immediately after the beginning of the full-scale invasion, access to Parliament sessions and backrooms has been closed to journalists and civil society. In 2022, the introduction of restrictions could be explained by the interests of national security. However, the work of the Ukrainian Parliament after two years since the beginning of the large-scale Russian invasion and ten years since the start of Russia's war against Ukraine, raises many questions. The lack of access to the Verkhovna Rada harms democracy. On the day of the opening of the regular, eleventh session of the Verkhovna Rada of the IX convocation, we call on the Parliament to return to ensuring the principles of openness of its activity, namely: ▪ To ensure the possibility of the presence of journalists during meetings of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine and communication with Members of the Ukrainian Parliament on the sidelines of the Parliament; ▪ To publish the agenda of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine in advance; ▪ To promote and support the involvement of civil society organizations in the meetings of the Committees of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. ❗ The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine should once again become a place for discussions, free communication and work of media in order to find solutions to the complex challenges the Ukrainian State faces as a result of the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. https://lnkd.in/eZSUUf7S

You know what doesn't keep me up at night? Israeli commandos breaking into my house. You know why? Because I don’t have any hostages. It doesn’t matter if you call yourself a civilian. It doesn’t matter if you’re a photojournalist or a doctor. If you participate in the kidnapping, abuse, or detainment of an Israeli hostage, the Israeli military is going to show up on your doorstep and they have every right to do so. By your actions, you have turned yourself into a legitimate military target and endangered those around you. Look at the condescending headlines of how several media outlets reported Israel’s rescue of the 4 hostages over the weekend in Gaza. You might get the impression that Israel committed a war crime. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. The war crime committed was by the people who kidnapped over 200 Israeli civilians from their homes and massacred over 1,200 in a single day. For every action, there is a reaction. For those who argue that Israel’s response is “disproportionate,” consider how ludicrous it would have been if the Israelis stormed Gaza to rape, murder, and take an equal number of Palestinians hostage. Israel can’t win the PR war. Nothing Israel does will appease the pro-Palestine protestors, the UN, the anti-Semites, and the depraved journalists with political agendas. If the Israeli military handed out cupcakes to Palestinian children in Gaza, they’d be screamed at for committing genocide by saturated fat. Earlier in the conflict, we learned that photojournalists with bylines at major American newspapers and global wire services (including Al Jazeera journalist Abdullah Al-Jamal who held Noa Argamani hostage in his own house) were escorted by Hamas in the early hours BEFORE the Oct. 7 attacks. Prior to the attacks, these journalists were proudly photographed with Hamas leaders. If this doesn’t tell you what Israel is up against, what can I say? We are living in an era of unprecedented access to information. We have access to the truth in large doses across the globe like never before, and at the same time we are exposed to intentional falsity meant to manipulate us and cause harm to innocent people. To all the news outlets that use their platforms to spread disinformation, you have lost your way. You have no moral compass. Instead of cherishing freedom of the press and the responsibilities that come along with it, you have abused it for dishonest political aims. You are an injury to modern civilization. Israel should continue to do what’s right to protect their citizens. They should continue to avoid harm to innocent Palestinians to the best of their abilities, but their first priority (like any country) is their own people. If that makes you uncomfortable, just ask yourself what you would want your country to do if it was your own family member held hostage in an apartment in Gaza.

The first of two initial hearings in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has just finished. Without knowing the outcome of these hearings, I want to highlight the crucial role that journalists play in war and conflict zones. First, in bearing witness through writing and images, journalists carry out a crucial public interest mission. It is often thanks to journalists on the ground that serious human rights violations, war crimes and other atrocities are brought to the attention of the public and decision makers. Second, documentation produced by journalists can – and often has – helped to establish facts and accountability around such crimes and violations, serving as evidence at international tribunals and courts. Indeed, South Africa’s application to the ICJ highlights that it draws on eyewitness accounts from Palestinian journalists on the ground in Gaza. Regardless of the outcome of these hearings, the importance of the work Gaza’s journalists are doing cannot be overstated. Their efforts serve the dual purpose of providing facts and accounts in the present while paving the way for justice to be served in the future. Those efforts are even more important since Israel continues to bar international journalists and fact-finding teams from entering Gaza. As I and many other have repeatedly said in recent weeks and months, the international community must put maximum pressure on Israel to allow foreign journalists access to Gaza. The continued denial of journalists’ and other fact-finders’ access stands in the way of justice, accountability and international rule of law – a completely unacceptable situation in the context of a war that has already killed almost 10,000 children and created a humanitarian catastrophy of historic proportions.

I just gave a report Thom Hartmann Show on deaths of journalists in #Israel/#Gaza war. #CommitteeToProtectJournalists says 88 journalists/media workers have been killed making it most dangerous conflict for reporters since CPJ started keeping statistics. This story and the fact that the US is ranked 45th in the world in #PressFreedom by #ReportersWithourBorders are my main areas focus as Executive Director for #DemocracyWatchNews. I have authored articles on these issues at #Truthout, #DailyKos, #Medium, etc. Our steadily declining ranking on the #WorldPressFreedomIndex is one of the most censored #news stories of our time. I continue to lobby our elected officials and senior editors at major news organizations to speak out but no one is talking about it. Candidates for US President certainly don't mention our low ranking. Also - there are currently 320 journalists imprisoned worldwide. Two US citizens are being held in jail in Russia: Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, both of whom are being held in pretrial detention. https://lnkd.in/gizKWvbv You can get more information on these issues at https://lnkd.in/gymJGGw We are a non-profit news organization reporting on challenges to #democracy worldwide. Democracy Watch News Democracy Watch News North America