Irish artist Emmalene Blake — also known as ESTR — completed a mural in Dublin recently with artist Holly Pereira. It’s a painting of award-winning journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s bureau chief in Gaza City.
Al-Dahdouh has become an icon of journalistic persistence and resilience. In October, his wife, 15-year-old son, and seven-year-old daughter were killed in an Israeli air strike, along with eight other relatives. Another of his sons, Yehia, was injured seriously. In December, while he and his colleague — the cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa — were reporting on the Haifa School air strike a missile struck and Abu Daqqa was killed.
In January, Al-Dahdouh’s eldest son, 27-year-old Hamza, was killed in an air strike. The following day, two of his nephews were killed in another air strike. A little over a week later, he managed to evacuate to Egypt.
I cannot begin to comprehend the turmoil, trauma and stress of living through and covering the bombardment. And yet these journalists keep going
Like many people, I have watched several brave journalists document the horror in Gaza on Instagram. For all its faults, that social media platform has become a key information tool throughout the bombardment of Gaza. Last week, I watched the photojournalist Motaz Azaiza evacuate on a Qatari military jet, the first time this young man had ever been on a plane. I cannot begin to comprehend the turmoil, trauma and stress of living through and covering the bombardment. And yet these journalists keep going, continue reporting, documenting and rushing to scenes of violence even though their lives are so clearly under threat. What are we going to do to protect the journalists who remain in the city? Where is the action?
As of Friday, the preliminary investigations of the Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) show at least 83 journalists and media workers are among the 27,000-plus people who have been killed in Gaza since October 7th.
When Reuters and Agence France Presse sought assurances from Israel that their journalists would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told them that they could not guarantee the safety of journalists working in Gaza. How is this allowed? And do Palestinian journalists not matter? Does their nationality and ethnicity doom them? Is that just hard luck?
Of the journalists and media workers who have been killed (at the time of writing), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reports 76 were Palestinian, four Israeli and three Lebanese. Three additional journalists are missing. Twenty-five were reported arrested. Palestinian journalists are being wiped out. “Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict,” said CPJ Middle East and North Africa programme co-ordinator Sherif Mansour. “Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.”
There are, of course, many journalists standing up against these rolling massacres. One of the few mainstream organisations doing so is Al-Jazeera. And one of the finest journalists doing so is the Pulitzer Prize-winning data journalist Mona Chalabi, who continues to cover the facts and figures of Gaza on her Instagram account. For the most part, it is individuals — the self-employed or solo practitioners of journalism — not mainstream outlets, taking a stand. At what point are all media going to unite to demand an end to the murder of journalists?
Last week, when ITV News cameraman Mohammed Abu Safia filmed a man, Ramzi Abu Sahloul, being shot dead in Gaza while waving a white flag … the footage was characterised by the Norwegian Refugee Council as evidence of a war crime
It is incumbent on all journalists to stand with their colleagues in Gaza. That is not “taking a side” in a “conflict”. It does not demonstrate partiality or bias, but humanity and solidarity. The city is the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist or media worker. With every journalist killed, a window into the reality of this horror is shattered. A wealth of information, expertise and analysis is lost. Truth dies with them.
The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for the protection of journalists and expressed horror at the number of journalists being killed and injured. Is this enough? For foreign journalists, coverage of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza is incredibly constrained, because it’s so difficult to access the area. Anyone who does so runs the risk of being killed or effectively operating under a form of censorship by the IDF. This means that Palestinian journalists operating in Gaza are even more important.
Journalism is evidence. Last week, when ITV News cameraman Mohammed Abu Safia filmed a man, Ramzi Abu Sahloul, being shot dead in Gaza while waving a white flag with a group of others attempting to rescue their families, the footage was characterised by the Norwegian Refugee Council as evidence of a war crime.
As the case that Israel is committing genocide becomes more solid, as per the ICJ’s interim ruling in the South Africa case, calls for an end to this horror should include loud ones from media organisations and journalists. A simple demand is this: stop killing journalists.
In Ireland, the ongoing street protests calling for a ceasefire, I believe, should include a much larger and much more visible presence of the NUJ and its members to amplify that demand.