By Zubeida Jaffer
Veteran journalists took the unprecedented step this weekend to issue a strongly worded statement against the continued killing of journalists in Palestine. The journalists who were part of the generation who fought against colonialism and apartheid in South Africa were moved to act after the brazen killing of Al Jazeera journalists stationed in a tent outside a hospital in Gaza City. “The slaughter of Al Jazeera journalists by the murderous Israel Defence Force in the ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza appals but does not surprise us journalists in South Africa,” they said. “This latest outrage is one in a long list of atrocities committed over decades against journalists in Gaza and the Middle East,” they said.
The killing of the Al Jazeera journalists brings to 272 journalists killed in Gaza alone since 2023.
Believing that Israel should be isolated, they have called on the South African government to seriously review its relations with Tel Aviv.
“We join ranks with those who say Netanyahu, members of his government and the IDF leadership which sanctioned these killings must be charged with crimes against humanity.”
In their view, the IDF deliberately targets journalists not ideologically aligned to the United States, its Western allies and the Zionist state. “This deliberate targeting fills us with a sense of foreboding,” they said.
They fear that no journalists of repute will be left in the enclave to tell the world about Benjamin Netanyahu’s murderous designs. “Israel has effectively imposed a total news blackout in Gaza,” they said. “We highly commend the very brave men and women of the besieged enclave, as well as Al Jazeera for their objective reporting.”
Disclosure: I am one of the journalists who has added my name to this statement.
See link to full statement below, with an opportunity for all journalists to endorse.
