Journalist deaths in Gaza: A ‘reckoning’ to come when war is over • FRANCE 24 English
for more we can speak to Tim Dawson Deputy General Secretary of the International Federation of journalists hello to you Tim thank you for speaking to us um needless to say it’s been a tragic War for journalists notably um since the war in in in Gaza um deadliest conflict in recent memory for journalists it’s also been a casualty of press Freedom tell us more well I there are lots of things about Gaza conflict that are unusual uh I mean obviously for the entire population of The Enclave they have been trapped in an area most humans reaction to bullets and bombs is to run from them um that hasn’t been possible in Gaza uh but what has happened to journalists uh in Gaza is is something again uh as your reporters said something slightly over a hundred have lost their lives uh which has been perhaps six times the mortality rate of the general population uh why it has been so high is hard to know I mean we know that it’s been Israeli uh missiles and bullets that have killed journalists I guess the question that hangs in the air is is whether that has been deliberate and whether that has been something that they have designed to do we do know that uh the Israeli Defense Force has very sophisticated surveillance technology and AI targeting technology and technology that tries to sort people who they consider to be legitimate Target which allows this to be done far far quicker than has ever been possible before um I I I I think that when this conf comes to an end there is going to be quite a reckoning My Hope Is that this will have the very intense consideration of the international criminal court I think you know the allegations the very strong allegations that that hang in the air need to be tested in a Judicial environment and where appropriate people need to be held to account yeah so one question why has that death toll among journalists been so high another question why hasn’t there been more International outrage about it well believe you me I’ve been trying to stoke International out p uh for as long as this has been going on um I I I I think the level of interest in it varies I think there was a time there have been times when you know journalist deaths have been reported at one or two every day and interest has picked up I think seven months in is very difficult to sustain interest but when you look at what’s happened there is no question it is absolutely shocking um we know that many journalists have lost their lives in their homes we know also that the conventional understanding of these tracking devices is that you follow people’s mobile phones and you can work out where they spend the nights uh and and bombs are specifically targeted to to to those places uh one result is that many have also lost their families who were also at those homes um so I think you know I think the outrage is growing it’s also of course notable that the international reporters haven’t been allowed in um now again one can speculate why that is we know that many have camped out at the Rapa Crossing and have sent angry protests to Israel saying let us in uh we we must be allowed to see with our own eyes what’s happening and that hasn’t happened um I know that if you ask Garen journalists they say that they think they’re less likely to be targeted if they are working alongside International reporters and they would very much welcome the international press pack in but thus far that hasn’t been allowed yes and that suggests two things doesn’t it one perhaps a respect for international media that Israel might observe a second thing that some people have been suggesting a racial component to this and that maybe the life of a Palestinian journalist in some eyes is not worth the same value of a journalist from another region of the world well I hope that hasn’t been people’s attitudes I think I think when one sees a huge number building up it becomes you know people move through initial outrage to feeling they can do nothing in a helplessness about it um I I think at heart we all know that every human life is equal in value and that when we see a death toone on that scale it’s something that we have to pay attention to perhaps when things are further away from home it’s hard to focus on them but the simple numbers of it I think are compelling and as I say I have been standing on the rooftops trying to get people’s attention onto this and to try and focus particularly International bodies that might be able to do something about it uh onto these figures and more this listening Tim um we have one more question for you it is World Press Freedom Day um uh right now the headlines being dominated by the campus protest as well as the war in Gaza what are some of the under reported uh perhaps conflict zones or or or or locations where there are a lot of issues about press Freedom that aren’t getting enough attention wow this the well-known ones I think you mentioned you know China Russia uh North Korea Iran uh are all places which fall a long way short of anything remotely describable as a satisfactory press Freedom Yemen uh there has been a long-standing and terrible proxy war going on there in which journalists have been particularly targeted um you know which I think should be a matter of far greater concern but it’s kind of three or four World conflicts down the you know down the pecking order as it were Mexico has long been a terrible terrible place to be a journalist uh because of drug cartels who Target those who expose them and and a kind of level of government complacency about it so I mean the the sad fact is that you you don’t have to look very far to find really disturbing situations and also in you know in in countries such as my own the United Kingdom um you know we we have quite significant issues we have um police forces in front of an information commissioner because they surveilled journalists we have Julian Assange still in prison and potentially being sent to the United States in a matter of days so I you know press freedom is is is is a delicate thing that has to be treasured and I would encourage people wherever they are to to give some thoughts to how we ensure that we have free expression and a free press
UNESCO on Thursday awarded its world press freedom prize to all Palestinian journalists covering the war in Gaza, where, according to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 97 members of the press have been killed since October. Speaking to France 24, Tim Dawson, deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists, said he expects there will be “quite a reckoning” over the deaths of journalists in Israeli strikes when the conflict comes to an end.
#Gaza #journalists #deaths
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14 comments
Double standard of western government has never being this bad
Netanyahu doesn't want crimes èxposed
Without democracy, free speech or dissent what do all the journalists write stories about. Whatever comes out has the same narrative and same criticism of Isreal and no shortcomings of anything or any action of local government or the need for health vs economic development vs education. How is it that all journalists and photographers are at the same place and time. There are probably not more than a few agencies and newspapers. Wonder who are these hundreds and hundreds of journalists in a small place doing or reporting. In a place less than one tenth the size of Paris or London, what are let's say 500-600 journalists doing daily, assuming one third of them have passed away. Interesting place for media to be so concentrated.
On behalf of Pan Foundation, please accept our deepest sympathy. We hold everyone close to our thoughts at this sad time. We are deeply sorry for the profound loss. Pan Foundation has decided to help those that has been deeply affected by the current situation.
Why wait until the war is over?
what kind of reckoning ? you cant go against your masters. they rule you. and they made it illegal to say so.
Whem a journalist gets into the line of fire in his "job" it's dramatic, and they know it and accept if first. These inserted themselves into Israeli line of fire to protect Hamas troops, were providing intel, inadvertantly or not, to Hamas. It was not the IDF's fault they chose to be so noble.
No journalists should go there to begin with
Ever media in the world should have supported Palestinian journalists from the start. You’re arriving way too late and lukewarm to the game F24
I don’t remember that many aid workers, journalists, and UN workers were killed. Yet even nobody was killed elsewhere in the past. The so called international outrage sanctioned them. The so called international outrage was more western propaganda.
Why hasn't there been more international outrage?
Because people like you haven't been doing their job, and have been pretending this doesn't happen!
You ask him about what you've been doing… 🤦🏻♀️
When you hear officials from democratic countries say one of the fundemental things in a democracy is a free press .Just know its double speak ,They dont care about human rights ,rule of law or equality.They should put are politicians on the frontline ,dont talk ,do !
Its not hard to know?!? They are Targeting journalist , aid workers, and civilians. I mean how else can you see it? Its not like they are hiding it at all
Gaza is a war zone. Reporters in war zones are always at risk.