Meeting in Writer’s Square at 6.15pm, the Belfast and District Branch of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) said Tuesday’s solidarity vigil is part of their wider support for 48 hours of UK-wide action in solidarity with Palestinian press workers.
Michael Fisher, a lifelong member of the NUJ Belfast branch, said: “After the killing by Israeli Defense Forces of five media workers in Gaza, NUJ Belfast has written to the NI Secretary Hilary Benn calling on the UK government to stop all arms trade to Israel, and call for an immediate ceasefire.”
Yesterday in Gaza (Monday, August 25), at least 20 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a hospital, including five journalists.
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The NUJ Belfast’s letter to Hilary Benn, seen by this newspaper, states: “Increasingly in this war journalists, emergency staff and rescue workers trying to carry out their jobs are losing their lives in assaults by the Israel Defense Forces.
“The IDF says it does not target journalists as such and ‘acts to mitigate harm to uninvolved individuals as much as possible while maintaining the safety of IDF troops’.
“But let the figures speak for themselves. This latest atrocity brings the total number of journalists and media workers killed in the conflict since October 2023 to over 240, according to colleagues in the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.
“Many died while clearly identified as press, some alongside their families. They were all human beings bearing witness so the world might understand.
“In solidarity with Palestinian media workers the National Union of Journalists has organised 48 hours of action by its members throughout Ireland and Britain.
“At 6.15 pm this evening in Writer’s Square, the Belfast (and District) Branch are holding a vigil in support of our international colleagues.”
The letter adds: “We write to you as journalists who believe in truth, human life, and the vital role of a free press. The targeting of journalists in Gaza is not only an assault on our colleagues but on truth itself.
“We now call on the British government to condemn these killings unequivocally. Journalism is not a crime. Reporting is not terrorism. Silencing journalists is not “collateral damage” — it is a warning that no truth is safe.
“Journalists are civilians protected under international law. The UK’s commitment to press freedom and human rights must extend to Gaza. International journalists must be allowed access and protection, alongside their Palestinian colleagues.”
In the letter the NUJ urged the British government to press Israel to allow journalists to travel in and out of Gaza, uphold international law and support an ICC investigation into the targeting of journalists.
“There must be no impunity for the killing of journalists, as our colleagues working here in Northern Ireland are only too well aware,” the letter added.
NUJ Belfast
News Catch Up – Tuesday 26th August
“As journalists, we usually stay behind the story. But when our colleagues are being killed for telling it, we must speak.
“We urge your government to listen. We urge your government to act. Israel: stop killing journalists.”
More than 62,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its military campaign following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which left around 1,200 dead and 251 taken hostage.