Palestinian journalists deserve international protection

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy was quizzed last week in front of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons. At one stage, he opined: “There are no journalists in Gaza.”
One can maybe attribute this to carelessness, thoughtlessness. Lammy should formally correct the record. I am in no doubt the foreign secretary knows full well that Israeli forces have killed scores of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, at least 137 of them so far. This is in fact the deadliest conflict for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists started gathering data in 1992. The committee is also looking into a further 130 possible cases of killed journalists. Another human rights group calculated that, in the Syrian war, an average of 63 journalists were killed a year, the next-highest death rate for journalists this century. In the Iraq war, the figure was six a year.
Many journalists in Gaza have been seriously injured as well. If Israel’s allies were to show concern for journalists, perhaps they could intervene and push Tel Aviv to allow Palestinian cameraman Fadi Al-Wahidi to travel for medical treatment. He was shot by Israeli forces in October and lies in a coma.
They could also urge Israel to allow foreign journalists to enter Gaza, as many working for major international outlets have been seeking. Typically, they would go in and link up with Palestinian journalists, who would assist them in their work. That might help verify the war crimes that some leaders doubt have been committed in Gaza.
Perhaps these governments could also call for independent investigations into the deaths of journalists. Media workers are entitled to protection under international law, just like civilians. But no. They could back the complaints made to the International Criminal Court about Israel’s killing of journalists and demand that the court investigates. But no. They appear to be allergic to investigations and proper accountability, at least where Israel is concerned.
Remember, as yet, nobody has been held accountable for the 2022 killing of Shireen Abu Akleh, the Palestinian American journalist who was shot dead in Jenin. Even though Israel was forced to concede one of its soldiers had shot her, accountability has not followed. In fact, Israel has never put any of its soldiers on trial for killing a journalist, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

As yet, nobody has been held accountable for the 2022 killing of Shireen Abu Akleh.

Chris Doyle

So, it appears that the mindset of many politicians and media figures in Europe and the US is that Palestinian journalists in Gaza do not count. They are treated as unreliable, incapable of doing a professional job. This attitude is contemptuous and disrespectful of those journalists and their families who have been killed, in some cases clearly assassinated.
Pretty much the same attitude applies to aid workers. Palestinian aid workers, including UN staff, have been killed in horrifying numbers in Gaza. Yet it was only the April killing of international aid workers employed by World Central Kitchen that made front-page news.
At a broader level, many Western governments simply do not acknowledge the reality of Israel’s carnage and typically belittle the crimes involved.
In contrast, Israeli media outfits do count. Israeli journalists are treated with respect, even those who have made genocidal comments.
Imagine if the situation were the other way round, if Hamas had deliberately killed Israeli or international journalists. Well, on Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas did kill four Israeli journalists, but of course those attacks have been properly condemned pretty much every day since.
The evidence shows that Palestinian journalists have done an incredible job, with many winning awards for their work. They have operated in the most appalling of circumstances in Gaza. They are targeted. As one told me, when Palestinians in Gaza see a journalist, they do not want to go near them. If your phone rings, you move away from everyone else. They know that, at any moment, an Israeli missile could be on its way with their name on it.
The most terrifying element is that this could be the future. Maybe if the atrocities continue, Israel will see to it that there are no more Palestinian journalists left in Gaza. Then where will we get the real story from? This may only suit Israel’s friends.
Journalism matters. Rather than ignoring the plight of Palestinian journalists, international actors should be encouraging them and supporting them, from providing training to ensuring their safety. Attacks on the media have become a part of war and this should be called out, with those responsible held to account.

• Chris Doyle is director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding in London. X: @Doylech