End to Targeted Killings of Journalists in Gaza Demanded
By Phil Pasquini

 

San Francisco: To commemorate the deaths of 100 journalists and media workers along with over 20,000 Gazans, an action calling attention to the ongoing genocide along with the targeted killings of journalists took place in San Francisco. Outside of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper building on December 27 journalists, media workers and supporters of journalism gathered to demand a permanent ceasefire now and an end to all US aid to Israel.

The commemoration was organized by the  Communications Workers of America (CWA) Palestine Solidarity Campaign saying the union “ strongly condemns the killing of journalists in Gaza, Israel and from Lebanon and calls on all parties to ensure the safety of journalists in the region to work without threat or interference.”

Comments made by Benny Gantz, a minister in the Israeli government and former defense minister, who compared journalists to “terrorists” were condemned by the union by noting “Journalism is not terrorism, and covering violence is not the same thing as condoning it. Journalists document tragedy as it unfolds and shine a light on a dark world. Our job is to seek truth and report it, especially during a war.”

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has characterized the war in Gaza on journalists and media workers, killed, injured, or missing “as the deadliest for journalists since they began gathering data in 1992.” Journalism is a dangerous profession and those who are willing to put their lives on the line to report from war zones are heroes in every sense of the word. All journalists deserve respect and support as they report on issues and conditions so the public in turn can be informed with relevant factual information and news about their communities and the world, to better understand for themselves the circumstances affecting their lives.

Report and photos by Phil Pasquini

(Phil Pasquini is a freelance journalist and photographer. His reports and photographs appear in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs and Nuze.ink. He is the author of Domes, Arches and Minarets: A History of Islamic-Inspired Buildings in America.)