Date: 4 Jun 2024
Press Release
With an initiative from The International Commission “Hashd” and Amman Center…
111 organizations and networks condemn the “Israeli” campaign to prevent journalists and media institutions from covering the war on Gaza
A total of 111 civil society organizations and networks, initiated by The International Commission “Hashd” and Amman Center, issued a statement today, Tuesday, June 4, 2024, condemning the ongoing “Israeli” campaign aimed at imposing severe restrictions, including banning representatives of international journalistic and media institutions from accessing the Gaza Strip, as well as deliberate targeting of all local and international media institutions. During the past eight months, 148 journalists, in addition to intentional injuries, arrests, and detention of dozens of journalists in inhumane conditions and the destruction of media institutions’ headquarters in the Gaza Strip, including offices of international media institutions, have fallen victim to it.
The organizations in their statement considered silencing the voice of free press and forcing the world to believe the false Israeli narrative about what is happening and falsifying the reality of the ethnic cleansing and genocide committed against civilians, exposes the goals of the “Israeli” campaign to prevent access for international fact-finding committees, UN international staff, and international press crews to Gaza and the free coverage of the genocide crimes committed by the occupation forces and racial segregation against the Palestinian people. This behavior strengthens the rejection of the so-called “Israeli Supreme Court” request submitted by the Foreign Press Association to allow international media access to the Gaza Strip.
The signatory organizations emphasized in their statement that the “Israeli” campaign aims to obstruct the truth and distort the facts on the ground, hinder documenting and publishing the heinous racist occupation crimes, which have so far claimed the lives of nearly 50,000 Palestinian civilians, men, and women, and injured over 82,000 others, which contradicts the special protection enjoyed by journalists under Article 79 of the First Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions.
The signing organizations considered that preventing, restricting, and banning journalists and media institutions from accessing the Gaza Strip constitutes a crime under the principles established in international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including the right to freedom of the press and freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by international law, especially Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The human rights organizations affirmed that the horrific “Israeli” violations committed against journalists and media institutions in the occupied Palestinian territories, especially the crime of killing and targeting journalists, constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity falling within the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, in accordance with Article 8 of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court. This calls for action by the prosecutor of this court.
The signing organizations praised the work of journalists and media institutions, especially those that started after eight months of stopping promoting the false Israeli narrative after realizing the horrific truth, and adopting the truthful Palestinian narrative about what is happening. They affirm that this Western media coverage that promoted the lies and narratives of the Israeli occupation is a partner in the crime of deception and fabricating pretexts that have caused the shedding of much innocent blood in the Gaza Strip.
In conclusion, the organizations in their statement demanded:
1- The international community and its specialized institutions to quickly take practical measures to impose and ensure the cessation of the war on Gaza.
2- International institutions and organizations to open an investigation into the war crimes committed by the occupation against journalists, and allow safe and continuous access for journalists to the Gaza Strip.
3- The international solidarity movement with the Palestinian people, the International Federation of Journalists, journalists’ unions, and all Arab, regional, and international organizations to take action on all legal, political, diplomatic, human rights, and popular levels to ensure the entry of journalists and international investigation teams and ensure the protection of Palestinian civilians and the dissemination of the suffering and voices of the victims.
To download the statement in 5 different languages, click here:
