South African Journalists Condemn Murder of Colleagues in Gaza

Journalists placed candles and flowers near photographs of their fallen colleagues with placards reading, “Journalism is not a crime”.

About a hundred journalists and activists held a vigil in Johannesburg on Thursday evening in memory of Palestinian journalists who were murdered by Israel.

The vigil, organised by Journalists Against Apartheid, was held outside Al Jazeera’s offices.

This follows Sunday’s assassination of six journalists, including prominent Al Jazeera correspondent Anas Al-Sharif, in a targeted attack on a media tent outside Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

Dozens of journalists in Cape Town also joined the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign’s weekly vigil outside St George’s Cathedral on Wednesday.

Israel has now killed more than 190 journalists since 7 October 2023. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) believe that at least 26 of them, including Al-Sharif, were deliberately targeted for being journalists. Deliberately targeting journalists, who are civilians under international law, is a war crime.

Israel has for years accused Al-Sharif of being a terrorist but provided “no credible evidence”, according to the CPJ.

Local journalists bear all the responsibility and danger of reporting in Gaza, as Israel has barred all international media from covering the war.

At Thursday’s vigil, journalists placed candles and flowers near pictures of their fallen colleagues.

South African journalist Khadija Patel said at the vigil that the targeting of journalists is a crime against humanity. “Journalists represent the right of human beings to know what is happening. Journalists are the living embodiment of our freedom of expression,” said Patel.

Journalists in attendance also condemned local publications which ran stories by reporters and editors who went on trips to Israel sponsored by the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).

The publications were ordered by the Press Council to publish apologies for breaching the press code by failing to disclose that the SAJBD had paid for the trips.

Journalists Against Apartheid said that these trips were a breach of journalistic ethics and encouraged media workers to take a stand against biased narratives in their newsrooms.

“Narratives which dehumanise Palestinians have contributed to the list of journalists who have been killed by Israel becoming longer and longer,” said journalist Qaanitah Hunter.

Journalists and activists gathered outside the Johannesburg offices of international news organisation Al Jazeera to hold a vigil for the journalists killed by Israel in Gaza.

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