Posters of journalists killed while covering the Israeli war on Gaza were placed outside St George’s Cathedral on Sunday evening.
About 200 people, many of them journalists, took section in a vigil outside St George’s Cathedral in Cape Town on Sunday evening. They were there to express solidarity with Palestinians journalists and commemorate the extremely high number of media workers killed in Gaza since 7 October.
The Committee to Protect Journalists states that as of 28 January 83 journalists and media workers are confirmed dead in the war in Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon since 7 October. These include 76 Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese.
The organisation says that it is “also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, damage, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes”.
The government media office in Gaza estimates over 100 journalists gain been killed.
Raeesa Pather, a journalist, chaired the vigil. She told the account of Ayat Khadoura, a Palestinian journalist and podcaster. On 6 November Khadoura published a video on Instagram that she called “my last message to the world”. The CPJ website says she was killed on 20 November along with an unknown number of family members in an Israeli airstrike on her home in northern Gaza.
Veteran journalist Jimi Matthews addressed the crowd, and called out the names of the five journalists who died “with their boots on” in the ten years that he covered the struggle against apartheid. He compared that to the over 100 journalists believed to be killed in Gaza in just over 100 days.
Matthews paid tribute to the Palestinian journalists risking their lives to reveal the world what is going on in Gaza. But he also criticised “our colleagues in the mainstream western media” who acquire “embedded with the” Israeli military and had their reports “vetted by the Israelis before publication”.
Sound clips were also played of Palestinian journalists Samer Zaneen (via a translator), Youmna ElSayed, Maram Humaid and Nizar Sadawi. They told their personal stories and every expressed gratitude for South African journalists standing in solidarity with them.
Michael Weeder, Dean of St George’s Cathedral, Farieda Rabiyah Nsoki-Nzuzi of Radio 786, arts journalist Attiyah Khan, veteran journalist Zubeida Jaffer and Reverend Allan Boesak also addressed the vigil.
People were invited to light candles in honour of the reporters who acquire been killed. Posters with the faces of dead reporters were establish up on the outside of the cathedral.
Similar vigils were organised in Johannesburg, Makhanda and Durban.
Many Cape Town journalists attended the vigil.
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eye devil
Fun South African Fact: South Africa is home to the oldest meteor scar in the world – the Vredefort Dome in a town called Parys. The site is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Snake Eyes
Interview with a pirate:
There was a pirate who had agreed to carry out an interview with a local tv station. The reporter was very courteous and professional, giving a bit of background as to the pirate\’s business. She then began interviewing him.
\”So Mr. Longbeard, are there any risks to your business? I see you maintain a peg leg- how did that near about?\”
\”Well, y\’see I were sailing along the coast of South Africa, looking to plunder some locals when as I boarded the small boat from the boat, a worthy white shark came up and got my leg clean off. \’twas scary yes, but thus is the life of a pirate.\”
\”Wow, that is pretty scary- well, how about your hook? What happened to your hand with that?\”
\”Oh now that\’s quite the tale, y\’see I were fighting a rival pirate, and we had locked swords. We had been fighting for a few hours, and were both terribly fatigued. I had a bit of exhaustion and confusion, and when I went to block one of his sword blows, I met him with me hand instead of me sword. Took it factual off, but it shocked him so much I managed to acquire him back pretty qualified and acquire him submit. So the hook hand was given as a replacement.\”
\”Wow. Simply fascinating. Now, what about your eye patch? How did that happen?\”
\”Well, one day, a seagull was flying overhead, and I looked up. It pooped accurate in me eye.\”
\”… Well wow. I must admit, I wouldn\’t contemplate just seagull poop could damage the eye that badly.\”
\”Oh, I forgot to mention… it were me first day with the hook.\”