Union holds vigil for journalists killed by Israel in Gaza

Martin Shipton

The National Union of Journalists in Wales is organising a vigil in Cardiff at 5.30pm on Thursday August 28 for the more than 230 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza by the Israel Defense Forces.

The names of the murdered workers will be read out at the vigil by the Betty Campbell statue in front of the UK Government building in Central Square.

It’s one of a series of events the union is organising across Britain and Ireland in protest at the targeting and killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza.

Jo Stevens

The NUJ has also written to the Secretary of State for Wales, Jo Stevens, calling for her government to press the International Criminal Court to investigate the deliberate targeting of journalists by the IDF.

The co-chairs of the union’s Welsh Executive Council, Rachel Howells and David Nicholson, have written to Ms Stevens “to express dismay, sorrow and anger at the sustained murderous attacks of the IDF in Gaza, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 61,000 Palestinians including more than 233 journalists and media workers.

“Nobody seriously doubts that the IDF, at the behest of the Israeli government, has deliberately targeted journalists and media workers as part of a strategy intended to suppress the reporting of the atrocities being committed on a daily basis. Such conduct represents an outrageous attack on media freedom and must not be tolerated,” the letter says.

“The targeting and killing of journalists and media workers is a war crime and the NUJ calls on your government to press the International Criminal Court to investigate this as soon as possible. The United Kingdom also needs to add its voice and pressure to the call from the International Federation of Journalists for Israel to allow international media organisations and journalists into Gaza.”

The letter to Ms Stevens also calls on the UK Government to stop supplying arms to Israel and assisting the IDF with surveillance intelligence.

UK Government office

The letter will be handed in at the UK Government office in Cardiff at 5.15pm on August 28. It reads as follows: “We write as co-chairs on behalf of the Welsh Executive Council of the National Union of Journalists to express our dismay, sorrow and anger at the sustained murderous attacks of the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza, which have resulted in the deaths of more than 61,000 Palestinians including more than 233 journalists and media workers, although some estimates put the figure at 270.

“Nobody seriously doubts that the IDF, at the behest of the Israeli government, has deliberately targeted journalists as part of a strategy intended to suppress the reporting of the atrocities being committed on a daily basis. Such conduct represents an outrageous attack on media freedom and must not be tolerated.

“The targeting and killing of journalists and media workers is a war crime and the NUJ calls on your government to press the International Criminal Court to investigate this as soon as possible. The United Kingdom also needs to add its voice and pressure to the call from the International Federation of Journalists for Israel to allow international media organisations and journalists into Gaza.

“We are alarmed that Israel seems intent on destroying Gaza City, one of the oldest cities in the world, a further escalation that will inevitably result in many more deaths, adding to what is already a humanitarian catastrophe.

“The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the country’s former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. In these circumstances we find it extraordinary and shameful that the UK government of which you are a member continues to supply arms to Israel and assists the IDF with surveillance intelligence.”

‘Handwringing’

It continues: “There has, of course, been a succession of handwringing statements from Ministers about what is happening in Gaza, but such rhetorical expressions of supposed concern mean nothing while the UK continues to provide military assistance to a regime that has bombed and starved many thousands of civilians to death, murdered journalists with impunity and is engaged in an appalling programme of ethnic cleansing.

“In addition to such crimes in Gaza, the Israeli government stands by as settlers murder Palestinians in the West Bank and steal their land. Members of Netanyahu’s government make no secret of their contempt for the lives of Palestinians and of their ambition to steal more Palestinian land, ending any realistic prospect of a two-state solution.

“It is time for the UK to end all logistical support for Israel’s war crimes, and we urge you to press this case as forcefully as you can to your Cabinet colleagues.”