"At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed."
In less than a year, over 130 journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza. To pay homage to these fallen reporters and demand the protection of Palestinian journalists, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is holding flash protests in ten different countries.
This Thursday, 26 September, RSF is holding flash protests around the world to pay homage to the journalists killed in Gaza. Since October 7, the Israeli army has killed over 130 journalists in the Palestinian enclave, at least 32 of whom were murdered while working. With this global awareness campaign, RSF aims to alert the international public to the gravity of this crisis: the alarming rate at which these journalists are being killed is jeopardising the right to free and independent information.
The protests will be held all day long in ten countries: Germany, Brazil, Spain, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Senegal, Switzerland, Taïwan and Tunisia. Press vests covered in blood – symbolising the horrifying number of journalists who paid with their lives for their commitment to keeping the world informed – will be placed in emblematic locations in each of these countries, such as Liberty Square in Taipei, in front of London’s Big Ben, in front of The African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, and near the Eiffel Tower in Paris. A shared message will appear on large banners at each protest: “At the rate journalists are being killed in Gaza, there will soon be no one left to keep you informed.”
“The massacre of journalists in Gaza must end. The Israeli army’s elimination of journalists in Gaza – over 130 killed in less than a year – threatens to create a complete media blackout in the blockaded enclave. These attacks target not only the Palestinian press, but the international public’s right to information that is reliable, free, independent, and pluralist from one of the most closely watched conflict zones on the planet. We demand protection for Gaza's journalists, an end to impunity, and that foreign journalists be given access to the strip. Our right to information is at stake."
RSF fights for the protection of Gaza’s journalists
RSF has filed four complaints with the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes committed against journalists in Gaza. Following the first two complaints, the office of ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan assured RSF that crimes against journalists are included in its investigation into the situation in Palestine.
Together with the local organisation Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), RSF has supported over 250 journalists in Gaza working for both local and international media outlets. This support includes providing shelter and equipment to reporters so they can continue covering the war.
RSF continues to advocate against the massacre of Gaza’s journalists, calling for an end to the blockade preventing journalists from entering and exiting the territory, and documenting crimes committed against media professionals.
RSF also opened a press freedom centre in Beirut, Lebanon, to provide journalists in the region – especially those covering the war – with the equipment, aid, and resources necessary to continue their work of informing the world in the safest conditions possible.
