Every year on May 3, UNESCO commemorates World Press Freedom Day.
Today is a particularly dangerous time for journalists around the world, with Israel’s war in Gaza becoming the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers.
“When we lose journalists, we lose eyes and ears to the outside world. We lose the voice of the voiceless,” said Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, in a statement today. Stated.
“World Press Freedom Day was created to celebrate the value of truth and protect those who work bravely to uncover the truth.”
The most dangerous time for journalists in Gaza
More than 100 journalists and media workers, the majority of them Palestinians, have been killed in the first seven months of the war in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). .
More than 140 people have been killed in Gaza’s media outlets, meaning an average of five journalists have been killed every week since October 7.
At least 34,596 Palestinians have been killed and 77,816 injured in Gaza since the war began. More than 8,000 other people are buried under the rubble and are missing.
“Reporters in Gaza must be protected, those who wish to do so must be evacuated and Gaza’s gates must be opened to international media,” said Jonathan Dugger, head of RSF’s Middle East desk. This is what he said in his statement this month.
“The few reporters who were able to survive are witnessing the same horrific reality of journalists being attacked, injured and killed…Palestinian journalism must be protected as a matter of urgency.”
Al Jazeera reporter killed or injured in Gaza
On January 7, Hamza Dadou, the eldest son of Al Jazeera’s Gaza bureau chief Wael Dadou, was killed by an Israeli missile in Khan Yunis. Hamza, who was a journalist like his father, was in a car with Mustafa Turaya, another journalist who also died in the attack, near al-Mawasi, a safe area designated by Israel.
Al Jazeera correspondents reported that Hamza and Mustafa’s car was targeted as they were attempting to interview civilians displaced by earlier bombings.
Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemned the attack, adding: “The assassination of Mustafa and Hamza while carrying out their mission in the Gaza Strip reaffirms the need to take immediate and necessary legal action against the occupying forces.” Ensure there is no impunity. ”
![[Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/INTERACTIVE_SAMER_OBIT-1702719957.png?w=770&resize=770%2C769)
On December 15, 2023, while Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa was reporting at Farhana School in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza, he was attacked by an Israeli drone and Wael Dadou was also injured.
Abudaqa was unable to obtain permission from the Israeli military and emergency personnel were unable to contact him, so he bled to death for more than four hours.
Abudaqa became the 13th journalist to be killed on the job since Al Jazeera began broadcasting in 1996.
In 2022, Shireen Abu Akre, a well-known Palestinian journalist in the Arab world, was killed by Israeli forces while reporting on a story in the occupied West Bank.
Al Jazeera called on the international community to hold Israel accountable for the attacks on its journalists.
How many journalists will be murdered around the world in 2024?
According to CPJ, 25 journalists and media workers have been killed so far in 2024.
At least 20 of those killed were in Palestine. Two people died in Colombia, and one each in Pakistan, Sudan and Myanmar.
In 2023, more than three-quarters of the 99 journalists and media workers killed around the world will be killed in the Israel-Gaza war, and the majority were Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza. .
“Since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, journalists have paid the ultimate price with their lives to protect the right to know the truth. Every time a journalist is killed or injured, we We lose pieces of the truth,” said Carlos Martínez de la Serna, CPJ program director.
Where is press freedom most restricted?
To measure the momentum of press freedom around the world, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) releases an annual index. It ranks the political, economic and socio-cultural backgrounds, as well as legal frameworks and media safety, of 180 countries and territories.
According to the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, Eritrea has the worst press freedom, followed by Syria, Afghanistan, North Korea and Iran.
According to RSF, all independent media in Eritrea has been banned since the transition to dictatorship in September 2001. Media is directly controlled by the Ministry of Information and includes news agencies, several publications, and Eli TV.
How many journalists are in prison?
According to CPJ, as of December 1, 2023, 320 journalists and media workers were imprisoned.
The countries with the highest number of imprisoned journalists are China (44), Myanmar (43), Belarus (28), Russia (22), and Vietnam (19).
According to CPJ, China has long been “one of the worst countries in the world for imprisoning journalists.”
Almost half of the 44 journalists imprisoned in China are Uyghurs, accusing the Chinese government of crimes against humanity of mass detention and harsh crackdown on the region’s mostly Muslim ethnic group. .
