Journalism to reveal and Journalism to deceive: Palestine and Journalistic integrity

This call for action panel highlights Israel’s systemic targeting of journalists and media workers. The voices of journalists and their family members are showcased to underscore Israel’s deliberate attacks against Palestinian and Lebanese journalists while highlighting severe ramifications for press freedom and human rights.

The International Federation of Journalists estimates that around 1,000 journalists worked in Gaza before October 7, 2023. As of September 30, 2024, the Committee to Protect Journalists reported that Israel had killed 127 journalists and media workers in Gaza and three in Lebanon.

The targeting of Lebanese journalists further highlights the regional scope of Israel’s efforts to suppress media coverage. In addition to these deaths, in September 2024, Israel confiscated documents and equipment from Al Jazeera and ordered its shutdown in Ramallah, intensifying concerns about the deliberate suppression of news outlets.

One of the most notable incidents occurred on May 21, 2021, when Israel destroyed the Associated Press office in Gaza. Although the office reopened nearly a year later, it was soon shut down and attacked again as part of an imposed blackout designed to obscure the atrocities Israel was about to commit in Gaza.

The continued attacks on both Palestinian and Lebanese journalists underscore the broader struggle over control of narratives and the flow of information, as international organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders continue to condemn these violations of press freedom.

Panelists:
Rania Khalek, journalist and host of Breakthrough News
Katie Halper, comedian, writer, filmmaker and podcaster
Tony Abu Akleh, brother of Shireen Abu Akleh, the veteran Al Jazeera Palestinian journalist
Zukiswa Wanner, South African journalist, novelist and editor
Craig Mokhiber, Human Rights Lawyer
Moderator: Sara Farhan, PhD, 2Rivers4Palestine