On the International Day for the Protection of Whistleblowers
More than 150 journalists killed as the Israeli occupation’s impunity continues
The Israeli occupation continues its tactic of targeting and killing Palestinian journalists in the genocidal war on Gaza and throughout Palestine, where the Israeli occupation forces have killed during 9 months to date, 152 journalists in the Gaza Strip. Some were targeted with their families in aerial bombardment of their homes, while others were killed, when doing their job while wearing their journalist’s gear. Add to that the arrest of journalists in the West Bank and Jerusalem and the closure of a few local and regional media agencies. This exposes the intention of the Israeli occupation to deliberately target journalists and its obvious attempt to muzzle voices, prevent them from documenting its crimes, and stop them from gathering evidence that would help prosecute the Israeli occupation army in the International Court of Justice; yet the Israeli military and government continue to perpetrate these criminal acts with impunity without being held accountable for their crimes.
This past June 23 was the International Day for the Protection of Whistleblowers, and on this occasion, the Coalition for Accountability and Integrity (AMAN) condemns the ongoing crimes of the Israeli occupation in targeting journalists, who have a major role in reporting corruption and preparing investigative reports. With that, they remind the international community of its duty and responsibilities towards journalists, and call on it to protect them, as stated in international conventions, and not to deal with human rights selectively and with double standards. They also remind governments and peoples of the world of the necessity of universal rights for all, thus emphasizing the close relationship between combating corruption, achieving sustainable development goals and establishing international peace and security.
AMAN also condemns the international silence regarding the targeting and killing of Palestinian journalists, condemning in particular the killing of more than ten investigative journalists out of 152 martyrs, in whom AMAN had invested and trained over several years to produce investigative reports to combat corruption. These particular martyrs had an effective and courageous role in warding off corruption and holding officials accountable by producing investigative reports in local media, which prompted local authorities to duly deal with them as suspicious cases of corruption.
The AMAN Coalition has issued a report in which it enumerated the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation so far, citing a recent poll conducted by ARIJ (Arab Investigative Journalism Network), which stated that 98% of journalists were displaced several times, half of them were forced to live in dilapidated tents, in addition to the Israeli occupation’s partial or complete destruction of the homes of 183 journalists, 195 of whom lost their press equipment, and about a hundred of them lost their jobs.
According to the figures and statistics of the Palestinian Journalists Association and the International Federation of Journalists, the occupation has so far killed about 10% of Gaza's journalists, wherein the press helmet and protective shield became an clear mark for targeting journalists. The occupation forces also deliberately destroyed local and foreign media infrastructure in order to erase all evidence that incriminates them, and prevented international media from entering the Gaza Strip to examine and report the reality. They are also preventing wounded journalists from traveling for treatment, in addition to kidnapping journalists, where they are disappeared, never to be found again, as well as arresting and torturing them.
Figures and statistics indicate that the situation in the West Bank and Jerusalem is also at a boiling point, where the Israeli occupation army commits many violations, including protecting settler attacks on journalists and stealing or destroying their equipment, let alone the fact that these journalists have to work around the most difficult conditions of closures and bypassing checkpoints.
Since the seventh of October, the occupation has arrested 80 journalists, 30 of whom have been released, while 50 are still in Israeli prisons, including three journalists who worked with the AMAN coalition or won the AMAN Integrity Award for Best Investigative Reporting. It should be mentioned that 19 journalists are in administrative detention, that is, without charges or trial, but were arrested based on the so-called secret file, which is the most dangerous of charges since it can be infinitely extended. In addition, the Israeli authorities purposely intimidate journalists, threaten them, and spread hate speech against them in order to prevent them from continuing to perform their journalistic work.
All the aforementioned crimes of the Israeli occupation against journalists throughout Palestine are clear evidence that they are not random, but rather, an intentional and calculated strategy to cover up its crimes and attempts to escape punishment.
On the occasion of the International Day for the Protection of Whistleblowers, AMAN Coalition salutes the martyrs of the Palestinian press and praises their heroic role and courage in reporting the truth. It calls on international forums to provide protection for journalists, preserve their rights, and asserts the need to open international investigations for the crimes of targeting and killing them. AMAN also asks for legal measures to be taken against the Israeli occupation, and the implementation of international law and international humanitarian law that guarantees human rights for all, in order to hold the Israeli occupation accountable for its crimes against journalists, and to ensure that it does not escape punishment.
