Statements
In Support of Bypassing Pro-Zionist Israeli News Sources
In the spirit of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which advocates economic opposition to the ongoing Israeli occupation of Palestine — and which the Industrial Workers of the World endorsed in 2010 — the IWW Freelance Journalists Union advocates that news producers and consumers bypass pro-Zionist Israeli news websites as much as is practical.
First and foremost, this means prioritizing Palestinians as sources on their own struggle against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine more broadly. The amount of biased reporting and blatant disinformation coming from pro-Zionist news sources in Israel — and from some of the most-read legacy media institutions — requires that journalists who stand in solidarity with Palestinians aspire to new heights of scrutiny and critical analysis.
In the current context of the Israeli military intentionally targeting Palestinian journalists and suppressing telecommunications into and out of Gaza — while also regularly preventing international journalists from accessing the territory — Israeli news websites are the sources most readily available. These same sources are also those most often cited by international outlets, despite clear conflicts of interest and growing evidence of pro-Zionist lies being reported by such outlets.
In order to prevent pro-Zionist Israeli news outlets from capitalizing on these dire circumstances, the IWW FJU advocates that both news producers and consumers attempt to access such sources via bypass tools that will deny them traffic and therefore revenue, such as the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine.
The IWW FJU stands with Palestinian journalists and the Palestinian people. As always, we echo the motto of the IWW: An injury to one is an injury to all!
In Solidarity with Ben Camacho
Since April 2023, Ben Camacho has been entangled in a legal battle over the release of photographs of officers with the Los Angeles Police Department. The photographs were obtained through a Public Records Request, after Camacho filed a lawsuit and a court settlement ordered the photos be handed over.
Following the release of the photos by Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, the City of Los Angeles filed suit against Camacho and SLSC, alleging that the public release of the personnel photos could compromise “sensitive” operations. The ongoing attempt to claw back these now public records is being made in violation of the defendants’ First Amendment rights. Now, another lawsuit has been filed, apparently to shift blame in the case.
The Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union stands in solidarity with Camacho, whose commitment to transparency in policing and government represents the core ethics of journalism: to inform the people and hold power to account. We call on Mayor Bass, City Attorney Soto and the City of Los Angeles to abide by the First Amendment by dropping these lawsuits immediately.
Until then, we stand by the motto of the IWW: An injury to one is an injury to all!
Solidarity on International Day for Palestinian Journalists
The Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union stands in solidarity with our colleagues in Israeli-occupied Palestine. In the 140 days since October 7, nearly 120 journalists have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank — almost one per day. The increasingly scant resources available to Palestinians has exacerbated the conditions on the ground, making Gaza the most dangerous place in the world to be a journalist.
To celebrate the bravery and critical work being done to cover atrocities by the Israeli military, the IWW FJU is joining the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and the International Federation of Journalists for an International Day for Palestinian Journalists on Monday, February 26. (Please see below for the original call from the PJS.)
In response to declining financial support for Palestinian journalists and coverage of the ongoing genocide, we advocate that journalists everywhere pitch at least one story about Gaza on February 26, and that our members and supporters continue to contribute to the PJS via the IFJ We echo the call to mobilize your union, newsroom or workplace to join a rally and speak out for the freedom of the press and the rights of all Palestinians.
Solidarity forever!
INTERNATIONAL DAY FOR PALESTINIAN JOURNALISTS
On February 26, everywhere in the world, let's mobilize!
Ramallah, 21 February 2024,
Dear colleagues, Four months after the start of the war in Gaza, the PJS highly appreciate the mobilization and support received by free people, represented in different bodies, all around the world, which has a clear impact in supporting Palestinian journalists knowing that they are not alone and started to mobilize international community in taking actions towards the genocide taking place in Gaza.
Unfortunately, although the number of killed journalists and media workers, which has reached almost 120, is increasing and reaching an unprecedented level, donations through IFJ International Security Fund and other partners to PJS are less regular and much lower than during the first weeks of the conflict.
We know that each of you is mobilized elsewhere, in your representation bodies, but we encourage you to continue your efforts because the needs of journalists have become vital. In the middle of winter, our sisters and brothers and their families lack everything and especially the essentials: clothes, blankets, tents, food, water… The scarcity of these basic necessities in this small territory 40 km long and 5 km wide results in a surge in prices. And they can no longer afford them. We are also alarmed by the poor international coverage of the conflict, linked to the fact that international media are not authorized by Israel to enter the enclave and report on the reality there. It is the right of citizens to know the reality of the conflict in Gaza which is being violated, both in the region and in the rest of the world.
This is why the PJS in full cooperation with IFJ, the largest global network of journalists across more than 146 countries, invites you to mobilize the members of your union, journalists in editorial offices and media outlets, but also national organizations of workers on Monday February 26, for what will be the International Day for Palestinian Journalists. Rallies, speeches, public meetings, all opportunities are necessary to remind all citizens that the freedom to inform has a price, in Gaza more than elsewhere. Let us never forget that for four months, it has been journalists from Gaza who have been informing the world because this area of a few square kilometers has been completely closed. From an open-air prison, Gaza has today become a mass grave with tens of thousands of dead, missing and injured.
Finally, around the world at noon, this February 26, 2024, we will all observe a minute of silence for the journalists killed since October 7.
Send your photos, videos, documents published during the day to the communication department at PJS - we will share them through our website. Tag us on the social media so we can relay your actions:
- https://x.com/InfoPJS?t=Wp0L68RaBZW07TwgxntwOA&s=09
- https://www.instagram.com/p.j.s_ps?igsh=Z3k2b2hhbm9kdGNs
- www.facebook.com/PALESTINIANJOURNALISTSSYNDICATE?mibextid=LQQJ4d
Thank you again for your support. Today, more than ever, it is essential.
Regards,
Nasser Abu Baker
President of Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
GoFundMe Shutters Fundraiser for Palestinian Journalists
On December 7, GoFundMe suddenly shut down a fundraiser by the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union benefiting the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
The fundraiser had been running since October 14, enabling the IWW FJU to raise $26,644.45 for the PJS to provide protective equipment for journalists in Palestine, at least 61 of whom have been killed in the ongoing war, according to the IFJ. The IWW FJU was able to send the PJS $20,564.24 before GoFundMe put a hold on the fundraiser. GoFundMe now refuses to release the remaining $6,080.21 pledged by donors, citing unspecified “laws and regulations.”
Over the course of the fundraiser, the IWW FJU received a dozen requests for further information from GoFundMe, all of which were answered as thoroughly and in as timely a manner as possible, given the ongoing war. The decision by GoFundMe to nevertheless shut down the fundraiser can only be understood as part of the mass repression currently targeting all those demonstrating solidarity with the people of Palestine.
The IWW FJU refuses to allow our solidarity to be undermined. We will be exploring whatever legal recourse may be available to us to appeal GoFundMe’s decision. In the meantime, we thank everyone who donated to our fundraiser; encourage our members, supporters and others to continue giving to the IFJ’s ongoing fundraiser for the PJS; and express our resolve to live up to the IWW’s motto: Solidarity Forever!
In Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate
In light of increasing violence in Israel and Palestine, the Industrial Workers of the World Printing and Publishing Workers Union and Freelance Journalists Union expresses its solidarity with the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, a member of the International Federation of Journalists.
The ongoing war has already claimed the lives of at least 10 journalists, per the PJS. This current wave of killings occurs in the context of hundreds of violations and crimes against Palestinian journalists perpetrated by the Israeli occupation every year, as reported by the PJS.
To protect journalists, the PJS requires media outlets to provide safety vests, helmets and gas masks for employees, but this equipment is often unavailable to freelancers. The IWW PPWU-FJU is therefore fundraising to provide the PJS with 50 such kits for freelancers. We encourage all journalists, union members and others to support the PJS by contributing to this fundraiser and sharing widely both the fundraiser and the PJS’s most recent statement on the current war below.
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate: In Gaza, crimes against journalists: 10 killed, 20 injured, 2 missed, 50 media institutions destroyed, more than 45 violations have taken place in the West Bank and Jerusalem, while crimes extend to journalists in Lebanon!
Ramallah, in a report issued by the Freedoms Committee of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, it was stated that since the beginning of the aggression against the Gaza Strip on 10/7/2023, 10 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli occupation aircraft missiles.
The PJS indicates that journalists in the Gaza Strip face very dangerous situation as a result of the Israeli occupation bombing, which caused the killing of 10 journalists in Palestine and one journalist in Lebanon.
In light with rapid developments during the brutal escalation in Gaza, the PJS has monitored the following crimes and violations since the start of the war on the Gaza Strip until Friday evening.
Names of killed journalists:
- Ahmed Shehab, program producer on Voice of Prisoners Radio
- Photojournalist Muhammad Al-Salhi, photographer of the “Fourth authority” agency
- Freelance photojournalist Muhammad Fayez Abu Matar
- Journalist Hisham Al-Nawajha, photographer for “Khabar” agency
- Photojournalist Ibrahim Lafi from Ain Media Foundation
- Journalist Saeed Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Fifth News Agency
- Journalist Muhammad Jarghoun from Smart Media Agency
- Freelance journalist Asaad Shamal
- Journalist Muhammad Abu Rizq, Khabar Agency photographer.
- Freelance journalist Salam Mema, whose death was announced after being pulled from under the rubble, three days after her home was destroyed
Missing Journalists:
- Photojournalist Nidal Al-Wahidi, who works as a producer with Al-Najah TV
- Journalist Haitham Abdel Wahed from Ain Media Media Foundation
Serious and injuries among journalists:
Due to the difficulty of movement and communication resulting from the abundance of missile bombardment, its intensity, and its spread in many locations in the Gaza Strip, the number of injured journalists may be more than this statistic that we have been able to monitor so far.
About 20 injuries were observed, the most violent of which was in the Gaza Strip, where some of the announced injury was journalist Ibrahim Qanan, correspondent for Al-Ghad TV, freelance photographer Ali Hamad, journalist Saleh Al-Masry from the Palestine Today Agency, and photojournalist Mahmoud Al-Hams, photographer for Agence France-Presse.
Moreover, the killing of the wife of journalist Sameh Murad, “a freelance journalist who worked these days with Al Arabiya during the aggression,” and the injury of the rest of his family as the displaced people who went out toward Khan Yunis were targeted while he was working to cover the events of the aggression in Al-Shifa Hospital.
Destroying of journalists’ offices and homes:
About 50 headquarters and centers of media institutions and about 20 homes for journalists were completely and some partially destroyed as a result of the bombing, including the offices of the following news agencies and media outlets:
Al-Aqsa Media Network, Ma’an News Agency, Sawa Agency, Shehab Agency, Al-Quds Newspaper, Radio Baladna, Zaman Radio, National Agency, Khabar Agency, Al-Ayyam Newspaper, Event Media Services Company, Fadl Shanaa Foundation, Holy Quran Radio, Shams News Agency, APA Agency, Al Jazeera Network Office, Palestine TV, “AFP” Agency.
Additionally, many journalists were also subject to direct threats and incitement campaigns by Israeli pages on social media platforms, as happened with journalist Muthanna Al-Najjar from Gaza, as well as journalist Muhammad Turkman in the West Bank, apart from monitoring many Hebrew publications calling for the killing of journalists and describing them as saboteurs and terrorists.
Violations in the West Bank and Jerusalem:
Meanwhile, many Palestinian journalists were injured in the West Bank, and crews were beaten, detained, prevented from covering.
As 8 shooting cases have been recorded, as a result of which 3 journalists were injured. Additionally, PJS documented 21 cases of detention and preventing from coverage, 8 physical assault cases, 7 cases of confiscating and destroying journalists’ equipment, and some other violations .
Additionally, the Israeli forces have arrested 32 citizens who demonstrated for solidarity with Gaza.
Israeli crimes against journalists extend to Lebanon!
The Israeli occupation forces were not limited to targeting Palestinian journalists, but it extended to Lebanon, where the killing of Reuters journalist Issam Abdullah was announced and five journalists from Al Jazeera, Reuters and Agence France-Presse were injured in an Israeli bombing in southern Lebanon.
Journalists threatening:
Additionally, many journalists were also subject to direct threats and incitement campaigns by Israeli pages on social media platforms, as happened with journalist Muthanna Al-Najjar from Gaza, as well as journalist Muhammad Turkman in the West Bank, apart from monitoring many Hebrew publications calling for the killing of journalists and describing them as saboteurs and terrorists.
Moreover, the Israeli Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karei, was quoted to take a decision to stop providing Internet services to Internet companies in the Gaza Strip, starting at 00:00 on 10/14/2023, and to ban all types of services provided by Israeli Internet service providers to Gaza.
In this context, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate calls on the United Nations, especially UNESCO, to provide international protection for journalists from systematic killing and targeting, as well as to preserve their rights and their access to the Internet and other means of communication, so that they can deliver their media message to the Palestinians and the entire world about the war in Gaza.
As combating misleading information is one of the pillars of the International Code of Professional Ethics issued by the International Federation of Journalists, which must remain the backbone of the professional principles of journalists, and access to correct information is one of the basic rights of citizens.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the International Federation of Journalists and its trainers in its journalists’ safety network, in cooperation with the PJS, have updated the journalist’s safety guidelines for journalists in the field in line with the special situation of journalists in Palestine.
General Secretariat
Palestinian Journalists Syndicate