A statistic published in the New York Times on 15 November, brought the situation faced by Gaza’s journalists into fresh focus. The paper reported that 102 employees of the United Nations Relief Work Agency (UNRWA) have been killed since the start of this war on 7 October. The largest number of these were teachers, but the list also includes school principals, warehouse workers, engineers and a software developer.
UNRWA is a major presence in Gaza. Its 13,000 employees provide most of the enclave’s schools, as well as health care and social services. Its losses represent 0.78 per cent of its workforce in Gaza who have lost their lives since 7 October.
As in most communities, there are dramatically fewer journalists in Gaza than there are teachers. Approximately 1,000 reporters, photographers and video makers are known to be working in Gaza, of whom 35 have been killed to date, or 3.5 per cent of the entire workforce. To put that another way, in the past six weeks, journalists in Gaza have been more than four times more likely to lose their lives than have school teachers.
Nor is mortal threat the only challenge faced by our colleagues who are reporting from Gaza. Collectively, they have lost around 1,000 family members. All of the journalists have been displaced from their own homes, many of which have been destroyed. Nearly all now live in tents around Khan Yunis, some are sleeping on the crowded floors of family and friends, others are sleeping in schools and hospitals. Like everyone else in Gaza, they have little food or water. The absence of fuel, means that most undertake their work on foot, carrying what equipment they need on their shoulders.
Despite these hardships, however, this dedicated band are determined to show the world what is happening where they live. It is their footage that dominates the world’s tv screens, their testimony that fills column inches, their voices that animate radio broadcasts. Without Gaza’s journalists, there would be no independent account of what has befallen the region. There are no foreign journalists in Gaza.
It is for this reason that journalists’ unions around the world have a particular responsibility to do everything we can to help our Gazan colleagues.
As a global community of journalists, we are fortunate to have such a strong affiliate in the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate. It is a vibrant, and well-organised union, of which more than 80 per cent of Gaza’s journalists are members. Its executive is made up of members representing the perspectives of several of Palestine’s political parties, it includes members from Christian and Muslim backgrounds, and women as well as men occupy senior representative roles. Like all trades unions, there are lively internal debates, but these are settled by the usual democratic means. Approximately 1,000 members attended its Congress in May this year.
The PJS provides granular, on-the-ground organisation when the IFJ is in a position to provide aid. Two weeks ago, the IFJ funded the purchase of blast-trauma first-aid packs, and portable batteries to recharge broadcast equipment. PJS vice president Tahseen al-Astall, and his colleagues, toured the streets of Khan Yunis personally, handing out relief to all those journalists who could make use of the items – regardless of whether or not they were union members, or their political affiliation.
The next most pressing need is likely to be tents. These can be sourced in Egypt, but as everyone knows, the relief convoys passing through he Rafah crossing are far too small to meet Gaza’s needs. Nonetheless, the IFJ is working with Unesco to try and find a way. To be able to act as soon as opportunity allows, however, we must have funds. It is for that reason, that I am appealing to affiliates and their members to help.
Of course, there are many agencies currently seeking donations to provide relief in Gaza. I notice very moving appeals from international medical agencies with a strong presence in Palestine, for example. They do fine work, of course, but such is the scale of need in Gaza that money given to them is unlikely to benefit journalists.
As journalists, we uniquely recognise the importance of our colleagues’ work, and the hugely disproportionate risks they take to obtain their footage. We also understand that unions are critical for the protection of journalists and the promotion of their work. This is the moment for journalists, and journalists’ unions to reach into their pockets and show what international solidarity really means.
Several have already done so – but the need as pressing as the situation is dire.
I hope that others will be moved to follow the example of the early donators. By doing so, you will help Gaza’s brave journalists to keep the world’s eyes on this terrible war. The resulting outrage, hopefully, will cause sufficient international pressure be applied that a just solution for that region will soon be found.
It we fail at this, Gazans will die in the dark.
Tim Dawson is deputy general secretary of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ)