Pradalié then led the assembled group, drawn from members of all of France’s journalists’ unions, in a minute’s silence to remember the hundred and more media workers who had died in the Gaza conflict.
They were not alone. From Lima to Istanbul, Dublin to Doha, Stockholm to Santiago de Compostela, journalists stopped work to remember the dead and register their protest at the climbing death toll.
In Dublin, Ireland, journalists at the national broadcaster, RTÉ assembled outside the company’s main studios with placards. NUJ general secretary, Michelle Stanistreet said: “We repeat our call for an immediate investigation by the International Criminal Court to ensure all incidents of the targeting of journalists constituting war crimes under international law, are properly investigated with perpetrators held to account.”
Members of the Libyan Journalists' Syndicate stood together in central Tripoli, in beating midday sun. Canadian journalists gathered in Unifor’s offices in silent commemoration and protest. In Dhaka, Bangladesh, they stood too, in silent condemnation of the onslaught.
In Dehli, India, journalists stood shoulder to shoulder wearing gags, to symbolise their concern at the sustained attack on free speech that this war has unleashed. International correspondents have been barred from Gaza, and the Israeli government has charged some of their domestic press with ‘subversion’.
Many members of the Iraqi Journalists’ Syndicate gathered in Baghdad, behind specially commissioned banners, to show their solidarity. In Amman, Jordan, too many journalists assembled behind their banner in a dignified moment of remembrance – scenes replicated in Lebanon, Morocco, and Syria.
Karen Percy, federal president of the Media Entertainments and Arts Alliance (MEAA) Australia delivered a message in Melbourne to share her feelings about Gaza’s journalists. “Israel must stop this immediately – journalism is not a crime”. Support came too from the Washington-Balitimore NewsGuild, JUADN in Athens, the Gamba Press Union, and many more.
European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) president, Maja Sever took time out from her role at public television channel HRT in Zagreb, Croatia, to stand in silent memory. She later said: “We will not stop talking, reporting and demanding justice and help spread your voice to the world”.
In London, IFJ deputy general secretary Tim Dawson addressed legislators at the UK Parliament. He told them: “If you consider the surveillance and targeting systems the Israeli’s have available to them, and the AI-assisted targeting technology, and then look at the terrible mortality rate suffered by journalists in Gaza, it is clear that something unique and terrible is happening here”.
Veteran MP and former shadow chancellor, John McDonnell responded, pledging to increase efforts to keep the issue of Palestinian journalists in the spotlight.
The day of commemoration also saw an eight-fold increase in donations to the IFJ’s International Safety Fund. Most were individual gifts. A record day of support was crowned, however, by an unexpected, but enormously welcome, £3,500 contribution from the International Transport Workers Federation – a shining example of trades union solidarity.
Reflecting on the day, IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said that the level of support demonstrates that journalists the world over stand with their colleagues in Gaza. “If media workers in one part of the world can be killed with impunity, it endangers us all. My pledge is that the IFJ will build on this remarkable display of solidarity and continue to make the case that the killing must stop, and that we will fight for justice for all those who have died.”