More than 750 journalists have signed an open letter condemning Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and criticizing Western media coverage of the war, the Washington Post reported Friday.
More than 750 journalists from dozens of news organizations signed an open letter condemning Israel's killing of journalists in Gaza and criticizing Western media coverage of the war.
The letter stated that newsrooms (Western media) are responsible for the inhumane rhetoric that served the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
The letter includes "two sites from Reuters and the Los Angeles Times, The Post, The Post, and reflects "divisions and frustrations within newsrooms."
The newspaper noted that the signing of the letter to some journalists was a bold and even dangerous step, adding that journalists in media organizations were expelled for adopting public political positions that may expose them to accusations of bias, the newspaper said, without specifying these means.
Commitment to justice
Many writers, artists, researchers and academics have criticized media coverage of Israel's war on Gaza.
The authors of the letter said it was a call to recommit to justice and not to abandon it.
Abdullah Fayyad, who reached the 2022 Pulitzer Prize finalist and is a former member of the editorial board of the Boston Globe who signed the letter, said: "I hope that after this letter the culture of fear on this issue will be undone, and that policymakers, reporters and editors will think twice about the language they use."
Suhana Hussain, a labor reporter for the Los Angeles Times, said: "It's about asking journalists to do their job, that is: holding the authorities accountable."
The letter asserts that journalists should use words such as "apartheid," "ethnic cleansing," and "genocide" to describe Israel's treatment of Palestinians, terms that the petition's signatories explain are used by international rights organizations.
It also focuses on the 39 journalists killed by Israeli forces.
Journalist killed daily
The Washington Post confirmed yesterday that one journalist is killed in Gaza every day, calling it an alarming rate.
The newspaper said that the latest petition comes after a series of petitions signed by media, academics and artists calling for an end to the war and not to obfuscate what is happening in Gaza.
She also recalled that another petition signed by hundreds of Jewish writers called for stopping the war and saving civilian lives, adding, "We are horrified to see the battle against anti-Semitism being used as a pretext to commit war crimes with the declared intent of genocide."