SPECIAL REPORTS

Nov. wk1 P2 -- Nov. wk1 -- Oct wk5 P2 -- Oct wk5 -- Oct wk4 P3 -- Oct wk4 P2 -- Oct wk4 -- Oct wk3 P3 -- Oct wk3 P2 -- Oct wk3 -- Oct wk2 P3 -- Oct wk2 P2
 Click here for an overview by week in 2024

 

Special reports: TRIBUTES TO MOTHERS AND CHILDREN   a   NEW: September 11, 2024: Nour, A midwife in Gaza Sept. 4, 2024: "He can't move at all": A Gaza mother's agony over baby with polio... and September 3, 2024: 'Tragic childhood': Gaza children vaccinated against polio, war continues...   Shoroughs' family August 12, 2024: 'Part of me is missing': How Israel's war on Gaza tears spouses apart earlier stories: August 7, 2024: 'My children cry all day from the heat': Life in Gaza’s tent camps... and August 5, 2024: Shorough 'We have nothing left in this world, except our daughter': a young mother on life in Gaza...

Alaa al-Nimer and daughterNimah July 28, 2024 "My baby girl was born on the street": A traumatic birth in Gaza   July 22, 2024 Ms. Maram Humaid: "A letter to my son: As you turn one today in Gaza, I feel joy and sorrow"  July 12, 2024 Noor Alyacoubi - "I'm fighting to keep my baby alive" and other stories Mothers and children: Boom-And again Boom   Special reports: UPDATES:   Oct 30, 2024: Politics and starvation-UNRWA  and UN chief Antonio Guterres - "Plight of Gaza civilians 'unbearable'"    Oct 27, 2024: How American media incited genocide   Overview special reports

October 31 - 29, 2024 "No child gets shot twice by mistake"... US surgeon Mark Perlmutter in Gaza and more actual and revealing news

October 29 - 22, 2024 "The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in north Gaza is unbearable," Guterres's spokesman said... and more actual and revealing news

June 14, 2024 Palestinian-Jordanian journalist Hiba Abu Taha sentenced to one year in prison

Nov. 2 - Oct. 24: Gazaian journalists under permanent siege by the idf October 23 - 16, 2024: "Attacks, arrests, threats, censorship: The high risks of reporting the Israel-Gaza war" Shireen Abu Akleh In commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh, the 'voice of Al Jazeera' killed while revealing the true face of israel    Click here for earlier stories/news

May 23, 2024 In commemoration of Roshdi Sarraj and tribute to Shrouq Al Aila

 
When one hurts or kills a women
one hurts or kills hummanity and is an antrocitie.
Gino d'Artali
and: My mother (1931-1997) always said to me <Mi figlio, non esistono notizie <vecchie> perche puoi imparare qualcosa da qualsiasi notizia.> Translated: <My son, there is no such thing as so called 'old' news because you can learn something from any news.>
Gianna d'Artali.


VLe Monde - November 2, 2024
<<UNESCO reports surge in journalist killings
Between 2022 and 2023, 162 journalists were killed, nearly half of them working in countries experiencing armed conflict.
Worldwide killings of journalists jumped in 2022-23 compared with the previous two years, UN cultural body UNESCO said in a report Saturday, November 2, with almost all cases going unpunished. At 162 deaths, the number of journalists killed while working leaped 38%, the report found, calling the the increase "alarming." "In 2022 and 2023, a journalist was killed every four days simply for doing their vital job to pursue truth," UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in a statement. She urged countries to "do more to ensure that these crimes never go unpunished."
The largest number of killings were in Latin America and the Caribbean, at 61 over the two years, while the least deadly global region for journalists was North America and Western Europe with six killings. The report also found that a majority of slain journalists were killed in conflict zones in 2023 for the first time since 2017, at 44 deaths or 59% of that year's total, reversing a years-long trend of falling conflict deaths. Among the journalists killed in 2022-23, 14 were women - 9% of the total - while at least five were in the 15-24 age range. Almost all killings of journalists go unsolved, with 85% of cases identified by UNESCO since 2006 still unsolved or abandoned, according to responses individual countries sent the body. That marked some improvement on the 89% non-resolution rate in 2018 and 95% in 2012. But of 75 countries UNESCO contacted for updates on open cases, 17 did not respond at all and nine did no more than acknowledge the request. Even in the 210 cases where journalists' killings were resolved, the median time this took stood at four years. "Justice delayed is justice denied," the report authors wrote. UNESCO holds an annual publicity campaign against impunity for journalists' killings. This year, it will hold a conference on journalists' safety while reporting on crises in Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on November 6.
Le Monde with AFP>>
Source: https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2024/11/02/unesco-reports-surge-in-journalist-killings_6731322_4.html

Al Jazeera - November 2, 2024 -
<<Over 100 staff accuse BBC of bias in coverage of Israel's war in Gaza
Employees say 'Israel must be held to account for its actions' and that failing to do so dehumanises Palestinians.
The BBC has been accused by more than 100 of its staff of giving Israel favourable coverage in its reporting of the war on Gaza and criticised its lack of "accurate evidence-based journalism". A letter sent to the broadcaster's director general, Tim Davie, and CEO Deborah Turness on Friday said: "Basic journalistic tenets have been lacking when it comes to holding Israel to account for its actions." First reported by The Independent newspaper on Friday, the signatories included more than 100 anonymous BBC staff and more than 200 from the media industry, as well as historians, actors, academics and politicians. The consequences of inadequate coverage are significant. Every television report, article and radio interview that has failed to robustly challenge Israeli claims has systematically dehumanised Palestinians," the letter said. Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 43,259 Palestinians and wounded 101,827 since October 7, 2023. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day and more than 200 were taken captive. The signatories called on the BBC to implement editorial commitments including "reiterating that Israel does not give external journalists access to Gaza; making it clear when there is insufficient evidence to back up Israeli claims; making clear where Israel is the perpetrator in article headlines; including regular historical context predating October 2023; and robustly challenging Israeli government and military representatives in all interviews". The letter said British media organisations such as the BBC, ITV and Sky "enjoy high levels of public trust" and have a "duty to fearlessly follow the evidence". It also noted that the BBC "is licence fee funded, and the erosion of its own editorial standards has put its impartiality and independence at serious risk". Last November, more than a month after Israel began its war in Gaza, eight United Kingdom-based journalists employed by the BBC wrote a letter to Al Jazeera and said the BBC is guilty of a "double standard in how civilians are seen", given that it is "unflinching" in its reporting of alleged Russian war crimes in Ukraine. "This organisation doesn't represent us," one of the co-writers told Al Jazeera. "For me, and definitely for other people of colour, we can see blatantly that certain civilian lives are considered more worthy than others - that there is some sort of hierarchy at play."
Israel's war has now expanded to Lebanon, where at least 2,897 people have been killed and 13,150 wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began.
The BBC has defended its coverage of the war in Gaza.
According to UK media reports on Friday, a BBC spokesperson said: "When we make mistakes or have made changes to the way we report, we are transparent. We are also very clear with our audiences on the limitations put on our reporting - including the lack of access into Gaza and restricted access to parts of Lebanon, and our continued efforts to get reporters into those areas," the spokesperson added.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES>>
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/2/over-100-staff-accuse-bbc-of-bias-in-its-coverage-of-israels-war-in-gaza

CPJ - October 31, 2024
<<Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war
The Israel-Gaza war has taken an unprecedented toll on Gazan journalists since Israel declared war on Hamas following its attack against Israel on October 7, 2023. As of November 1, 2024, CPJ’s preliminary investigations showed at least 134 journalists and media workers were among the more than tens of thousands killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began, making it the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
See CPJ's database of the full list of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war
Journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict, including devastating Israeli airstrikes, famine, the displacement of 90% of Gaza's population, and the destruction of 80% of its buildings. CPJ is investigating more than 130 additional cases of potential killings, arrests and injuries, but many are difficult to document amid these harsh conditions. "Since the war in Gaza started, journalists have been paying the highest price - their lives - for their reporting. Without protection, equipment, international presence, communications, or food and water, they are still doing their crucial jobs to tell the world the truth," said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York. "Every time a journalist is killed, injured, arrested, or forced to go to exile, we lose fragments of the truth. Those responsible for these casualties face dual trials: one under international law and another before history's unforgiving gaze." Journalists are civilians and are protected by International Law. Deliberately targeting civilians constitutes a war crime. In May, the International Criminal Court announced it was seeking arrest warrant applications for Hamas and Israeli leaders for war crimes and crimes against humanity. To date, CPJ has determined that at least five journalists were directly targeted by Israeli forces in killings which CPJ classifies as murders: Issam Abdallah, Hamza Al Dahdouh, Mustafa Thuraya, Ismail Al Ghoul, and Rami Al Refee. CPJ is still researching the details for confirmation in at least 22 other cases that indicate possible targeting. Two more journalists were killed and three were injured in Gaza around the time of the war's one-year anniversary on October 7, prompting CPJ to renew its call for an end to impunity in Israel’s attacks on journalists.
As of November 1:
134 journalists and media workers were confirmed killed: 126 Palestinian, two Israeli, and six Lebanese.
41 journalists were reported injured
2 journalists were reported missing
71 journalists were reported arrested.
Multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship, and killings of family members.
CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists' homes.
The list of killed journalists documented in our database includes names based on information obtained from CPJ’s sources in the region and media reports. It includes all journalists* involved in news-gathering activity. It is not always immediately clear whether all of these journalists were covering the conflict at the time of their deaths, but CPJ has included them in its count as it investigates their circumstances. The list is being updated on a regular basis, with names being removed if CPJ confirms that those members of the media were not working journalists at the time they were killed, injured, or went missing. Israel Defense Forces (IDF) officials have repeatedly told media outlets that the army does not deliberately target journalists. It also told agencies shortly after the war started that it could not guarantee the safety of journalists. CPJ has called for an end to the longstanding pattern of impunity in cases of journalists killed by the IDF. United Nations experts have raised concerns over the killings of journalists, saying in a February statement that they were "alarmed at the extraordinarily high numbers of journalists and media workers who have been killed, attacked, injured and detained in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, particularly in Gaza, in recent months blatantly disregarding international law."
The lists below detail those injured and missing in the Israel-Gaza war:
https://cpj.org/2024/10/journalist-casualties-in-the-israel-gaza-conflict/

Al Jazeera - October 29, 2024
<<The Take: Israel's campaign against Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza
Al Jazeera rejects Israel's claim that six of its Gaza-based journalists are members of Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Israel has accused six of Al Jazeera's reporters in Gaza of being operatives for Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad – allegations the network condemned as fabricated. We look at Al Jazeera's fight to report from Gaza, the dangers its journalists face, and the broader implications of Israel's efforts to keep international media out of the Gaza Strip.>>
Source incl. video: https://www.aljazeera.com/podcasts/2024/10/29/the-take-israels-campaign-against-al-jazeera-journalists-in-gaza

Al Jazeera - October 25, 2024 - By Alice Speri
<<How impunity fuels Israel’s attacks on journalists in Gaza and Lebanon
Israel continues to target journalists because of the global failure to hold it accountable for abuses, advocates say. The apparent targeted killing of three media workers in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon on Friday has renewed calls for ending impunity for Israel's abuses. Advocates say the mounting death toll of journalists killed by the Israeli military in the expanding conflict is a result of the failure of the international community – particularly the United States, Israel's top backer - to hold the country accountable. The killing of media workers in Lebanon came days after Israel baselessly accused several Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being members of Palestinian armed groups, raising concerns about their safety. "The events of recent days are alarming, and should serve as a wake-up call for the US government and other states that have the power to hold the Israeli government to account and put a stop to this violence," said Rebecca Vincent, campaign director at Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
Friday's deadly attack in Lebanon targeted a compound where several journalists and media workers were staying - in an area removed from fighting. There was no warning before the strike, which destroyed several buildings and left cars marked "press" covered in rubble. "This is an assassination, after monitoring and tracking, with premeditation and planning, as there were 18 journalists present at the location representing seven media institutions," Lebanon’s Information Minister Ziad Makary wrote on social media.>>
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/25/how-impunity-fuels-israels-attacks-on-journalists-in-gaza-and-lebanon 

Al Jazeera - October 29, 2024
<<The killings add to one of the deadliest records for journalists covering a conflict in years.
At least 128 journalists and media workers are among the tens of thousands of people Israel has killed in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon over the past year - the deadliest time for journalists since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began to track the killings more than four decades ago. According to Palestinian officials, the death toll is even higher with 176 journalists killed in Gaza alone. "CPJ is deeply outraged by yet another deadly Israeli airstrike on journalists, this time hitting a compound hosting 18 members of the press in south Lebanon," CPJ Programme Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement to Al Jazeera. "Deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law. This attack must be independently investigated and the perpetrators must be held to account."
Labeling journalists 'terrorists'
Israeli officials have regularly smeared the journalists slain in Gaza, accusing them without evidence of being members of Hamas and other groups.
This week, Israel accused six Al Jazeera journalists of being Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad <operatives> - sparking fear that it may be pre-emptively justifying their targeting. Al Jazeera categorically rejected the Israeli allegations. Israel has killed several Al Jazeera journalists and their family members in Gaza since the war began, including the network's correspondent. Critics accuse Israel - which banned foreign reporters from entering Gaza - targets journalists in the Palestinian territory to obscure the truth about its war crimes there. CPJ has repeatedly documented Israel's "pattern of smearing of Palestinian journalists with unsubstantiated <terrorist> labels following their killings". The latest threat against Al Jazeera journalists comes as calls have mounted for Israel to allow foreign journalists into Gaza. Earlier this year, more than 70 media and civil society organisations signed an open letter calling on Israel to grant journalists access, a demand recently echoed by dozens of US lawmakers. Diana Buttu, a Palestinian lawyer and analyst, said Israel does not want the world to see what is happening in Gaza. "On the one hand, they're not allowing international journalists, and on the other hand, they’re assassinating those journalists who are there," Buttu told Al Jazeera. "And then, they're smearing those journalists who are there and somehow labelling them as targets." Buttu stressed that, under international law, people can only be considered legitimate targets in war if they are combatants who engage in fighting - accusing someone of being affiliated with an armed group, whether true or not, does not make them a legitimate target. She added that Israel is "turning international law on its head" by labelling people as members of Hezbollah and Hamas to justify their killing. Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at the US-based rights group DAWN said Israel's accusations against Al Jazeera's journalists is a "deliberate tactic to intimidate and silence those exposing its ongoing ethnic cleansing and forced displacement in northern Gaza. This campaign against journalists reporting on the atrocities only further proves Israel's desperation to cover up its war crimes and systematic genocide against Palestinians," Jarrar added.
Impunity breeding impunity
While Israel has targeted journalists at an unprecedented rate during the ongoing war, it killed dozens more in the years preceding it. But there was no consequence for those killings and this impunity has paved the way for the current escalation, analysts say. Zaha Hassan, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that "the deadliest place to work these days for journalists is where Israel is waging war." The think tank published a video earlier this year, documenting the lives of Palestinian journalists in Gaza. Just before its release, one of the journalists it features, Sami Shehadeh, lost a leg in an Israeli attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp, where he was filming. Hassan said the lack of

Shireen Abu Akleh
accountability for the killing of Al Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh - who was a US citizen - by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in 2022 was a "harbinger of things to come". For months after Abu Akleh's killing, US legislators and advocates called for an independent US investigation into the incident. While US and Israeli media outlets have reported that the US Department of Justice opened a probe into the shooting, American officials never publicly confirmed it, and any findings have not been released. No one has been punished for killing Abu Akleh.
"If justice could be denied to Shireen by her own government, how can we expect justice for Palestinian journalists in Gaza or any other journalists working in the killing fields of Palestine and Lebanon?" said Hassan. "The US State Department and the White House recognise the critically important role journalists play in truth-telling. Unfortunately, they don't put the same emphasis or value on truth or civil life when the truth is exposing Israeli war crimes or the civilian target is a Palestinian or Arab journalist." The US often stresses the so-called "rules-based order" when criticising policies by Russia and China, but has maintained its unconditional support for Israel despite well-documented abuses, including the killing of journalists. Washington provides at least $3.8bn in military aid to Israel annually, and President Joe Biden has approved an additional $14bn in assistance to the US ally to help fund the current war.
No media outrage
While the US and other countries have failed to curb Israel's attacks on journalists, advocates have also criticised the world’s mainstream media for inadequate attention and anger over Israeli attacks against the press. "There are a lot of people who are complicit in this. It's not just the governments, which are definitely complicit, but it’s also the fact that we haven't heard international outrage from other journalists," said Buttu, a close friend of Abu Akleh. "These Palestinian journalists, these Lebanese journalists, their lives are no less worthy than those of international journalists, and the fact that we haven't seen any sort of outrage is incredible." But some alternative media outlets have been outspoken in condemning the attacks against journalists by Israel. This week, the US-based progressive publication Jewish Currents issued a statement in support of the six Al Jazeera journalists targeted by Israel. "As a journalistic institution, we generally refrain from putting out statements or calling on others to take action, but our position as media workers compels us to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Gaza," it said. "The normalization of Israel's flagrant targeting of journalists has implications for reporters around the world." The publication added that the targeting of Palestinian journalists "should be treated as a crisis for the international media".>>
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/25/how-impunity-fuels-israels-attacks-on-journalists-in-gaza-and-lebanon 

Al Jazeera - October 24, 2024
<<Why is Israel targeting Al Jazeera correspondents in Gaza?
Israel accuses six Al Jazeera journalists of being members of Palestinian armed groups.>>
Read more https://www.aljazeera.com/program/inside-story/2024/10/24/why-is-israel-targeting-al-jazeera-correspondents-in-gaza

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