FPF, partners demand Biden administration pressure Israel to allow journalists to report freely and safely
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
President Joe Biden, pictured here with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel in 2016, should use the U.S.'s influence to protect journalists and press freedom in Gaza. Vice President Joe Biden visit to Israel March 2016 ([link removed]) by U.S. Embassy Jerusalem is licensed under CC BY 2.0 ([link removed]) .
** Press, rights groups demand protections for journalists in Israel-Gaza war
------------------------------------------------------------
Last Sunday, Al Jazeera journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh and freelance journalist Mustafa Thuraya were killed when Israeli soldiers deliberately targeted ([link removed]) a car in which the journalists were traveling. Their deaths make for at least 79 journalists and media workers who have been killed ([link removed]) in the Israel-Gaza war: four by Hamas and its affiliates during the Oct. 7 attacks and at least 75 since, almost all by the Israeli military.
Today, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) and a coalition of press freedom and human rights organizations sent a letter ([link removed]) to President Joe Biden urging his administration to do more to protect journalists’ ability to safely and freely report on the conflict.
“The killing of so many journalists in so brief a period of time is shocking and horrific. It has obvious and profound implications for the ability of the public, including the American public, to be informed about a conflict with local, regional, and global implications. We are writing to entreat you to act immediately and decisively to promote the conditions for safe and unrestricted reporting on the hostilities,” the letter states.
“The sheer number of journalists killed and injured in the war is shameful,” said FPF Deputy Director of Advocacy Caitlin Vogus. “The Biden administration has a moral and legal obligation to ensure that Israel protects reporters, not only because they’re civilians, but also because of the vital role they play in informing the public.”
“The Biden administration has been all talk when it comes to journalists killed by the Israeli Defense Forces,” said FPF Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “The Biden administration says it cares deeply about journalists’ freedom to cover the war but has failed to demand Israel ensure journalists’ safety or hold it accountable when it doesn’t.”
In addition to decrying the deaths of journalists, the letter also emphasizes that Israel and Egypt must provide international journalists with access to Gaza ([link removed]) .
“International journalists have been almost entirely shut out of Gaza unless they agree to IDF escorts and restrictions on their reporting,” said Vogus. “Local journalists have done an admirable job covering the war, especially in the ever-present face of death. But international journalists — especially from countries whose citizens fund the IDF — need to be able to cover the biggest news on the planet safely and freely.”
In addition to FPF, the other signers of the letter were the Committee to Protect Journalists, Freedom Watch, Human Rights Watch, Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, and Reporters Without Borders.
Read the full letter here ([link removed]) .
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
============================================================
Copyright © 2024 Freedom of the Press Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
Our mailing address is:
Freedom of the Press Foundation
49 Flatbush Ave, #1017
Brooklyn, NY 11217
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
