AFPC-USA Joins Letter to Biden, Congress to Press Israel to Ensure Safety of Journalists in Gaza
On Thursday, July 25, the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the United States (AFPC-USA) joined such esteemed journalism and human rights groups as Amnesty International USA and the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ) in signing a letter to President Joe Biden and members of Congress to press Israel to ensure the safety of journalists in Gaza.
The Israel-Hamas war has raged for nearly 10 months and at least 111 journalists are among the 39,000+ deaths reported in the Gaza Strip since Hamas launched an attack against Israel on October 7, 2023, kicking off a full-scale conflict and humanitarian crisis that has threatened the stability of the Middle East.
Journalists have been targeted since the war began and the situation on the ground is such that fully accurate and unobstructed reportage is almost impossible to obtain.
AFPC-USA and the other organizations signed the letter in the days since Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss the U.S.-Israeli relationship. Netanyahu had only just before told U.S. lawmakers "our enemies are your enemies" in a speech to Congress designed to shore up support for the ongoing war. He made no mention of the journalists and media workers who’ve been killed throughout Israel’s ground offensive.
The complete statement is as follows:
Nearly 10 months into the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, more than 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed in the carnage, and the Association of Foreign Press Correspondents in the USA (AFPC/USA) has stepped up its calls on the U.S. to urge the Israeli government to ensure the killing of journalists ceases after the deadliest time for reporters in decades — and to stop the improper detaining of media workers and reporters there. The Biden administration must urge Israel, as well, to ensure international media have open access to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank to permit independent journalists to freely cover those volatile areas.
As Israeli Prime Minster makes a defiant U.S. tour this week to speak with American officials and defend Israel’s fight against Hamas, the Association joins other press freedom and human rights organizations in denouncing the killing of journalists in Gaza, Israel and Lebanon during the current conflict and calls on President Joe BIden and Congressional leaders to pressure Israel to ensure journalists are protected. Likewise, Hamas should be told it is their obligation to protect and ensure the safety of all journalists in Gaza, as well as the West Bank and Israel.
As of July 25, at least 111 journalists and media workers have been killed among the 39,000 deaths reported in the Gaza Strip since the bloody Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel that killed some 1,200 Israeli civilians and soldiers, saw Hamas fighters take more than 240 Israeli civilians and soldiers hostage and precipitated the current Israeli military offensive in Gaza. The dead reporters include 106 Palestinian journalists, two Israelis and three Lebanese, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In that time, CPJ estimated another 32 journalists were reported injured, 51 were arrested, two went missing and many others were assaulted, threatened or censored.
This situation for the media in Gaza is inhumane, intolerable and unconscionable. Journalists are civilians and should not be at risk of dying for doing their jobs. Their right to report freely and safely is protected by international law. Intentionally targeting them can be a war crime and open leaders to indictments. Military personnel responsible for actions that fall outside the bounds of international conflict laws must be held accountable for the killing of innocents.
Furthermore, the sheer, tragic numbers of journalists killed — many along with untold numbers of family members — has made it almost impossible to get fully accurate, independent and evidence-based reporting on the war inside Gaza. President Biden and American officials need to be on the right side of history and must make it absolutely clear to Israel that its forces cannot act with impunity against journalists.
"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,” CPJ notes in a recent report. "To date, CPJ has determined that at least three journalists were directly targeted by Israeli forces in killings which CPJ classifies as murders, but is still researching the details for confirmation in at least 10 other cases that indicate possible targeting.”
The Association joined a letter on July 25th to President Biden and Congressional leaders to step up calls for stronger action by Israel to curtail the killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza. The letter dated July 22 was also signed by Amnesty International USA, the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ), the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Knight First Amendment Institute, the National Press Club (NPC), PEN America, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the Coalition for Women in Journalism (CFWIJ) and The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP).
Here are links to the Letter to President Biden and the Letters to Republican Leaders in Congress and to Democratic Congressional leaders.
Here is a coalition-produced ad in the Washington Post asking that journalists be allowed to report fully on Gaza. It was compiled by research conducted by the Committee To Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Borders.
A full-page version of the ad can be seen below:
