The term genocide It is the work of Raphael Lemkina Polish Jewish jurist who stood out in the early 1940s in the emerging field of international law. Lemkin, who lost his parents and 47 relatives in the holocaustcoined this neologism to define “the new forms of political violence that afflicted the world”, that is, the attempt to totally or partially destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. What Winston Churchill had defined as “the crime without a name.”
In parallel to the “genocide” that according to HIMthe International Court of Justice, Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch has occurred in Gaza“another has been committed” against a specific group: “Palestinian journalists”. This is the complaint that he launches to the world Nasser Abu Bakerpresident of Palestine Journalists Union and vice president of the International Federation of Journalists. A reporter who has been warning for decades about “systematic attacks” against the Palestinian media and who has suffered harsh retaliation for it. After a ceasefire in the Strip surrounded by uncertainties, and now that Israel moves the war to West Bankwe interviewed the spokesperson for Palestinian journalists to analyze the sacrifice of Gaza journalists, their fight against impunity and the role of the international press in this conflict.
Gaza has become the largest cemetery for journalists in the world. In 15 months of war, more reporters have died than in both world wars. More than 150 Palestinian journalists have been murdered, according to Reporters Without Borders, 41 of them while carrying out their reporting work. Because?
This is the situation of journalists in Gaza: the Israeli Army has killed more than 200, around 400 have been injured and more than 155 have been arrested. Up to 103 offices have been destroyed, including 20 local radio stations. For Gazans, radios are the main source of information. They have destroyed everything: the offices, the buildings, the equipment… everything. The Israeli Army has committed the largest massacre against journalists in the history of the media.
Why these murders? When this war began, the Palestinian Journalists Union warned the international community about the Netanyahu government’s intention to massacre Palestinian journalists to annihilate the truth and kill witnesses. He did not want the world to know about the genocide that was going to be committed, and is being committed, in Gaza. He wants to perpetrate these crimes under a cloak of darkness, without the details being known. That is why they have murdered journalists, destroyed their homes, demolished their offices and workplaces, and have also banned foreign press from accessing Gaza. We are not only witnessing a genocide against the Palestinian people, a genocide has also been committed against the Palestinian media.
It’s hard to say this but nothing suggests that there will be accountability…
Both the Palestinian Union of Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists believe that journalists have been systematically targeted. Between 2000 and the Hamas attacks of October 7, the Israeli Army killed 56 journalists in Palestine, three of them foreigners. And there were no consequences for those who committed these crimes. So we went to the International Criminal Court (ICC) to file complaints. Also when Shireen Abu Akleh, the Al Jazeera correspondent, was killed.
To date, I have met with Karim Khan (a British lawyer specializing in international criminal law) in Ramallah (West Bank) and have pressed him to try to speed up the investigation and prosecution at the ICC into crimes against informants. The International Federation of Journalists has also sent him many letters to pressure him. We have British lawyers working on the cases we have brought before the ICC to stop Israel’s impunity and to hold its Government and Army to account. All of this conveys a very powerful message: we can do something to stop these crimes. The Criminal Court must apply international law to ensure accountability for any war crimes, regardless of whether they are committed against Palestinian journalists or Ukrainian civilians.
Our campaign conveys a very powerful message: we can do something to stop these crimes
It is significant how, in the midst of the credibility crisis that affects the profession, Palestinian journalists have become heroes for part of world public opinion.
I would like to send a message to all our colleagues in Spain and Europe. I never imagined that thousands of foreign journalists would travel to Israel to cover the war and that they would be banned from entering Gaza. There is no other conflict in which reporters are prohibited from entering. If this happened in another area of the world, what would be the position of journalists? They would write about it incessantly. We also have a message that deserves to be heard.
However, the public knows very well who is lying and who is transmitting the truth to the world. I am very proud of my colleagues in Gaza. I know that they are paying a very high price for their work, with their blood, with their suffering, with their families and with their lives. But they know very well what their duty is.
There is also a part of public opinion that maintains that Palestinian journalists only make propaganda. Especially those who work for Al Jazeera…
I respect all opinions but I invite everyone, including Israelis, to come and see what the situation is on the ground. I am not asking for an exercise of faith, but rather that you come to the West Bank and East Jerusalem and analyze the two narratives. Let them see on the ground where the escalations (in the conflict) come from, let them see the attacks by the settlers or the Army. I invite you to see the facts so that you can judge later. The Palestinian people only want peace and justice. That is what we need from the international community: for our State to be implemented alongside the State of Israel.
In the midst of the offensive, Gaza journalists have improvised ‘newsrooms’ in tents near hospitals to have electricity. What is it like to work in those extreme conditions?
During these 15 months, Palestinian journalists have worked in the courtyards of hospitals and schools in very harsh conditions, without food, without water, without medicine and far from their families. Many of them have lost their children, their wives, their parents, and despite the pain they suffered, they have continued to report. And in this context, in which everyone is considered a target of the Israeli Army, journalists work with outdated, almost obsolete equipment and cameras that they have never been able to renew. Still, despite all these threats and immense danger, they have decided to continue covering the war and have been successful in spreading the Palestinians’ message.
And don’t forget something very important: there is no electricity in Gaza. For this reason, journalists set up their ‘newsrooms’ next to hospitals, to have electricity. Another issue is Internet access, because the Israeli Army has attacked the infrastructure of telecommunications companies. They have cut off Internet access on dozens of occasions to prevent journalists from disseminating their material, sending their photographs or videos, and ‘posting’ their stories on the Internet.
What do you expect from the ceasefire? The head of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Monday the beginning of “significant operations” in the West Bank.
Yes, such operations are already taking place, especially in Jenin, where I come from. Just today (last Wednesday) my son called me to tell me to urgently read the news about the West Bank. Ten people were killed in just two hours and 70 were injured. They have blocked all entrances to cities and refugee camps, they have cut off all movement in the West Bank.
I think they will launch a large-scale military operation and I hope the international community will do something to stop it. The danger is evident: the West Bank is part of Netanyahu’s plan to expel the Palestinians. Just as he has tried to push the Gazans towards Egypt, he will try to push us towards Jordan. I want to warn the international community that it must act quickly to stop Netanyahu. Their only objective is to destroy any peace process. He wants to end the hope of a Palestinian State and, therefore, the world, and especially the US, must stop him.
(Donald) Trump said before his inauguration that the war in Gaza must stop. Now, if he wants, he can also force Netanyahu to stop the war in the West Bank, because without the support of the West, and specifically the US, Netanyahu would not be able to continue with the war, or even with the occupation. If Trump forces Israel to implement a peace process, he will do it. Not with Netanyahu, but an Israeli Government may arrive to open negotiations.
When in Spain we talk about social networks, the words “disinformation” and “hoaxes” immediately come to mind. But the networks have been a key dissemination channel for Palestinian journalists, even if Meta or X restrict content about what is happening in Gaza.
Yes, it is sad to say that they have imposed conditions to restrict or suppress content about Palestine on the networks. But, let’s be honest, they haven’t succeeded. And that’s because hundreds of millions of people around the world have shared it. It is true that Instagram or Facebook try to silence our narrative but, even with these obstacles, Palestinian journalists use social networks very successfully and manage to convey their message to the world.
