Under a cthick and humida thousand people concentrated on Wednesday at 19:00 In the square St. James of Barcelona To denounce the murder of six Palestinian journalists in Gaza, demand the End of the blockade to the press in the strip, and to protest against the heartbreaking humanitarian situation that the Gazatis live, day after day. The act, convened by the Palestinian Community of Catalunya and the Platform Enough complicity with Israelconverted the political heart of the city into an echo of pans, shouts of “Free Palestine” and banners such as “Those Who Target The Journalists, Target The Truth” (“Those who attack journalists, attack the truth”), “Pareu l’holocaust Palestí” and “History will not forgive your silence.”
The faces of Anas Al-Sharif, Mohamed QRIIQEH, Ibrahim zaher, Moamen was y Mohammed Noufal “The five members of Al Jazeera killed,” they covered part of the square, eclipssing the facade of the Palau de la Generalitat. They died last Sunday in a selective attack of the Israeli army against a Press tent Near the Shifa hospital, in Gaza, in what the UN Secretary General, António Guterreshe described as “murder” and “directed attack” against information professionals. International condemnation grows, with Pronouncements of the European Union and defending organizations for press freedom, but many in the protest doubt that these statements translate into concrete actions.
The demonstration began Without speecheswithout proclamations: just one mute caceroratewith the crowd staring at the photos of the fallen reporters. He suffocating heat The fronts shine; tears mixed With sweat. In front of the Puerta del Palau de la Generalitat, Catalan journalists, backed by More than 140 company committees, professionals, unions, entitiesprofessional schools and Catalan mediathey read a manifesto that included fragments of the posthumous letter of Al-Sharif:
“If these words of mine come to you, know that Israel He has managed to kill me And silence my voice. I have lived the pain in all its details … Do not forget Gaza. I entrust you my eyes lightmy beloved daughter Sham And my son Salah”.
Subsequently, an audio sent from Gaza was heard by the reporter Sami Abu Salimfrom Jabralia and companion of the deceased: “I have considered leaving journalism … but who will tell the truth if I do?” “I was at the funeral of my classmates, and I saw myself too With themin the grave. ”The recording continued with the sensations and experiences of a war victim. The reporter perceived the Israeli actions A direct attack “against his companions” and asked “to press Israel to stop this genocide against journalists and all.”
Among the public, Nuria, with red eyes, explained: “I am here for Rabies and sadness. You feel helpless. What you see in your country can happen here, and the worst thing is that we are normalizing it. “His friend Quino added:” First they went for milthen for two thousand, and now that they have seen that nothing happens, they go for all. ”
In Gaza, the magnitude of the devastation is almost total: the 92 % of homes have been damaged or destroyed, 2,300 educational centers razed and 94 % of hospitals out of service. More than 60,000 dead, 200,000 missing and 242 journalists killed, rather than in all wars of the twentieth and twenty -first together. It is war MORE MORTÍFERA For journalism since there are records. In addition, the Israeli army has not only used the direct attack against journalists as a silencer weapon, it has also attacked its relatives. An example of this is the case of the veteran reporter Wail Al-Dowhto whom a directed bombardment snatched almost his whole family.
Maged, with a t -shirt stamped with the Palestinian flag, was outraged: “They have been killing Palestinians for years and people do not move. They do not want the information to reach the world. They go for them. It is outrageous”Next, Montse settled in silence, with a serious face.
Gazati journalists live tragedy closer than ever, not only because they suffer from faminethe Lack of water and the constant risk of the bombings, but because they document the destruction of their own land and the death of their neighbors and family. Day after day, they queue to get water or food from the scarce help trucks, risking dying in attacks that have already killed dozens. They see shots in the hunger tails, and also carry the responsibility that, if they fall, the world It is blind Before the massacre. “We have seen them break in live connections, fainting to hunger, crying their parents and their children killed by the Israeli army,” said the text read in the square.
Joan Lafuentewrapped in a Kufiya and with bracelets covering his arms, summarized it: “I come to witness what we all should do: protest against what happens in Gaza and the West Bank. Hope is very beautiful, but the reality is another: how do you fight half the world supporting this?”
“The trigger”
The three friends Kawtar, When y Farahusual in these calls, they agreed that “the journalists has been the trigger”: “When he looks so blatant that they want to kill who informs us, it hurts even more. Many people believe that it is useless, but yes: little by little things are achieved.”
In the manifesto, Israel was accused of wanting to “perpetrate A genocide against the Palestinian people Without witnesses”, And the “Propaganda war against journalism and against truth. ”
In the air the same idea expressed by the president of the Palestine Community of CataloniaNatalia Abu-Shaarin front of the microphones: “The state of Israel wants to hide the genocide and the Ethnic cleaning against the Palestinian people. This goes for them, for the families that have lost everything Less dignity“, Which concluded with: as a Palestinian woman I feel the strength of the voices of my ancestors”
The concentration ended as it began: With noise and silence intertwined. NOISE OF PAILING AND CANNICS; silence to remember those who died trying to make the world look away. Karinwho attended with his son, summarized him in a phrase: “journalists are the defenders of truth. And who wants to hide her, kills her.”
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