Add your name to this open letter that condemns the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, calls for the UK Government to exert pressure for international journalist to be allowed in, and calls for urgent UK government action to uphold press freedom and human rights.
An Open Letter supported by the National Union of Journalists, Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate and International Federation of Journalists:
Dear Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary,
We are writing as journalists who believe in the power of truth, the sanctity of human life, and the essential role of a free press. We must collectively raise our voices to be heard. The deliberate and systematic targeting of journalists and media workers in Gaza is not only an assault on our colleagues. It is an attack on truth itself.
At the time of writing this letter, at least 189 journalists and media workers have been killed – including 175 Palestinians – in the ongoing war over the last 21 months, according to the International Federation of Journalists. In comparison, around 60 were killed during the Vietnam War. Many died while clearly identified as members of the press. Some were killed alongside their families, in their homes.
These are not statistics. These are human beings, doing their jobs under conditions few of us in the UK could comprehend, bearing witness so the rest of us might grasp the enormity of what is happening.
We're calling on the UK government to act - to unequivocally condemn the targeting of journalists and media workers in Gaza. These deaths cross a fundamental red line. Journalism is not a crime. Reporting is not terrorism. The erasure of journalists is not “collateral damage” - it is a warning shot to the world, a signal that no truth is safe and no witness is welcome.
While working in conflict zones, journalists and media workers are civilians and enjoy the protections of international law. The UK claims to stand for a free press, international law, and human rights. That stance cannot be selective. It must extend to Gaza. To Palestinian journalists. To all media workers. To every civilian trying to survive, and every voice trying to speak.
Journalists and media workers play a vital role in exposing atrocities and holding warring parties accountable. International journalists must be allowed access to Gaza to undertake this work alongside their Palestinian colleagues, at a time when it’s needed most. The barring of international journalists and media workers is an assault on truth. The British Government must work to ensure that international journalists are allowed access and offered the protection from parties to this conflict just as they would expect anywhere else in the world.
Britain must stand consistently for press freedom and international law and exert meaningful pressure on the Israeli authorities to allow journalists in and out of Gaza.
This is not a question of politics. It is a matter of principle. When journalists are murdered with impunity, the world grows darker. Governments have a duty to ensure this does not happen. The UK government must push for the International Criminal Court to also investigate the targeting of journalists as well as the adoption of an international convention for the safety of journalists and media workers.
As journalists, we are taught to stay behind the story. But when our colleagues are being killed for telling it, we have a duty to speak up.
We urge you to listen. We urge you to act.
