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12/17 Petition to Biden & U.S. Congress

On 12/15 journalist Samer Abudaqa was murdered in a drone attack that also wounded Wael Dahdouh after they reported on an Israeli airstrike on a shelter for displaced people in Khan Younis. Abudaqa wasn’t killed instantly – he slowly bled out. Rescue teams were unable to reach him in a timely manner because they needed Israel’s approval, which was delayed for over 5 hours.

This isn’t the first time Dahdouh has been targeted. On 10/25, Dahdouh’s wife, children, and several of his extended family were murdered by an Israeli airstrike. On the same day, Israel’s Channel 13 journalist Zvi Yehezkeli said that Dahdouh’s family was purposefully targeted. When National Security Council spokesman Kirby claimed in a press conference that there was “no indication whatsoever that Israel is going after journalists”, he was misleading us.

On 10/30 two Lebanese journalists were murdered in southern Lebanon while stationed near their clearly marked press vehicle. Independent investigations by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Agence France-Presse (AFP), Reuters, and Reporters Without Borders have concurred that an Israeli tank round killed them, and have called for an international investigation of this war crime.

Unfortunately, these are not isolated incidents. In 2019 a U.N. independent commission found reasonable grounds for these accusations from even older murders of the press by Israel. In 2023, Israel finally apologized for the murder of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh and claimed she was “accidentally” shot in the head by Israeli forces in 2022.

Between 10/7 – 12/14, approximately 64 – 83 journalists and media workers have been murdered by the best estimates from the International Federation of Journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), and EuroMed Human Rights Monitor. Since 1992 when CPJ began gathering casualty data for journalists, these have been the deadliest months on record.

Israel has spread misinformation that has led to threats on several news outlets. On 11/8 Israel’s official X account posted a known, baseless claim from HonestReporting that “AP, CNN, NY Times and Reuters had journalists embedded with Hamas terrorists.” According to HonestReporting themselves, they are not a news organization. They’ve since retracted these claims.

On 11/21 members of Congress sent a letter to Reuters accusing the organization of complicity in the 10/7 attack, parroting the exact verbiage and citing the same source as Israel’s official X post. On 12/4, multiple U.S. state Attorney Generals sent a threatening letter to the AP, CNN, NY Times and Reuters also mimicking this same lie. That letter ended with “Now your organizations are on notice. Follow the law”.

The targeting and threatening of journalists has been been a tool to silence and suppress dissent by authoritarian regimes. What happened to freedom of the press?

Now you are on notice. Follow international law. Prosecute Israel’s war crimes.

SOURCES
Office of the Attorney General of State of Florida website “ATTORNEY GENERAL MOODY AND COALITION OF ATTORNEYS GENERAL PUT MEDIA COMPANIES ON NOTICE FOLLOWING REPORTS OF MATERIAL SUPPORT TO FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS“*
Letter to Reuters & letter to several news outlets can be found linked on Florida’s Attorney General site

*The Florida AG’s website has removed this article. Archived letters can be viewed here:
Letter to Reuters
Letter to AP, CNN, NYT, Reuters from State Attorney Generals

Al Jazeera “Al Jazeera to refer journalist Samer Abudaqa’s killing to ICC“

Al Jazeera “Family of Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief killed in Israeli air raid“

Al Jazeera “To kill a family: The loss of Wael Dahdouh’s family to an Israeli bomb“

Al Jazeera “Reuters, Al Jazeera journalists ‘targeted’ in Lebanon strike: Press group“

Reporters Without Borders “RSF video investigation into the death of Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah in Lebanon: the journalists’ vehicle was explicitly targeted“

Reporters Without Borders “Killing of Issam Abdallah in Lebanon: four new investigations confirm RSF’s conclusions, and reveal Israeli tank round killed Reuters journalist.“

Committee to Protect Journalists “UN commission: Israeli snipers ‘intentionally shot’ Palestinian journalists in 2018, killing 2“

Jewish Currents “Israel’s War on Journalists“

CNN “Israel Defense Forces apologizes for death of Al Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh for the first time“

October 25th, 2023 tweet by Investigative Journalist Sulaiman Ahmed sharing video clip from Israel’s’ Channel 13 of Israeli journalist Zvi Yehezkeli stating Wael Dahdouh’s family was intentionally murdered

National Review “Al Jazeera Reporter Suggests Israel Is Intentionally Killing Journalists in Gaza“

International Federation of Journalists “War in Gaza: Journalists are under attack“

Committee to Protect Journalists “Journalist casualties in the Israel-Gaza war“

EuroMed Human Rights Monitor Instagram Infographic 12/14 Casualty Numbers

Freedom House “Crimes against Journalists Are on the Rise and Are Seldom Punished“

Reuters “HonestReporting accepts news groups had no prior warning of Oct. 7 Hamas attack“

Times of Israel “Israel demands clarification from global media over photographers during Hamas assault“

November 9th, 2023 tweet from Israel’s official X account spreading HonestReporting’s lies

Haaretz “Israeli Media ‘Watchdog’ Says It Was Just ‘Raising Questions’ With Insinuations About Photographers, Hamas“