The murder of six journalists by the Israeli armed forces has angered members of National Union of Journalists (NUJ). Five of the six were members of the Al Jazeera team that covered Northern Gaza.
At less than 24 hours notice ordinary union members took the initiative and called protests in Dublin, Derry and Belfast. In Dublin about a quarter of the union’s members in the city rallied in O’Connell St. About 60 NUJ members and other trade unionists gathered in Guildhall Sq, Derry. In Belfast, there was a smaller protest at Writers’ Square. This was despite it being the depth of the holiday season.
The Israeli armed forces are consciously targeting journalists in Gaza to stop the truth getting out. They have stopped journalists from outside getting in, including Israeli journalists.
One hundred and ninety-five media workers have been killed in Gaza since Israel attacked. That is more journalists in Gaza than in both World Wars, then every major conflict since 1945. This is deliberate targeting.
They have smeared one of the journalists, Anais Al-Sharif, as being allegedly a Hamas fighter. They have produced no credible evidence. Nor have they explained why, if this was so, they also had to kill five others. Four of those five just happened to be the television crew most actively reporting on the genocide in Northern Gaza.
Union members have taken the initiative on this. The union has come in behind them. It is now time for the union centrally to continue the fight.
