In defense of press freedom, we demand an end to Israel’s genocide

The Left Chapter
May 3
3 min read

On World Press Freedom Day, media organizations from across the globe released a joint statement demanding an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

The body of Palestinian photojournalist Mohammed Yaghi is carried in February 2024 -- image via X screenshot

Via People's Dispatch

Over 50 media organizations from countries across the world released a statement on World Press Freedom Day, honoring the Palestinian journalists who have been killed and those that continue to risk their lives exposing Israel’s genocidal assault on the Gaza Strip. The organizations demand press freedom, which cannot exist while genocide continues and journalists are targeted.

The full statement reads:

May 3 marks World Press Freedom Day, which will be commemorated this year amid Israel’s ongoing genocidal aggression against the Gaza Strip and countries of the region.

Since this genocide began, tens of thousands of innocent people, most of them children, women, and elderly have been murdered and tens of thousands of others have been injured. The aggression has included a total systematic destruction of the Gaza Strip and its infrastructure, in addition to forced displacement, blockade, and the starvation of the people in Gaza.

Amid this barbarity, the people of the world have stood firmly with the Palestinian people in demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza, an end to Israel’s colonial occupation of Palestine, and an end to its aggression against Lebanon, Yemen, and Syria. The unprecedented outpouring of international solidarity and support has been in great part due to the work of Palestinian journalists who have sacrificed their lives to document this genocide and tell the stories happening on the ground, forever shifting public opinion against the Israeli state and its primary backer, the United States.

Their immeasurable sacrifice has had a toll, Palestinian journalists have been singled out by Israeli forces, who have bombed media offices, journalists’ accommodations, and press vans in Palestine and Lebanon.

Israel’s war on the people of the region has been the most deadly in recent history for journalists, with over 200 killed, and the number continuing to rise.

All of this has happened while the regimes that boast human rights, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, international law, and international conventions are drowning in the darkness of silence.

Further undermining of press freedom has taken place on digital platforms where texts mentioning “zionist” “genocide” and “Palestine” are censored, shadow-banned, and deleted.

On this World Press Freedom Day, we declare that there can be no press freedom as long as genocide is taking place and as long as our colleagues in Palestine and Lebanon are targeted in a futile attempt to extinguish the voices that clamor against Israel’s genocide and occupation.

We call on people of conscience, journalists, and media outlets to join us in upholding and defending true press freedom and to continue reporting on Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people and the peoples of the region.

We extend our greetings to the journalists of conscience all over the globe

Glory and eternity to journalist martyrs

May 3, 2025