Belgian MEP accuses Europe of supporting ‘war against the press’
“Nearly 200 journalists killed since late 2023. More than in any other modern war,” Marc Botenga said in an X post reacting to Israel’s killing of the five Al Jazeera staff.
“A war against the press. With the support of Europe."
Botenga, who is a member of the left-wing Workers’ Party of Belgium, is among the most vocal critics of Israel’s war in Gaza in the European Parliament.
Governments must go beyond ‘performative condemnations’ after killings, media group says
The Freedom of the Press Foundation has condemned Israel’s killing of five Al Jazeera staff, calling for international action to halt further attacks on the media.
“Everyone who has been angered by recent horrific images of starvation and suffering in Gaza needs to recognise that they wouldn’t see those images, and wouldn’t know about the atrocities their governments bankroll, without journalists risking their lives,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the New York-based nonprofit, said in a statement.
“That is exactly why Israel is targeting and killing them in violation of international law. Now, perhaps more than any other time since the killing began, the world understands how vital these journalists’ work is.
“The calls for the assassinations to end must be louder than ever, and we can’t let our leaders get away with mere expressions of concern or performative condemnations while the money and weapons Israel uses to exterminate journalists and other civilians keep flowing."
Palestine’s UN envoy urges Security Council to send journalists into Gaza
Hours before Israeli forces killed Al Jazeera’s crew in Gaza City, Palestine’s envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, spoke at the Security Council, urging it to take journalists into Gaza to see what is happening there.
“Why don’t you, the Security Council, take with you 100 journalists from your countries and other countries to verify exactly what is happening in Gaza?” Mansour said at a rare weekend session of the UN’s most powerful body.
“If Netanyahu is so sure of this global conspiracy about a ‘lie’, let him prove it. I invite you; he should allow you to go to the Gaza Strip and see exactly what is happening there. Take journalists with you so that you can verify exactly what is happening in Gaza,” Mansour added.
Netanyahu also gave a news briefing on Sunday, claiming that he had given permission for some foreign journalists to enter the Gaza Strip, although he said that “there’s a problem of assuring security”.
