Protesters denounce killing of Gaza journalists in several European cities
Activists organised demonstrations and vigils in several European capitals today to condemn Israel’s assassination of journalists in Gaza.
In Norway’s capital city, Oslo, a march ended with a vigil in front of the Norwegian Parliament, with protesters carrying pictures of dozens of killed journalists. One journalist set fire to his international press card in protest.
In Sweden’s capital, Stockholm, demonstrators raised Palestinian flags and carried banners denouncing the silencing of journalists.
In the United Kingdom, protesters gathered in front of the headquarters of the BBC to denounce the silence regarding the genocide in Gaza and the targeting of journalists.
Israeli crimes against journalists ‘no longer being hidden or kept under wraps’
Wadie Said, professor of law at the University of Colorado, says journalists cannot be targeted in conflicts as they are considered “protected persons” under international law.
The latest Israeli targeting and killing of Al Jazeera’s journalists is “remarkable”, he said, in that the Israeli military “engaged in a campaign of terrorisation of Anas al-Sharif directly”.
“It’s no longer being hidden, it’s no longer being kept under wraps,” Said told Al Jazeera.
Despite efforts for justice, there has been no accountability for Israel’s actions against journalists, Said added, including for the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot by Israeli forces in Jenin in the occupied West Bank in 2022.
“This led us to this place where we see a direct targeting” of Palestinian journalists, he added.
The US chiefly has been “very active in protecting Israeli officials and the state of Israel as an official entity from any sort of accountability on the world stage”, Said noted.
