When journalists are killed, democracy dies
THE killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh by Israeli forces in Jennin is an act of savagery the so-called civilised world must stringently condemn, as they have denounced the fighting in Ukraine.
The disgusting display of raw firepower in Gaza and the West Bank makes the conflict in Europe pale into insignificance.
Killing in such a manner is premeditated murder. Anyone who disagrees must have their heads read.The twisted media in the West is as guilty as the Israeli security killing machine. Tainted and distorted reporting aids and abets the aggressor.
International diplomacy to resolve the crisis, is non existent, as the momentum to achieve peaceful dialogue diminishes by the hour.
The resort to brutal force will serve as a catalyst that will one day envelop the planet in a fiery inferno. The hour glass is slipping away as the footprints of war assume a new ferocity.
More than 2 500 journalists have been killed since 1990. Murdering a journalist is the ultimate form of censorship.
Journalists continue to perish and pay the ultimate price for speaking the truth to power. Many have been jailed.
Imprisonment has become a form of intimidation.
When journalists are killed, democracy dies. The shadow of violence continues to loom over the gatekeepers of our cherished freedoms.
Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most pressing issues to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information to the world community.
The UN General Assembly proclaimed November 2 as “International Day to End impunity for Crimes against Journalists in General Assembly
Resolution A/RES/68/163.
Journalists are our eyes and ears. There is an old motto in journalism: ”You buy the news, we pay the price.”
The first casualty in any conflict, is the truth.The second casualty is the truth-teller, the journalist.
Under the Geneva Convention, journalists are to be treated as civilians in times of conflicts. Harming or killing them is a war crime.
Journalists will continue to fall victim to deadly violence when the killing of reporters linger in impunity.
When you silence the messenger, catastrophe will be the price that humanity will have to bear.
FAROUK ARAIE | Johannesburg