The photography collective Magnum Photos issued a statement Tuesday calling for an end to the killing of journalists and media workers in Gaza and the surrounding areas.
The Instagram post shares the names of the journalists killed in Gaza, Israel, and Lebanon. The first image in a slideshow reads, “This must stop,” in large letters, followed by, “63 days 63 journalists killed.” The stark words are overlaid on the names of those killed.
“1,400+ journalists and media workers demand an end to the killing of journalists in Gaza and the wider region,” the caption on the post reads.
The caption also directs those wanting to get involved to a link in the Instagram page’s bio. This leads to a Medium post with the same statement from Magnum Photos, plus a list of the signatories. As of this writing, 1,828 individuals and organizations have signed their names.
The world has watched the region over the last few weeks as unrest continues. Scores of people in Gaza, Israel, Lebanon, and the surrounding area have died, and many more injured. Recently, news agency Reuters launched an investigation into the killing of one of its visual journalists. Issam Abdallah was killed in South Lebanon, and Reuters asserts an Israeli tank was responsible.
“As members of the international journalism community, we call for an end to the killing of journalists and to any threats to media covering the Israeli bombardment in Gaza and Lebanon, and the escalating violence in the region. We call for the protection of all of our colleagues by all parties,” the post reads. “The past eight weeks have been the deadliest for our colleagues since the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) began gathering data 30 years ago. As of December 8, at least 63 journalists have been killed: 56 in Gaza, 4 in Israel, and 3 in Lebanon. That’s an average of one journalist killed per day.”
The statement continues, documenting the conditions that media professionals face while covering the situation and the importance of journalists’ work. “Journalism plays an essential role in documenting history and serving the public interest by exposing realities too often obscured by disinformation and misinformation. Our reporting can reveal the true costs of war.”
Image credits: Magnum Photos
