04 Keep giving to Gaza


While the journalist death toll reaches unprecedented figures, donations are providing a haven for those reporting the war


A


s the anniversary nears of the atack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October and the ensuing deadly war in


Gaza, the number of media workers killed now numbers around 150, according to a Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PSJ) tally. Tis is nearly 10 per cent of the journalist working community says Jim Boumelha, the International Federation of Journalists’ treasurer. “If the toll was to be extrapolated to NUJ members, it would be over 2,000, a figure impossible to comprehend,” he says.


In the absence of international journalists, banned by the Israeli authorities from entering Gaza independently, their Palestinian colleagues are working day and night sending reports of the killings and destruction of homes and livelihoods. Jim says: “As well as killing journalists, media newsrooms are being relentlessly smashed to smithereens – some 86 media institutions have been destroyed, including 22 local radio stations. Plenty of other journalists have perished in other global conflicts, such as Iraq or former Yugoslavia, but


none in such shocking circumstances and few continued to report the war in the way Gazan journalists are still doing today.” Tat is why he is urging branches and chapels, many of which have already made generous contributions to the cause, to continue to donate to the IFJ’s safety fund. Te IFJ’s sister unions, including the NUJ, have contributed to what has been the biggest crowdfunding operation mounted by the federation, with even employers’ organisations contributing. Initially the donations were used


to buy safety kits and power banks, later they paid for food, baby milk


and medications among other needs. More recently, using a model from Ukraine, the effort has been directed to building hubs for journalists to give them a roof over their heads and the means to do their job. A massive injection of funds from sister unions in Canada and Norway, as well as contributions from UNESCO, allowed PJS to build the first of two solidarity centres. Te journalists have free access


to electricity, water, the internet and laptops as well as coffee and bathrooms. Te centre is staffed by volunteers and an IT expert. It also serves as temporary headquarters for the PJS in Rafah and Khan Younis in southern Gaza, and provides food supplies and medicine parcels for 500 journalists and their families in the catchment area. A second centre is being prepared in Deir al Balah as another social hub and a place to work and recuperate. Every penny donated by NUJ members will make a huge difference.


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