Mumbai: Journalists Host Solidarity Meet for Slain Gaza Reporters, Condemn Israeli Violence
Mumbai: Eminent journalists, scholars, activists and citizens gathered at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh on August 29 for an interaction with the Palestinian ambassador to India and to protest the killing of Palestinian journalists in Gaza.
The gathering, headlined by ambassador Abdallah M. Abu Shawesh, was marked by grief, anger and a fierce call to resist what many described as Israel’s systematic targeting of truth.
Organised by Indian Journalists for Palestine – a collective of media professionals and journalist organisations – the meeting condemned the killing of Palestinian reporters and reaffirmed the role of journalism as resistance against occupation and erasure.
Solidarity meet at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. Photo: Tamoghna Chakrobarty.
“Our voice is completely blocked, it has been for a long time, even after 270 journalists were killed, western media does not demand an enquiry," Abu Shawesh said. “Media is controlled and manipulated by Israeli interests, even Indian media took a step back from giving us a platform,” the ambassador added.
“The Palestinian resistance is the collective struggle for everyone who believes that no one is safe until everyone is safe” Abu Shawesh said. The ambassador also urged the Indian media to “reach out to us [Palestinians], listen to us, show our reality”.
The Targeting of Journalists
The event came in the wake of the August 25 Israeli airstrike on Al-Nasser hospital in Gaza, which killed five journalists working with Al Jazeera and Associated Press. With this, the number of Palestinian journalists killed since October 2023 has crossed 270 – an unprecedented toll in modern warfare.
On August 10, Al-Jazeera journalist Anas El- sharif and three of his colleagues were killed in a “deliberate”, “targeted assault” by the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)
Scholars and activists allege that Israel is “systematically targeting” journalists. It has killed almost the entirety of Al-Jazeera’s Gaza team including reporters like Hossam Shabat , Ismail Al-Ghoul, Hamza Dadouh and Samer Abudaqa amongst others.
Brown University's "Cost of War” Project estimates that more journalists have been killed in Gaza since 2023 than both world wars, US civil wars, Korean war, Vietnam war and post 9/11 wars combined.
“No Rooftops Left”
Speakers at the event noted how Israel wants to “collapse” the “information infrastructure of Palestine" and how “deadly” it has become to try and upload stories from Gaza.
Among those present at the event was journalist Sreenivasan Jain, who reflected upon his own experience in Gaza in 2014. He recalled that journalists could only upload their stories from rooftops as it was only possible to get a network there. He claims that no more “rooftops are left in Gaza, Nasser hospital was the last and they bombed it too”.
Jain also criticised the New York Times for echoing Israel's labelling of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif as a Hamas operative.
Solidarity meet at Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. Photo: Tamoghna Chakrobarty.
He noted that there is a trend amongst western media outlets to label journalists in Gaza as “Hamas operatives” and disproportionately spread “Israel’s narrative”.
Gautam Navlakha, a renowned journalist and human rights activist, said that India’s complicity in the genocide was regrettable. He also claimed that “unlike in the west, the civil society in India did not rise up, they were not allowed to rise up. The government banned protests.”
Numerous activist and rights organisations have called Indian governments’ crackdown on pro-Palestinian protests as “criminialisation” of dissenting voices.
'Collective Struggle'
Despite the devastation in Gaza, speakers noted the determination of Palestinians to resist Israeli violence. “Through two years of genocide there has been not one white flag, not one call for surrender,” said activist Feroze Mithiborewala. He also highlighted the work of the Hind Rajab Foundation, which has been meticulously documenting evidence of war crimes.
Jain cited Israeli groups like Breaking the Silence, ex-soldiers exposing IDF crimes, and B’Tselem as proof of growing cracks within Israeli society itself.
The meeting ended at a sombre note, with candles being lit in memory of all Palestinian journalists who have died documenting the genocide.
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