A rally in support of Palestinian journalists reporting from Gaza was held today in front of the building of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, where a minute of silence was observed to honor the journalists killed in Israeli bombardments. Participants read out the names of the fallen colleagues.
The rally was organized by the Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans, the Independent Journalists’ Association of Serbia (IJAS), and the Journalists’ Association of Serbia (JAS).
According to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), at least 244 journalists have been killed since the start of the war in Gaza: 221 Palestinian journalists in Israeli attacks on Gaza, nine each in Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Yemen, one in Syria, and four Israeli journalists were killed in the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023.
“Our colleagues in Gaza are being systematically targeted and killed because they report the truth. But you cannot kill the truth. It lives through us, and that’s why we are here today—to express solidarity with our colleagues who continue to report, and to honor those who were killed for doing their job. We are also here to demand that foreign media be allowed to enter Gaza so that we can support our colleagues on the ground and report together with them,” said Ivana Jovanović of the Media Diversity Institute Western Balkans, addressing the crowd on behalf of the organizers.
Jovanović also reminded that Serbia exports arms to Israel and called on the authorities to “stop cooperating with institutions that are committing genocide.” “We remind the public that Serbia has an obligation under the Genocide Convention to ‘prevent and punish the crime of genocide’ using all measures at its disposal. We demand that the authorities in Serbia fulfill that obligation—immediately end all cooperation with Israel and stop being an accomplice to genocide,” she added.
After the organizers’ addresses, the names of the journalists killed in Gaza were read out, and the rally concluded with a minute of silence.
