A year ago, the world changed.
It was supposed to be the culmination of Israel’s ‘High Holiday’ season. What had begun with Jewish New Year, was to end on October 7th with ‘Shemini Azeret’, a day of singing and dancing, a time of bonding between the Jewish People and God. But rather than celebration, the ‘eighth day’ brought unimaginable horror to Israel, its neighbours and beyond.
The attacks of October 7th targeted the cities of Sderot and Ofakim, 19 kibbutzvim, two music festivals and a beach party. Fighters from Hamas and at least four other Palestinian terror groups murdered 1,195 Israeli citizens and abducted 251 hostages, committing what Human Rights Watch says were numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity – a day that saw more Jews murdered than on any single day since the Holocaust.
The year that has followed has been the deadliest for the media since the Committee to Protect Journalists began documenting the killings of journalists more than thirty years ago. CPJ says at least 128 members of the media have died in the twelve months since Hamas’s attacks – all but two, killed by the Israeli Defence Forces. 23 of the dead were Palestinian. Two Israeli journalists were killed during the initial October 7th attack. CPJ says at least five journalists were specifically targeted by the IDF and it’s investigating the cases of another ten, while 75% of the casualties were killed in air strikes ordered by the IDF.
The toll exacted by Israel’s war is unprecedented. Gaza is a small place – 25 miles long from top to bottom, and only three miles wide in some places. And yet more journalists and media workers have been killed in this small enclave over the past twelve months than in every other country in the world put together in any other single year. And many of those killed in Gaza had much of their lives still ahead of them, with most aged under 40.
Of course, the scale of suffering by Gaza’s journalists is dwarfed by the unimaginable toll the war has taken on its people. The United Nations says, on average, about 130 people have been killed every day, on each of the 365 days since October 7th. More than 40,000 in total – most of whom, it says, were women and children. International humanitarian law is clear on the paramount importance of the protection of civilians, civilian property and infrastructure. Collective punishment, and the targeting of journalists, are classed as war crimes. Yet not a single member of the IDF has been held to account for killing, targeting, attacking, or abusing journalists since this time last year.
During the past year, the Rory Peck Trust has been calling on Israel to respect the laws of war and protect journalists. We’ve demanded that Israel and Egypt lift their blockade to allow much needed food and equipment to reach Gaza, and allow international reporters to enter to relieve our Palestinian colleagues. Despite seeing their colleagues and family members killed, their homes destroyed and forced to relocate numerous times, they’ve continued to be the world’s eyes and ears, documenting the impact of the war on the place they call home.
Thanks to your support, we’ve been able to help some freelancers and their families from Gaza, now in third countries. We’re also working with some of those who’ve escaped to provide mental health support as they look to rebuild their lives. And now, we’re also trying to support freelancers in Lebanon who are in the crosshairs of Israel’s fight with Hezbollah. We’ve opened a safety consultation helpdesk, offering individual tailored support to those in the Middle East and North Africa planning assignments, helping them identify and mitigate the risks they face.
At the start of last month, we launched an emergency appeal to raise additional money for our Crisis Fund which had been drained in the first eight months of the year because so many freelancers needed our help. Thank you to those of you who so generously contributed. The demand for our services continues to grow. It’s not too late to help. £20 will provide a food shop for a family, £50 will provide a month’s internet, £200 a month’s rent for an exiled journalist, £400 a new laptop. You can donate here.
The past twelve months have been traumatic for so many people, on so many levels. Thanks to your support, for three decades the Rory Peck Trust has tried to make a difference to the lives of freelancers who need our help. Over the past year, we’ve been there for those who need our help today – and we’ll continue to be there in the days and weeks to come.
