Latest news with #Anasal-Sharif
Middle East Eye
28 minutes ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
At least three Palestinians, including one journalist, killed by Israeli strike on Gaza City
At least three Palestinians were killed on Monday by an Israeli strike on Gaza City, according to Arabic media. The reports said that Palestinian journalist Islam al-Koumi and his son were among the victims. Earlier this month, Israel assassinated prominent Gaza journalist Anas al-Sharif, along with scores of Palestinians.
New Straits Times
12 hours ago
- Politics
- New Straits Times
New alliance emerging to challenge Western accounts of Gaza
AMID the rubble of journalists' tents and the unceasing wail of ambulances, the world is witnessing not merely death but also the murder of meaning. Israel's assault on Gaza can no longer be concealed behind euphemisms like "conflict" or "retaliation". However, Western mainstream media continues to deploy language that obscures the crime. In a world flooded with information, the denial of meaning is the most insidious and dangerous form of violence. Mainstream alternative media such as Middle East Monitor, Al Jazeera and TRT World have consistently rejected this narrative. Journalists like Anas al-Sharif were killed not because they bore arms, but because they bore witness — reviving Gaza's sufferings for the world to see. The world is no longer reliant on the Western media's selective framing as a new narrative alliance is emerging. From the Islamic world, BRICS, Africa, Latin America and digital activists, a coordinated media movement is reshaping the global map of meaning. Outlets such as RT (Russia), PressTV (Iran), TRT World (Turkiye) and networks across Africa and Latin America portray Palestinian suffering as a symbol of resistance against Western hegemony and moral hypocrisy. Beyond the established alternative media platforms such as Democracy Now, The Intercept, and Grayzone, more contrarian outlets like Unz Review have also entered the fray, amplifying voices that frame Israel's actions in Gaza as genocidal and morally indefensible. This reflects the widening spectrum of dissent in Western discourse. On digital platforms, influencers like Motaz Azaiza and thousands of activists have become "field journalists" who build global empathy. They stream live footage, testimonies and humanitarian appeals that transcend linguistic and cultural boundaries. Hashtags like #GazaGenocide, #EndIsraeliApartheid and #FreePalestine have become narrative battlegrounds that rival official propaganda. In Australia, a historic wave of mobilisation has swept across Sydney and Melbourne. Up to 300,000 people recently joined the "March for Humanity" across Sydney Harbour Bridge to demand a ceasefire, sanctions on Israel and recognition of Palestinian statehood. Writers like Omar El Akkad and activists like Nidzara Ahmetasevic have criticised the moral duplicity of the West, which failed to learn from the genocide in Bosnia. Malaysian media has the potential to bridge the voices of the Global South with Western consciousness. On the issue of Palestine, we must no longer rely on Western news agencies whose coverage often favours Israel and marginalises the Global South. Renowned academic and thinker Professor Datuk Dr Ahmad Murad Merican has urged Malaysian media to lead efforts in declaring Asean a "Genocide-Free Zone", with deep reporting and regional advocacy. Our media can elevate historical witnesses like Gaza's journalists as icons of humanity; embed narratives of compassion, inclusivity and sustainability in its coverage; and build regional networks that unite voices from Asean, BRICS+, D-8 and the Global South. Thus, Malaysia joining The Hague Group and supporting South Africa's legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice is not merely a diplomatic gesture, it is also a narrative declaration that Malaysia stands with truth. The genocide in Gaza is not just a humanitarian tragedy — it is also a test of global honesty, media courage and the resilience of meaning. The multipolar media alliance — rising from the Islamic world, BRICS, Africa and Latin America — has forged a battleground not of weapons, but of witness, empathy and interpretation. They do not merely report — they resurrect the meaning that was meant to be erased.
Daily Maverick
15 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
A collective voicing of disgust in solidarity for Israel's killing of journalists in Palestine
On a crisp, bright Wednesday afternoon this week, it was impossible not to feel tears rise alongside anger. The crowd had gathered in Cape Town to rail against another evil. Israel's killing of journalists in Palestine. Prompted by the Israel Defence Force's targeted assassination of four Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza City. A simple white cloth lays on a countertop near the back of the aisle at St George's Cathedral in Cape Town. On it is embroidered, in red letters, the Lord's Prayer. Fixed to the top lefthand corner of the cloth by a paperclip is a label that transforms this otherwise everyday and humble object, albeit beautiful, into a thing of great power. The label reads: 'Gift from women in Palestine. 2 June, 2011.' Are the hands of the people who made this precious artefact still attached to their arms? Are the arms part of bodies that are still alive? If those people are still alive, do they wonder for how much longer? The cloth is a tangible reminder that what is happening in Palestine did not start on 7 October, 2023. It also didn't start on 2 June, 2011. It started in 1948, when the Allies' guilt for not stopping the Nazis from murdering six-million Jews was itself made tangible by the imposition of the state of Israel on Palestine. The people who have lived on that land have changed throughout history. It is impossible to disentangle Jews, Muslims and others from the history of that place. But the establishment of Israel tried to remove Palestinians from their land as well as from the history of that land. It tried to write them out of the truth of the place. The cloth is evidence of the abject failure of that attempt. Were the people who had the exquisite thought to make this gift, who stitched it with such obvious, aching love, who ensured its safe passage all the way to Cape Town, among the many who were thrown off their land in 1948 and have been subjugated ever since? Standing near the back of the aisle in this storied place looking at the cloth early on a crisp, bright Wednesday afternoon this week, it was impossible not to feel tears rise alongside anger. A few hundred people had spent most of the previous hour on the steps outside the cathedral. They are some of the most famous pieces of stone in South Africa (SA), a place where Desmond Tutu himself railed against the evil of apartheid. On Wednesday, the crowd gathered to rail against another evil. Vigils in protest For more than a year, vigils have been held on the cathedral steps every Wednesday at noon to protest about and call for an end to Israel's war on Gaza. Often, they don't draw more than a dozen or so people. This time was different. Israel's killing of journalists in Palestine was the stated cause of the gathering. It was prompted by the Israel Defence Force's (IDF) targeted assassination of four Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza City on Sunday. Among them was 28-year-old correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who had bravely brought the story from the frontlines of the war into viewers' homes. Predictably, the IDF claimed Sharif was a Hamas terrorist. Predictably, they offered little evidence to back up that claim. Predictably, much of the Israeli media didn't interrogate it. 'Israeli military kills Hamas terrorist doubling as Al Jazeera reporter near Shifa Hospital,' was the headline in the Jerusalem Post. Those among us who are not journalists might roll their eyes. Now you care? Now that some of your own have been killed, you are suddenly and conveniently touched on your studio? Where the hell have you been since 8 October, 2023, when Israel's brutal, lopsided and ongoing repression began? Come to think of it, where have you been since 1948? The short answer? Reporting on all that. Widespread outrage is being aimed at Israel precisely because people like Sharif have done their jobs properly. And paid a similar price. At last count, the Committee to Protect Journalists estimated that at least 186 media workers had been killed in Gaza since the start of the war. The United Nations says the number is closer to 242. Yes, there are bad journalistic actors out there. See the Jerusalem Post's headline above. But it has become too easy to take the lazy option and blame us for not telling the story as you would see fit. To this end, a bit of coded language has sprung up and was deployed by the protest leaders on Wednesday. When you heard 'the mainstream media' you knew the bad guys were being referenced. When you heard chants like, 'Netanyahu, how many journalists did you kill today?' you knew a case was being made for the good guys. Anas al-Sharif was, by all non-IDF accounts, a good journalist and a good guy. He was also firmly part of the mainstream media. But Wednesday wasn't so much about this discrepancy, awkward and uncomfortable as it is, as it was about the divergence in the crowd drawn by the occasion. The great and the good were there, among them Gift of the Givers founder Imtiaz Sooliman, courageous writer Megan Choritz and Zapiro, the rock star of cartoonists. Veteran activists such as Jimi Matthews and academics like Zohra Ebrahim and Andre Odendaal brought the gravitas. Younger activists brought the gees, of which there was plenty. There were also, as you would expect, many journos – some covering the event, others taking part. That will doubtless lead to red herring questions around objectivity. Here's the answer: should the media not have taken a stand against apartheid SA or Nazi Germany? And then there were the others. They were people who might not have been great nor particularly good, who wouldn't see themselves as activists, who weren't pointy head academics. There were black people, brown people, white people. There were many, many keffiyeh scarves. There was at least one baby, wheeled in a pram, and one pug, on a lead. One woman popped down from the steps to greet a man. 'I studied with your wife years ago,' she said. 'I'm not sure if you remember me …' He smiled: 'Ruby! Hello!' It was a sombre assembly, but also not. As if those who were there saw famous and familiar faces and the faces of people they did not know, and realised that while they couldn't stop Israel from killing people, they could at least voice their disgust in solidarity. Unity is strength Unity, as apartheid SA used to tell us, is strength. It's also a source of deep joy. To know you are not alone in dark times is a light. Can there be anything more human? We took that light into the cathedral, where closing remarks were made. While that was happening, a woman walked slowly down the aisle, the great nave above her like a giant, shielding hand. She leaned a pole against her shoulder. Attached to the pole was a Palestinian flag, which draped down her back. Having gone almost all the way to the pulpit, she turned and made a slow, meaningful return. I tried to photograph her, but the angle made that challenging. I took the picture anyway. This was an important moment, not that I knew how or why. A man was at my elbow. 'That's my fiancé,' he whispered, gesturing towards the woman holding the flag and walking away from us. 'She says that, after today, she wants us to get married here.' DM
Sinar Daily
20 hours ago
- Politics
- Sinar Daily
South African journalists march for protection of Gaza colleagues
The group also criticised South African media houses for participating in sponsored propaganda trips to Israel without disclosing the funding sources of their reporting. 18 Aug 2025 02:42pm Ordinary citizens join South African journalists as they attend a vigil in solidarity with Palestinian media workers, at St George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town on August 13, 2025. Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera said on August 11, that five of its journalists were killed in an Israeli strike. Al Jazeera said five had been killed: correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP) CAPE TOWN - South African journalists and media workers led a march in Sea Point, Cape Town, on Sunday, calling for greater protection for Palestinian journalists in Gaza and expressing solidarity with their slain colleagues, reported Xinhua. The demonstration, which organisers said drew more than 2,000 participants, followed an Aug 10 airstrike on a tent outside Gaza City's Al-Shifa Hospital that killed five Al Jazeera correspondents and a freelance journalist. Ordinary citizens join South African journalists as they attend a vigil in solidarity with Palestinian media workers, at St George's Anglican Cathedral in Cape Town on August 13, 2025. Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera said on August 11, that five of its journalists were killed in an Israeli strike. Al Jazeera said five had been killed: correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh along with camera operators Ibrahim Zaher, Mohammed Noufal and Moamen Aliwa. (Photo by RODGER BOSCH / AFP) The march was organised by Journalists Against Apartheid (JAA) and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, with support from groups including Mothers4Gaza, South African Jews for a Free Palestine, and Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine. South African journalists condemned what they described as Israel's systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists for exposing war crimes and acts of genocide. JAA denounced the "media massacre" in Gaza, accusing Western outlets of amplifying Israeli narratives while silencing Palestinian voices. "We are enraged by Western media that have repeated Israeli lies without scrutiny while silencing Palestinian voices, permitting this genocide to continue," said JAA member Deshnee Subramany, reading a statement from the organisation. The group also criticised South African media houses for participating in sponsored propaganda trips to Israel without disclosing the funding sources of their reporting. Demands from the marchers included the release of Palestinian journalists detained in Gaza and the West Bank, an end to Israel's media ban, and the entry of foreign correspondents into Gaza. The final words of prominent Gazan journalist Anas al-Sharif, one of those killed, were read aloud by Palestinian journalist Aziz Bakr, moving the crowd to tears. A group of 25 veteran journalists endorsed a letter of solidarity to be sent to the South African government and the Israeli embassy. Since October 2023, Israel has killed 269 journalists in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera, citing data from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, and a database compiled by Palestinian reporters. - BERNAMA-XINHUA More Like This
Daily Maverick
a day ago
- Politics
- Daily Maverick
Cape Town journalists march in solidarity with media workers targeted and killed in Gaza
A march in Sea Point, Cape Town, on Sunday was the latest in a series of protests aimed at spotlighting the targeted killing of media workers in Gaza. Local journalists led the demonstration, expressing solidarity with their colleagues on the other side of the world. Hundreds of people marched along the Sea Point promenade in Cape Town on Sunday, 17 August, to protest against the targeted killing of journalists in the Gaza Strip. The march was led by local journalists holding a sign bearing the names of more than 200 Palestinian media workers who have reportedly been killed since 7 October 2023. The march was organised by Journalists Against Apartheid, with support from other organisations including Gift of the Givers, South African Jews for a Free Palestine and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The demonstration comes exactly a week after an Israeli airstrike on a media tent near Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City killed six journalists. Among those killed were Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh; camera operators Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal; local freelance reporter Mohammad Al-Khaldi; and Moaman Aliwa, a camera assistant. The Israeli military released a statement claiming it had targeted Al-Sharif because he allegedly headed a Hamas cell. However, the Israeli government has not provided evidence to back up these claims. The Al Jazeera Media Network and the South African National Editors' Forum (Sanef) have condemned the killing of Al-Sharif and his colleagues as an assassination and a 'blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom'. Sharif Mosa, a Palestinian photojournalist living in South Africa, spoke at Sunday's demonstration, describing the targeted killing of Gazan journalists as an attempt to 'steal' the Palestinian story by eliminating witnesses. 'Every colonial project survives on two weapons: physical extermination of the colonised people and control of the narrative. The power to erase, distort and rewrite reality,' said Mosa. '[These journalists] were killed not because they were in the wrong place, but because they were in the right place. Journalists are the antidote of colonial propaganda… Killing journalists is how Israel tries to maintain control over the narrative. But every journalist killed makes the truth louder, and today is a statement about that.' Crystal Orderson, a South African journalist, condemned the 'brutality' meted out against journalists in Gaza who were attempting to document the reality on the ground. 'The question today is, since when has journalism become a crime? Clearly, for the journalists like Anas [al-Sharif]… reporting the truth has become that crime,' she said. 'We're standing here today in solidarity… We grew up under apartheid, we knew the role of the media under apartheid… I want to remind the young journalists that it's important to tell the story of truth… [and] human suffering. We can't be silent. In newsrooms across South Africa, we need to stand up for the truth.' Al-Sharif and his colleagues were among many Palestinian journalists who have been documenting the devastation wrought by Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip in the wake of the 7 October 2023 Hamas assault on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 60,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. This includes a large number of media workers on the frontline. Waiting for death In the month before Al-Sharif was killed, both the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and Irene Khan, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression, released statements expressing concern about his safety. This followed 'online attacks and unfounded accusations by the Israeli army' about Al-Sharif's affiliation with Hamas, according to the UN. Khan said that fears surrounding Al-Sharif's safety were well founded as 'there is growing evidence that journalists in Gaza have been targeted and killed by the Israeli army on the basis of unsubstantiated claims that they were Hamas terrorists'. The CPJ said the Israel Defense Forces had previously made unfounded claims that journalists it killed in Gaza were terrorists, including four Al Jazeera staff. At Sunday's march, Journalists Against Apartheid demanded that: Media organisations call Israel's killing of media workers 'what it is – a war crime'; Israel must immediately release all arbitrarily detained Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza; and The Israeli media ban must end, allowing foreign correspondents entry to Gaza. 'We stand in solidarity with protesters around the world who have condemned Israel's reprehensible killings this week. Governments must act immediately to protect remaining Palestinian journalists before all of Gaza's media workers are killed. We stand with international human rights organisations who recognise that Israel's military actions and policies in Palestine amount to apartheid and genocide,' said Journalists Against Apartheid. In late 2023, South Africa filed a case asking the International Court of Justice to declare that Israel was in breach of its obligations under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Almost two years later, the case is still ongoing. International media ban Since 7 October 2023, no international journalists have been permitted entry to Gaza, other than a few controlled visits alongside Israeli soldiers that restricted independent reporting. Human rights investigators have also been barred. This has made Palestinian journalists working in the region the primary source of facts and reports about the effects of bombardments by Israeli forces and the growing threat of starvation among Gazans due to the blockade on aid. International media and human rights organisations, including the CPJ, have called for Israel to allow media workers and investigators into Gaza to document the situation on the ground. Restricted access to the region has made it challenging to establish the exact number of journalists killed. Sara Qudah, regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at the Committee to Protect Journalists, told Daily Maverick the organisation was often forced to rely on media reports when tracking the loss of life. 'The grave reality of documenting attacks on the press in the Israel-Gaza war is that we have known of instances where whole families have been killed in strikes, leaving no one to contact to verify details of a journalist or media worker's case. Other times, we face challenges getting hold of the outlet, or remaining family members don't even have information about the outlets the journalists worked at,' she said. The CPJ puts the number of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war between 2023 to 2025 at more than 190, which exceeds the number of press members that were killed worldwide in the previous three years (2020 to 2022). However, some organisations have estimated that the death toll is higher. DM
