Over 70 gather in solidarity with journalists killed in Gaza

Summary

• Over 70 people gather at Dataran Merdeka in a solidarity vigil for the 237 journalists killed in Gaza.

• The event features readings of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif’s final will.

• Organisers stress the need to support journalists in Gaza and amplify their reporting.

Over 70 people showed solidarity at Dataran Merdeka last night to commemorate the 237 journalists who have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli attack began on Oct 7, 2023.

The programme, organised by Gegar activists, began at 8pm and was filled with various events, including the reading of the last will of Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al-Sharif, who was killed by Israel recently.

Donning all-black, participants held banners denouncing Israel, amid a photo display of slain journalists along with candles as a symbol of solidarity.

A representative of the event organiser, Xiang Xiang, told Malaysiakini that the gathering was held simultaneously in several Southeast Asian countries, including Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam, to commemorate the courage of Palestinian journalists.

"We ask everyone to please follow the journalists who are still in Gaza, and who are still in detention. Support them, share their posts, their stories, and the truth they report… because all of that is very important.

"We need to send out texts in protest, we need to unite, we need to talk about it, we need to do whatever it takes to liberate Palestine.

"There is no more important moment to raise the voice of Palestine than now and to take concrete action to liberate the country," he said.

Anas’s final words

On Sunday, Al Jazeera reported the deaths of four of its staff, including a prominent journalist, Anas, after Israel attacked a journalist's tent near a hospital in Gaza.

The Israel Defence Forces has admitted to carrying out the attack on Anas under the belief that he was working for Hamas.

In his will, which was requested to be published after his death, Anas wrote: "This is my will and my final message. If these words reach you, know that Israel has succeeded in killing me and silencing my voice.

"Allah knows I gave every effort and all my strength to be a support and a voice for my people, ever since I opened my eyes to life in the alleys and streets of the Jabaliya refugee camp. I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times.

"Yet, I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is, without distortion or falsification - so that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath, and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women, doing nothing to stop the massacre that our people have faced for more than a year and a half."

The Gaza Media Office announced in a statement that the number of journalists killed since the beginning of Israel's genocidal actions in Gaza has increased to 237 following the deaths of Anas and Mohamed Qraiqea, along with three other media personnel.

Israel is facing growing global condemnation over its genocidal war in Gaza that has claimed more than 61,000 lives, including children, since October 2023.

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