Representatives of the Croatian Journalists’ Association and the Trade Union of Croatian Journalists, along with many gathered citizens and media professionals, took part today in the commemorative march “Stop Killing Journalists! Stop the Genocide!” through the centre of Zagreb, carrying portraits of their slain Palestinian colleagues. Croatian artists illustrated these portraits for last year’s exhibition “We Did What We Could, Remember Us.” The commemorative march stopped at Zrinjevac, in front of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where a protest rally was held.
Hrvoje Zovko, president of the Croatian Journalists’ Association, said:
“The murdered journalists are not collateral victims of the local armed conflict, as some falsely wish to portray it. They were marked as targets, deliberately liquidated by the IDF as so-called ‘legitimate military objectives’, even though they had no connection to Hamas and carried nothing but the truth about what is happening in Gaza. Gaza needs the help of all of us. Gentlemen in the Government of the Republic of Croatia, as citizens of a country that has experienced war and, in its darkest moments, sought help from all over the world, we ask you once again: do not turn your backs on the people of Gaza.”
Maja Sever, president of the European Federation of Journalists, emphasised:
“According to the International Federation of Journalists, at least 219 journalists and media workers have been killed since the beginning of this war. This is the deadliest period for our profession in decades. What we are witnessing is the deliberate destruction of witnesses, an attempt to leave the world blind and deaf to the suffering of the Palestinian people. The European Federation of Journalists, along with unions and journalists’ organisations in 23 countries, has already sent letters to their governments. Our messages are unified: the time has come for concrete action. The time for correct statements and warnings is over.”
On behalf of the Croatian Journalists’ Union, Emil Čančar, who also moderated the rally, stated:
“We all generally know what is happening. Most choose not to look, not to think. They are aided in this by mainstream media, which obediently refuses to show the horrors of genocide. One day, future judges will determine the criminal responsibility of the media. There is no neutrality, no objectivity in everyday life, in the media, and least of all when it comes to crimes against humanity. Those who remain silent consent.”
Professor Dina Vozab, representing the Initiative for the Academy of Solidarity and Epistemic Justice, said:
“Scientists and journalists, at least in principle, share a common mission of seeking truth and knowledge for the benefit of society and the public. In this part of the world, many also share a common silence about Palestinian colleagues, scientists and journalists killed by bombs, drones, or slow starvation. The aim of Israel’s killings of journalists is clear: to conceal countless committed crimes and to maintain control over the narrative. That narrative is now shattered. Genocide can no longer be hidden or justified.”
Writer and poet Monika Herceg said:
“I look at my daughter and my son, and I have no words for the defeat I feel. One day, these children will ask us about this time, about the children who were then their peers, who died of hunger or were killed trying to reach food. They will ask: Did they really starve people deliberately? They will ask, in disbelief, “And when they came for food, which was dangled before them, were they really shot at, hungry and exhausted, while clinging to their last hope?”
The rally concluded with a speech by Nina Čolović, representative of the Initiative for a Free Palestine, who said:
*“During the time of this very gathering, dozens of people will be killed, and thousands will writhe in agony from hunger and thirst. If we stand here while people die, tomorrow the journalists’ microphones and cameras will turn to us as well to record our cries into the void. No law and no reciting of human rights will protect a single child, in Palestine or in Croatia. Enough. We are tired of games and illusions, of yet another march and the thousandth list of demands. We demand an immediate halt to the production and export of weapons and all the ways capitalist nation-states profit while sustaining genocide.
All good people everywhere, confiscate and destroy weapons until they are completely unusable. We demand the immediate evacuation of people from Gaza. Healthcare workers, we call on your solidarity; open your hospitals to refugees from Gaza and other regions devastated by genocide and war. Media workers around the world, we call on you to show solidarity. Do not allow those who profit from war and human suffering a single night of peaceful sleep. Solidarity is the only thing that will enable us to survive as human beings, so that we may ever again dare to speak of integrity.” Such and similar actions are being held throughout August across European countries, from Albania, Turkey, Iceland, Denmark, France, and Sweden. We invite you to give media coverage to ours as well.
The source: SNH
Photo by: Nino Šolić
