Remembering Ayman al-Gedi and Other Palestinian Journalists Killed by Israel and the PA

I am a Palestinian American from Columbus, Ohio, and I stand in support of all Palestinian journalists.

I condemn American and other Western journalists for failing to speak out about the six Palestinian journalists killed this week in Gaza and the West Bank, in broad daylight. Israel targets journalists because it doesn't want witnesses to its crimes against humanity.

On December 26, five journalists were murdered, and their bodies were burned after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) targeted their broadcast vehicle near Al-Awda Hospital in Al-Nuseirat Camp, Central Gaza. The martyred journalists were:

• Journalist: Ayman al-Gedi
• Reporter: Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan
• Editor: Fadi Hassouna
• Coordinator: Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali
• Editor: Mohammed Al-Ladaa

On December 28, Palestinian journalist Shatha al-Sabbagh, 21, was shot in the head near her home in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. Middle East Eye reported that Palestinian news outlets claimed the PA's security forces were responsible for her death. The PA denied responsibility, but condemned Shatha's murder to avoid accountability.

This mirrors what Israel did after killing Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in Jenin in May 2022. A year later, the IDF finally apologized for her death. Will Israel and the PA now take responsibility and apologize for murdering these six Palestinian journalists?

It is ironic that the PA now refers to Palestinian resistance fighters as "outlawed criminals" and "Iranian thugs," when everyone knows that the PA security forces are there to protect the occupation and serve as a subordinate to the IDF. The PA even offered significant amounts of money and rent-free apartments to Palestinian resistance fighters if they gave up their weapons. This bribe was flatly rejected.

I am reminded of two American journalists:

• Terry Alan Anderson, an American journalist and combat veteran kidnapped in Beirut in 1985, held for seven years.
• Daniel Pearl, an American journalist and Southeast Asia bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal, tragically murdered in Pakistan by al-Qaeda terrorists.

The six Palestinian journalists' names should have been plastered on the front pages of every newspaper worldwide. Instead, the world was kept in the dark about their tragic deaths. By not doing so, Western mainstream media normalized and condoned their murder.

Now, the PA and Israel are synonymous when it comes to killing Palestinians. As the saying goes, Israel and the PA are two sides of the same coin.

Mahmoud El-Yousseph is a Palestinian freelancer for Islamicity.org and ColumbusFreepress.com. He can be reached at [email protected].