Palestinian scribes covering Gaza war awarded UNESCO World Press Freedom Prize
Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s brutal war in Gaza have been named as Laureates of the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the organisation announced Thursday May 02, 2024.
Paris: Palestinian journalists covering Israel’s brutal war in Gaza have been named as Laureates of the 2024 UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize, the organisation announced Thursday May 02, 2024.
The Palestinian journalists were conferred the UNESCO awards following the recommendation of an International Jury of media professionals at an award ceremony held on the side-lines of the World Press Freedom Conference in Santiago, Chile Thursday.
'Solidarity and Recognition'
The UN body described the moment as a ‘strong show of solidarity with the Palestinians in a time of darkness and helplessness’.
“In these times of darkness and hopelessness, we wish to share a strong message of solidarity and recognition to those Palestinian journalists who are covering this crisis in such dramatic circumstances. As humanity, we have a huge debt to their courage and commitment to freedom of expression”, Mauricio Weibel, Chair of the International Jury of media professionals, said.
Hailing the decision to award the Palestinian journalists, UNESCO Director General, Audrey Azoulay, said:
“Each year, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano Prize pays tribute to the courage of journalists facing difficult and dangerous circumstances. Once again this year, the Prize reminds us of the importance of collective action to ensure that journalists around the world can continue to carry out their essential work to inform and investigate.”
'Gaza war deadliest for journalists'
Over 100 journalists and media workers, a majority of them Palestinians, have been killed in the first seven months of the Israeli brutal war in Gaza started in October last, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). The CPJ has termed the "deadliest since 1992" the first two months of the Gaza war.
The relentless and indiscriminate Israeli bombardment of Gaza has also forced some Palestinian journalists to quit their profession.
The UNESCO has been at the forefront in condemning the killing of journalists at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Forces since Oct 7, 2023.
“I can't believe how many colleagues we've lost, no less important is the resilience of those journalists who remain in Gaza", Palestinian journalist Nasser Abu Baker said while accepting the UNESCO press freedom award.
"The award reflects the appreciation of UNESCO and this international organization's concern and responsibility towards protecting journalists and freedom of the media", he added.
According to reports, the award ceremony has been very emotional and many of those present were crying.
“There were many people in the room who were crying. There were a lot of emotions and very strong applause”, Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman, reporting from Santiago, said.
Among the journalists killed in Gaza are many working for the Doha based broadcaster.
About the Award
Created in 1997, the annual UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize honours an outstanding contribution to the defence and/or promotion of press freedom anywhere in the world, especially when this has been achieved in the face of danger. It is the only such prize awarded to journalists within the UN System.
The award is named after Guillermo Cano Isaza, the Colombian journalist who was assassinated in front of the offices of his newspaper El Espectador in Bogotá, Colombia, on 17 December 1986, and funded by the Guillermo Cano Isaza Foundation (Colombia), the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation (Finland), the Namibia Media Trust, Democracy & Media Foundation Stichting Democratie & Media (The Netherlands), and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
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