Yarmouk Mass Communication Faculty condemns Israeli occupation targeting of journalists in Palestine

AMMAN — The Faculty of Mass Communication at Yarmouk University condemned the Israeli occupation forces’ targeting of journalists in occupied Palestine.

The faculty denounced the war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation against journalists engaging in field work reporting the aggression against the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, according to a statement released by the faculty on Tuesday.  

The aggression has resulted in the death of 66 journalists, including six female journalists. While in southern Lebanon three journalists were martyred and six were injured.

The actions of Israel against journalists are considered a clear violation and discord of all international conventions that guarantee the right of journalists to practice their work freely during crises and wars, with the need to protect them and not target them, the statement indicated. 

The Israeli occupation has violated UN Security Council Resolution No. 1738 issued in 2006 and Article 79 of the Additional Protocol annexed to the 1949 Geneva Convention for the Protection of Civilians in Military Conflicts, according to the statement.

The faculty denounced the silence of international community organisations and international press and human rights unions regarding the massacres committed against journalists.It also called on the international community, with its journalistic and human rights institutions and organisations, to stop double standards and bias towards the practices of the Israeli occupation against the Palestinians.

The faculty called for an immediate halt to targeting journalists working in areas being bombarded in Gaza, the West Bank and southern Lebanon, the statement added.

The statement also emphasised holding the Israeli occupation accountable for its daily crimes against civilians, perpetrated without any adherence to international laws and conventions.

The faculty along with other members of the Jordanian community bears witness to the war crimes and genocide pursued by the “Zionist war machine” against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, according to the statement, which highlighted that the war on Gaza resulted in the death of approximately 15,000 Palestinian civilians, including more than 6,000 children and 4,000 women, in addition to the destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship.