More than 200 journalists, including prominent members of the French press, lay down on the steps of the Opéra Bastille in Paris in a symbolic "die-in" as the names of the reporters killed in Gaza were read out on Wednesday.
Many wore red-stained press signs and fake flak jackets as they carried photographs of journalists killed in Gaza while trying to report on the war launched by Israel after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack. “Gaza of faces, not just numbers”, read posters bearing photographs of their fallen Palestinian colleagues.
“You can see them behind me, showing pictures of those journalists killed. Moments ago, they were lying on the ground again. It’s a symbolic action,” said FRANCE 24’s Clovis Casali, reporting from the site of the die-in outside the Opéra Bastille.
Since Israel launched its latest war on Gaza, foreign journalists have not been allowed to work in the besieged Palestinian enclave except for a few visits by international teams embedded with the Israeli army.
In an op-ed in the leading French daily Le Monde earlier this week, several journalist associations, trade unions and media organisations, including FRANCE 24, condemned the Israeli media blackout in Gaza.
“The Israeli army is imposing a media blackout on Gaza to silence, as much as possible, the witnesses of the war crimes committed by its troops,” said the newspaper column. “This intention to obstruct information is also reflected in the Israeli government's refusal to allow foreign press access to the Gaza Strip.”
At the demonstration in Gaza, placards bearing the logos of journalist trade unions stood alongside numerous Palestinian flags and keffiyehs. Some participants also chanted, “We will not be silent,” and “Free Palestine”.
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