Palestinian Journalists Awarded 2024 UNESCO Press Freedom Prize

May 3, 2024 Hour: 9:16 am

On Thursday, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded the 2024 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to Palestinian journalists for their commitment and bravery during the coverage of the Israeli offensive against Gaza.

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The award was presented at a ceremony held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago, Chile during the 31st World Conference on Press Freedom.

Naser Abubaker, the president of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), accepted the award on behalf of his colleagues who remain in Gaza.

“I feel joy and pride. However, this joy is mixed with sadness for the death of so many martyr journalists and with the determination to find the killers,” said the president of an organization that brings together about 4,000 journalists.

“Palestinian journalists have seen what no journalist has.”

For #WorldPressFreedomDay, we spoke to Palestinian journalist Hani Aburezeq, who’s been showing the world Israel’s war on Gaza. pic.twitter.com/YikPzX12a7

— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish)
May 3, 2024

Investigations conducted by UNESCO confirmed that Israeli occupation forces have killed at least 26 journalists and media workers since the Zionist state began its offensive against Gaza in October 2023.

At this moment, however, dozens more cases are still being investigated as social media has documented the murder of at least 140 journalists in Gaza.

“Gazan journalists have worked for months under bombardment, surrounded by corpses and destruction, enduring extreme cold, hunger, and thirst,” said Abubaker, who is also the vice president of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ).

“They have lost their homes and their relatives. Nevertheless, they continue to work with the utmost professionalism,” he stressed.

On the eve of World Press Freedom Day, Gaza mourns the killing of over 140 Palestinian journalists since 7 October. pic.twitter.com/VZ9hsa1XVd

— PALESTINE ONLINE �� (@OnlinePalEng)
May 3, 2024

“As humanity, we have a huge debt to the courage and commitment to freedom of expression of Palestinian journalists in Gaza,” said Mauricio Weibel, a Chilean who is president of the international jury of journalists that made the decision to award the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

In 1997, UNESCO established this award in honor of Colombian journalist Guillermo Cano, who was murdered outside the offices of the newspaper El Espectador in 1986.

This award is funded by the Guillermo Cano Foundation, the Helsingin Sanomat Foundation, the Namibia Media Trust, the Stichting Democratie & Media, and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“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,” UNESCO Director Audrey Azoulay said.

#FromTheSouth News Bits | The member of the political bureau of the Islamic Jihad Movement, Ihsan Ataya denounced the United States’ attempts to change the aid crossings to Gaza and put an end to the Palestinian resistance. pic.twitter.com/FOmYxKhWFI

— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish)
May 2, 2024