Chicago protests in pouring rain for Palestinian journalists

Chicago, IL – 100 Chicagoans braved pouring rain in Daley Plaza on Tuesday, August 12, for an emergency protest for Gaza. The Chicago Coalition for Justice in Palestine  (CJP) called the protest in response to the Zionist entity’s assassination on Sunday of Al Jazeera crew members Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qraiqea, Mohammed al-Khaldi, Ibrahim al-Thaher and Mohamed Nofal. 

Protesters continued demanding an end to the genocide in Gaza, as well as a call-out against the Western press that has refused to support their Palestinian colleagues or report on the mass murder of 270 journalists in Gaza since October 2023.

After a rally, the protesters went from Daley Plaza to the front of the CBS News building across the street. They confronted the news corporation during its nightly broadcast for its silence and complicity in the genocide.

Nashwa Bawab with the Palestine Youth Movement (PYM) is a media worker. She asked, “How often do these news stations cover the genocide in Gaza? How often do you hear them talking about the murders of journalists, doctors, healthcare workers, civilians?”

“The occupation and the U.S. believe that if they silence journalists, that they can silence Gaza – that if they murder the reporters and the camera crew, that the world would forget their war crimes,” said Nadiah Alyafai, an organizer with the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). “We will keep their stories alive, we must live to tell their stories.”

Alyafai led chants including, “We will honor all our martyrs! All our journalists and doctors!” 

The chant included doctors because doctors and hospitals in Gaza have been a consistent target of the genocide. The Al Jazeera crew was murdered by an Israeli drone that struck the media tent, which was located near the Al-Shifa Medical Complex. 

Protesters set up a memorial in front of the window of the main CBS newsroom on Dearborn Street to make the protest visible and audible to everyone watching the nightly CBS broadcast.

In response, CBS closed its windows to hide the protest.



“These are editorial decisions that are being made from the bottom to the top,” Bawab said. “Where are all the journalists crying out for their fellow colleagues?” 

“What does that mean about the state of journalism today? It means it doesn’t exist anymore. It means our newspapers, magazines, news stations, are just PR agencies for genocide,” she added before calling on journalists and laypersons alike not to be silent about Gaza.

After the rally, protesters solemnly placed flowers on a memorial stand set up for the journalists. Muslim protesters called an evening salat.

The organizers thanked everyone for coming out and reminded them that the next CJP protest would be on Saturday, August 16 at 3:30 p.m. The location for Saturday’s protest and information about future weekly protests in Chicago will be announced on USPCN social media.

#ChicagoIL #IL #AntiWarMovement #Palestine #USPCN #PYM

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/chicago-protests-in-pouring-rain-for-palestinian-journalists?pk_campaign=rss-feed