Veteran South African journalists, international media members, and solidarity organizations staged a silent march along the Cape Town promenade on Tuesday, protesting the killing of journalists by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in Gaza.
The demonstration, led by journalists, was punctuated only by the solemn reading of the names of more than 200 media workers who have died while covering the conflict in Gaza since it began. Among them were five journalists from Al Jazeera killed earlier this month.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign and South African Jews for a Free Palestine joined the march in support, followed by a gathering to honor the fallen. An Al Jazeera journalist read the emotional last testament of Anas Jamal al-Sharif, one of the reporters recently killed.
“I have lived through pain in all its details, tasted suffering and loss many times. Yet I never once hesitated to convey the truth as it is—without distortion or falsification,” al-Sharif’s words echoed. “So that Allah may bear witness against those who stayed silent, those who accepted our killing, those who choked our breath and whose hearts were unmoved by the scattered remains of our children and women.”
A group of veteran journalists, including Jimmy Matthews, Mata Sudu, Zubeda Jaffa, and Amina Frenz, issued a statement condemning the killings.
“As a generation of journalists who fought against colonialism and apartheid in South Africa, we add our voice to the condemnation articulated by fraternal organizations and ordinary men and women of goodwill worldwide,” the statement read. “We join ranks with those who say Netanyahu, members of his government, and the IDF leadership—who sanctioned these killings—must be charged with crimes against humanity.”
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign also spoke out, demanding accountability for what they called a “genocide” and calling for unrestricted access for international journalists to Gaza.
“Journalism is not a crime. The crime is the genocide, and we must hold those people to account,” a representative said. “We want free access to Gaza by the world’s journalists—not as saviors, but to complement the Palestinian narrative and report independently on what is happening.”
The protest comes amid escalating global condemnation of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, where journalists continue to face extreme risks while documenting the war’s toll on civilians.
