Protesters Rally Outside ABC Offices to Condemn Killing of Gaza Journalists

(MENAFN) Protesters gathered in Brisbane, Australia, on Sunday to draw attention to the deaths of journalists in Gaza, with an estimated 400 participants rallying outside the offices of public broadcaster ABC in the South Bank area.

The demonstration, which began at 2 pm local time (0400 GMT), saw many attendees donning "press" vests emblazoned with the names of slain journalists. One protester even presented ABC staff with a list of media workers killed in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has escalated since October 2023.

As the anniversary of the war approaches, protesters urged news outlets to amplify coverage of the crisis. They emphasized the importance of increased reporting on the conflict, which began on October 7, 2023, and has seen widespread international ramifications.

Titled "ABC Stop Silencing Palestine - Rally & March," the protest was organized by Justice for Palestine Magan-djin, a Brisbane-based group advocating for Palestinian solidarity.

"ABC you can’t hide, you are covering up genocide!" the group declared in the event's description on Facebook. "Join us ... Demand the ABC stop providing lip service for genocide!"

The organizers highlighted Israel’s blockade on journalists entering Gaza and its intentional targeting of Palestinian media workers. They noted that since October 2023, over 270 Palestinian journalists have been killed in targeted attacks, a death toll more than four times greater than the total number of journalists killed during World War II.

Additionally, the group criticized ABC for its handling of the "unfair dismissal" of staff member Antoinette Lattouf, who won her case in June after being fired in December 2023 over a social media post about Gaza. The organizers accused the broadcaster of implementing a "draconian social media policy" that could infringe on workers' civil liberties.

"This is our public broadcaster, with a $1 billion annual budget, which rather than examine its own complicity in promoting Israeli propaganda would instead crack down on workers’ rights to freedom of speech on their own personal platforms," the group argued.

Throughout the protest, several police officers monitored the crowd as demonstrators made their way toward Musgrave Park.

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