The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, today on U.S. and international media outlets to address a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) showing that Israel and Haiti are the world’s biggest offenders in letting journalists’ murderers go unpunished.
The is the first time Israel has appeared on CPJ’s 2024 Global Impunity Index, which measures unsolved murders in proportion to a country’s population.
That CPJ report states in part:
“Israel’s targeted killing of journalists in Gaza and Lebanon during a relentless war drove it up to the No. 2 spot on this year’s index, which covers the period from September 1, 2014, to August 31, 2024. CPJ has documented the murder of five journalists – four Palestinian and one Lebanese – since the war began, and is investigating the possible targeted murders of 10 more journalists. Given the challenges of documenting the war, the number may be far higher. Overall, Israel has killed a record number of Palestinian journalists since the war began on October 7, 2023.”
In a statement, CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper said:
“The far-right Israeli government has systematically targeted journalists in a campaign of violence designed to silence voices speaking out against its genocide. We urge media professionals in our nation and around the world to speak out against all attacks on journalists, without an ‘except for Palestine’ exemption.”
He noted that CAIR has repeatedly condemned Israel’s attacks on journalists.
Earlier today, CAIR called on CNN and all major media outlets to address anti-Palestinian bias and bigotry within their networks in the wake of CNN guest Ryan Girdusky’s bigoted and threatening anti-Palestinian attack on Mehdi Hasan.
Israel has already slaughtered more than 43,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, and has destroyed most of the civilian infrastructure, forcibly displaced almost all of the civilian population, and imposed forced starvation.
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CONTACT: CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell, 404-285-9530, e-Mitchell@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper, 202-744-7726, ihooper@cair.com; CAIR National Communications Manager Ismail Allison, 202-770-6280, iallison@cair.com