AN Islamic newspaper, Muslim News, has charged the United Nations (UN), the European Union (EU), the United States (US) and the international community to continue mounting pressure on Israel to end the ongoing war in Gaza.
The Nigeria-based media organisation highlighted the environmental impact of the seven-month war which it said is capable of causing a wide range of health problems, including respiratory diseases, heart diseases and cancer, due to the hazardous substances from the bombings as well as the collapse of the healthcare system in Gaza.
Muslim News said the debilitating impacts of the environmental crisis have been largely on children, women, the aged and other vulnerable individuals who are majorly affected by the war which has claimed the lives of over 35,000 Palestinians.
It cited the conclusions of the recent World Economic Forum held in Saudi Arabia which stated that rebuilding Gaza will take no less than 30 years, with 14 of those years to be used in clearing the debris alone.
According to the newspaper, “This is the extent of the destruction that Gaza has been subjected to, and this should give an idea of the catastrophic impact of the war on the environment.”
The medium, in a statement signed by its publisher, Rasheed Abubakar, on Friday, on the commemoration of the 2024 World Press Freedom Day, with the theme, ‘A Press for the Planet: Journalism in the face of the Environmental Crisis’, seized the opportunity to honour the over 100 slain “fearless journalists and media workers, most of them Palestinian citizens, killed in the Israel attacks on Gaza.”
The newspaper announced the bureau chief of Al Jazeera (Arabic) in Gaza City, Wael Hamdan Ibrahim Al-Dahdouh, as its “Global Muslim Media Personality of the Year 2023” for his “resilience, tenacity and steadfastness in reporting the genocide in Gaza despite his immense personal loss.”
It said, “We at Muslim News Nigeria join the rest of the world to mark this year’s Press Freedom Day, which is dedicated to the importance of journalism and freedom of expression in the context of the current global environmental crisis.”
The newspaper said the Al Jazeera bureau chief had lost many of his family members, including his wife, son, daughter and grandson, but remained firm and committed to reporting the impacts of Israel’s attacks on Palestine.
It said, “On this day, we also celebrate and remember devoted, dedicated journalists who have lost their lives while discharging their duties. Most of them were deliberately targeted by Israel during air and ground strikes.
“As of Wednesday, May 1, over 100 journalists have been murdered for reporting the truth and exposing Israel’s atrocities. They were targeted in order to create fear in the mind of others.
“Some of them include Samer Abudaqa (Al Jazeera Arabic’s cameraperson), Hamza Al Dahdouh (Al Jazeera journalist), Mustafa Thuraya (Agence France-Presse (AFP), Mohamed Khalifeh (Al-Aqsa TV), Farah Omar (Al-Mayadeen TV channel), Nermin Qawwas (Russia Today), Hanan Ayyad (a female journalist) who was killed alongside her husband, by an Israeli shell, and Salem Abu Toyor, a reporter for Al-Quds, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 30.
“Today, we remember them and we demand justice for them. This is the more reason the war needs to be stopped if the international community would match its word with action.
“The total figure by the Palestinian Health Ministry as of Wednesday, May 1, is 142, even though the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) put the figure as 97. Irrespective of the disparities, we strongly condemn the assassination of those journalists. We also condemn what we call the gang-up by the international community, including the US, against these journalists and the media they represent.”
The newspaper condoled with the families of journalists who lost their lives while celebrating those who are injured and those alive still doing their jobs despite deliberate attacks on them.
It said, “We also remember some of those injured such as Thaer Al-Sudani (Reuters) and Mustafa Alkharouf (Anadolu Agency). We specifically want to honour Wael Dahdouh, Al Jazeera’s Gaza Bureau Chief, who has lost many of his family members including his wife, seven-year-old daughter, and 15-year-old son, in addition to eight of his other relatives in the ongoing war.
“On 15 December 2023, while Al-Dahdouh and his cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa were covering the Haifa School airstrike in Khan Younis, they were hit by an Israeli missile which injured Dahdouh and wounded Abu Daqqa who later succumbed to his injury.
“Despite the death of his family members and his injury, Wael Dahdouh returned to reporting on the war. His son, journalist Hamza al-Dahdouh, was killed by an Israeli airstrike in Khan Younis on 7 January 2024 and two of his nephews were killed in an airstrike the following day. May Almighty Allah forgive their shortcomings and accept them and others as martyrs.
The media organisation, which also noted Nigeria’s environmental challenges, advocated personal discipline ii combating the situation.
“Unlike Gaza, Nigeria is being challenged majorly by flood and air pollution which are mostly caused by human activities. Nigerians litter the environment with plastic bottles and other non-degradable products without proper waste disposal methods. The act of indiscipline by Nigerians has been the albatross, despite government’s efforts to combat environmental pollution.
“We commend government at all levels for the proactive moves in sensitising the people on the effects of environmental pollution and for the measures taken so far to curb the effect of environmental pollution in Nigeria. The initiatives will never be successful without the cooperation of Nigerians,” it stated.
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