01 May 2024 International Federation of Journalists:

Journalists in Gaza will soon benefit from a new solidarity centre in Khan Younis where they will be able to access electricity, the internet and other equipment. It will also provide a social hub, and space for training and recuperation.

The solidarity centre will be opened in the coming weeks by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate (PJS) and the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ). It is made possible by significant donations from the Social Justice Fund of Canadian union Unifor and the Norwegian Union of Journalists Solidarity Fund.

Nasser Abu Baker, president of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate said: “Journalists in Gaza have suffered like no group of media workers before them – and have continued to report the news in a way that few believed possible. This centre will allow modest respite, and the space to take greater control of their work. It will be possible for them to create complete packages, rather than simply sending off raw images, for example”.

IFJ General secretary Anthony Bellanger said: “This shows the strength of unions when we work together. Colleagues in Canada and Norway have recognised the desperate need of their colleagues in Gaza, and shown enormous generosity. We hope that this will be one of two solidarity centres that we are able to open in Gaza – but that will require further sources of funding”.

The International Federation of Journalists represents more than 600,000 journalists around the world, in more than 140 unions and associations.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate represents more than 2,300 journalists, working in the West Bank and Palestine. Around 80 per cent of Palestinian media workers are members.

Unifor is Canada’s largest private sector union, with more than 315,000 members across the country, working in every major sector of the Canadian economy, including journalism.

Norsk Journalistlag is Norway’s journalists’ union, and has around 8,500 members.

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See original IFJ post here