Urgent Ideas for Defending Press Freedom in Gaza
Letters and condemnations have failed to change the world’s deadliest place for journalists. Join us for a conversation exploring new ideas.
On August 25, five Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Nasser Hospital, the largest medical facility in Gaza, where journalists from Reuters, the AP, Al Jazeera and other outlets regularly gather to report and film. It came on the heels of an August 10 Israeli airstrike that targeted Al Jazeera’s most prominent journalist still alive in Gaza, Anas al-Sharif, killing him, three colleagues, and two freelancers inside a tent used by media workers near al-Shifa Hospital.
The attacks are part of a pattern of record new threats to press freedom over the last nearly two years, which has seen Israel and Egypt enact a ban on access for foreign journalists to Gaza for independent reporting, relentless campaigns to discredit and blacklist Palestinian journalists who risk their lives every day to bear witness, and the killings of at least 189 Palestinian journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, while other groups, such as the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, put the number even higher.
Amid these dire threats, individual journalists, press freedom groups, and some newsrooms have drawn upon the traditional tools in their advocacy arsenal: letters, statements, condemnations, and the occasional Israeli court case. None of these efforts has resulted in change.
On Thursday Sept. 25, join us for a conversation with experts across the fields of journalism, human rights, literature, academia, and advocacy about what urgent efforts and possibilities should be on the table for our industry at this moment.
- Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists
- Kenneth Roth, Former Executive Director of Human Rights Watch
- Laila Al-Arian, Executive Producer of Fault Lines
- Sharif Abdel Kouddous, Middle East Editor of Drop Site News
- Trevor Timm, Executive Director of the Freedom of Press Foundation
- Moderator: Azmat Khan, Director of the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism
This event is co-sponsored by the Simon and June Li Center for Global Journalism and the Columbia Journalism Review at Columbia University and the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
September 25, 2025, 6:00pm - 8:00pm
Registration required: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1688984340629?aff=oddtdtcreator.
Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend this event, please contact the Office of Disability Services at 212-854-2388 or [email protected] at least 10 days in advance of the event. Requests for CART (Communication Access Realtime Translation) or sign language interpretation require two weeks’ notice.