LONDON: The Committee to Protect Journalists, a media watchdog, has called on Israeli authorities to ensure the safety of Yuval Abraham and his family, who have been the target of death threats following his speech expressing solidarity with Palestine.
Abraham, an Israeli journalist for +972 magazine and filmmaker, faced criticism from both Israeli and German officials after delivering a speech at the Berlin Film Festival in which he voiced concerns about the situation in Gaza.
CPJ Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator Sherif Mansour said that he was “deeply alarmed” by the death threats directed at Abraham, and warned of a growing “atmosphere of self-censorship and anti-press rhetoric in Israel, which has been expanding since the Israel-Gaza war.”
He added: “Israeli authorities must ensure the necessary protection for all journalists, regardless of their views, and hold accountable those who threaten journalists and their family members.”
Abraham revealed that he had to cancel his flight back to Israel out of fear of being targeted. His family reportedly fled their home at night after a right-wing Israeli group arrived, searching for the journalist and issuing threats.
In his speech, Abraham accused the Israeli government of perpetrating a “massacre,” and called for an end to the double standards between Israeli and Palestinian citizens.
Standing alongside his Palestinian co-director, Basel Adra, Abraham highlighted the disparities in rights and freedoms between Israelis and Palestinians living in close proximity.
“This situation of apartheid between us, this inequality, has to end. We need to call for a ceasefire,” Abraham said.
Abraham, who is based mainly in Jerusalem, also criticized German arms sales to Israel.
The speech was labeled as “antisemitic” by several high-ranking German and Israeli officials, including the mayor of Berlin and Israel’s ambassador to Germany.
Abraham and Adra accepted two awards on Feb. 25 for their documentary “No Other Land,” which chronicles Israeli authorities’ evictions and demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank.
Israeli public broadcaster Kan News initially labeled Abraham’s speech as “antisemitic,” a designation that was retracted only following Abraham’s request to the network.
Abraham joins a growing list of Israeli journalists facing physical assault and death threats since the beginning of the conflict last October.
Itamar Cohen, a journalist with Israel-based outlet News 360, faced hostility when Israeli police forcibly removed him from the scene of a stabbing in Jerusalem’s Old City, despite his identification as a journalist.
In October, journalist and columnist Israel Frey went into hiding after his home was attacked by a far-right Israeli mob. The attack took place after Frey expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
