KARACHI: Dozens of Pakistani journalists protested in Karachi on Tuesday against Israel’s move to bomb Iran’s state-run television channel this week, accusing Tel Aviv of deliberately targeting journalists to silence their voices.
Footage of anchor Sahar Emami went viral on Monday in which she can be seen denouncing Israel at the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) building before the live broadcast was interrupted by a huge blast. Shortly after, smoke and debris filled the screen.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) confirmed that Israel’s strike on the IRIB building killed Nima Rajabpour, editor-in-chief of Khabar TV, and Masoumeh Azimi, a secretary at the state-run television channel. Israel and Iran have been targeting each other with missiles since Friday, when the Jewish state attacked Iran’s nuclear facilities and military leadership.
Dozens of Pakistani journalists protested the move outside the Karachi Press Club. The protest was organized by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ). Journalists carried placards inscribed with messages condemning Israel, shouting slogans expressing support for the people of Gaza and Iran.
“It [Israel] has assassinated anyone across the world who tried to unmask its true face, anyone who tried to speak the truth,” PFUJ Secretary-General A.H. Khanzada told Arab News, accusing the Jewish state of killing journalists from Gaza to Iran.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has counted 178 journalists killed in Gaza by Israel since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded.
Khanzada urged the IFJ to redefine its global parameters of press freedom.
“If these are not corrected, many problems will arise — and these problems will affect the entire world,” he said, calling the response from global media organizations to the attack as “insufficient.”
Aamir Latif, a former Karachi Press Club secretary, agreed that Israel was systematically silencing journalists.
“Israel is not in a business to tell the truth,” Latif said. “In fact, it is in a business to block the truth. That is why it is targeting journalists whether it is Gaza or whether it is Iran,” he added.
Latif lamented Israel’s moves to target hospitals, media workers and other protected entities in the Middle East, saying they were directly violating international laws.
Veteran journalist and former PFUJ secretary-general Mazhar Abbas called the Iranian TV bombardment a “direct assault on freedom of expression.”
“The figure [of journalists being killed in Palestine] is nearly around 150, which is even far bigger than the journalists killed in the Second World War,” Abbas told Arab News.
KUJ President Nasrullah Chaudhry said Pakistani journalists stood in solidarity with their Iranian counterparts.
“Since October, we have documented Israeli war crimes against media in Gaza,” Chaudhry said. “This is part of the same pattern.
“The media of Pakistan in general and Karachi in particular firmly stands against Israel aggression and assaults on journalists,” he told protesters.
The protest ended with Pakistani journalists pledging to continue highlighting what participants called the “systematic targeting of truth tellers” by Israel across multiple conflict zones.
