UK's David Lammy blasted for saying 'there are no journalists in Gaza'
British Foreign Secretary David Lammy has been blasted for saying “there are no journalists in Gaza” at a meeting in parliament on Wednesday.
Lammy was asked by fellow Labour MP Matthew Patrick at a House of Commons foreign affairs committee meeting about his assessment "of the nature of the conflict" in Gaza and "how that impinges on getting aid in”.
"As I said, there is now widespread looting," Lammy said in his reply.
"There are no journalists in Gaza and there are no politicians such as me who are able to go to Gaza, so I am unable to verify who is behind the looting," he added.
Journalists from around the world condemned the British foreign secretary for appearing to erase the work and suffering of Palestinian journalists - at least 127 of whom have been killed during the course of Israel’s war on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
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“Lammy’s comments are racist and an insult to hardworking Palestinian journalists, who have been doing an exceptional job under dire circumstances,” award-winning Palestinian journalist Lamis Andoni told Middle East Eye.
'Lammy’s comments are racist and an insult to hardworking Palestinian journalists, who have been doing an exceptional job under dire circumstances'
- Lamis Andoni, Palestinian journalist
“He is dealing with total disregard with the fact that many Palestinian journalists have lost their lives and members of their family simply for doing their job.
"He expresses no sympathy for this, let alone solidarity. The notion that only western journalists count is racist.”
Andoni pointed out that if western journalists were allowed free access to Gaza - rather than being taken in on controlled tours by the Israeli military - they “would totally depend on local Palestinian journalists to guide them”.
Reached in Gaza while reporting on the war, Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat said: “Did he say why there are no journalists in Gaza?”
Israel's war has killed more journalists over the past year than any other conflict over the past three decades.
Despite Lammy's suggestion that the British government does not know who is looting aid because "there are no journalists" in Gaza, both reporters and the United Nations have established that gangs are looting aid with "protection" from Israel's military.
There have even been numerous reports that Israel has actively armed gangs in Gaza. Israel has also blocked aid from reaching the besieged enclave throughout much of the war.
'Repellant statement of erasure'
The annual Rory Peck Awards in Britain, which celebrates freelance camera operators, took place on Thursday. Every award went to journalists who covered Gaza.
Lindsey Hilsum, international editor for Channel 4 News and a British foreign correspondent with decades of experience, told MEE it seemed that Lammy "hasn't worked out how we know so much about what's going on in Gaza".
"The devastating pictures we see every day are filmed by Gazan journalists.
"One of the best is Channel 4 News's Yousef Hammash, who has won an Emmy and a Bafta, as well as awards from the Royal Television Society and Foreign Press Association."
Meanwhile, award-winning TV producer Richard Sanders described Lammy's claim as a "repellant statement of erasure that will thunder down the ages".
Writing in a post on X, he added: "Four of my colleagues from Al Jazeera have been killed while working in Gaza - as have well over 100 others."
"There are no journalists in Gaza"
— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) November 29, 2024
A repellant statement of erasure that will thunder down the ages.
Four of my colleagues from Al Jazeera have been killed while working in Gaza - as have well over 100 others. /1https://t.co/cA6puikiux
“How do you think this world has been able to see everything that has been happening in Gaza since day one,” Youmna el-Sayed, Al Jazeera English’s Gaza Strip correspondent, asked Lammy on X.
“It’s because of those journalists that you have denied their existence! I think your stance clearly implies the double standards in which you judge. It’s disgraceful to choose willingly to be against the innocent and with the perpetrator despite all evidence.”
Middle East Eye asked the foreign office if Lammy was aware of the deaths of Palestinian journalists in Gaza and of their continued work. MEE also asked the foreign office if it used reports produced by Palestinian journalists to inform its assessment of the war.
The foreign office had not provided an official response by the time of publication.
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