By Pedro Pomar, on the SJSP Portal
Since the genocide committed by Israel in Gaza began in October 2023, Paulista Avenue has witnessed several demonstrations and marches in defense of Palestine and in protest against Israeli atrocities, many of which had the active presence of directors of the Syndicate of Professional Journalists of the State of São Paulo (SJSP).
However, on Thursday, August 28, the SJSP and the National Federation of Journalists (Fenaj) held, on a Paulista sidewalk and with the support and participation of various other entities, an act aimed at drawing public attention to the killing, by the Israeli Army, of almost 250 Palestinian journalists so far, as well as to denounce the complicit silence of major Brazilian and foreign broadcasters and newspapers.
Protesters held colorful posters with the images of Anas al-Sharif, Mariam Abu-Dagga, Hussan al-Masri, Walla al-Jabari, Tamer al-Zaanin, Fátima Hassouna and other journalists from Gaza who were murdered by Israel, in addition to placards denouncing the genocide. “Brazilian media, stop lying about what happens in Palestine,” “Free Palestine, from the river to the sea” and “Lula government, I want to see, the break with Israel happen” were the main chants during the protest.
In addition to SJSP and Fenaj, represented by several directors, representatives of various entities and groups took part in the act: the Unified Workers’ Central (CUT National and CUT-SP), the Arab-Palestinian Federation of Brazil (Fepal), the Palestine Front of São Paulo, the Shireen Abu Akleh Collective of Journalists Against Genocide, the Lupe Cotrim Academic Center (ECA-USP), the Palestine Nucleus of the Workers’ Party (PT), the Women’s Movement for Peace in Palestine, the Association of Professors of the Federal University of ABC, the Doctors’ Syndicate (Simesp), the Writers’ Syndicate, the Justice and Peace Commission of the Archdiocese of São Paulo, the Pro-Palestine Committee of ABC, and the Tiradentes Revolutionary Movement (MRT). Also present were Councilman Lamé Smeili (PCdoB) of Guarulhos, and journalists Breno Altman (Opera Mundi) and Rodolfo Lucena (Tutameia).
Thiago Tanji, president of the SJSP, highlighted in his speech the staggering number of Palestinian journalists murdered by Israel, comparable to the disappearance of an entire large newsroom. “These people who are doing their work are being deliberately killed, one by one. On Monday, five journalists were murdered. On the 10th, another five,” he denounced. “We cannot normalize this. We have the duty to talk with each person on the street, to not normalize the absurd,” he stressed, recalling that the Israeli Army uses snipers, drones and other military equipment to locate and kill journalists.
He described an episode reported to him by an American colleague who was in southern Lebanon in October 2024, alongside reporters of several nationalities, all clearly identified with press vests, when an Israeli tank deliberately aimed and fired its cannon at the group. “A cameraman died, a photojournalist lost one leg, and that American journalist was seriously wounded. All of this is documented,” said Tanji.
Genocide is the killing of people through cruelty, he pointed out, describing actions and circumstances carried out by the Israeli armed forces in Gaza. “These journalists are doing the work of telling what a genocide is. If it is not cruelty to starve people; if it is not cruelty to kill people by disease; if it is not cruelty to massacre people searching for bread; if it is not cruelty to deliberately kill journalists so that the truth is not carried outwards, then what else is genocide?” asked the SJSP president.
“We journalists are saying the following: every journalist murdered in Palestine deserves justice. Unfortunately, while journalists are being killed, while the Palestinian people are being killed by Israel, we must continue on the streets, in the struggle, so that sooner rather than later we can celebrate the liberation of the Palestinian people and the dignity of our profession, which has the role of telling these stories,” concluded Tanji.
“This act of resistance called by journalists is extremely important, at a time when we see the extermination of a people. It’s nearly 250 journalists, but also nearly 1,400 health professionals killed in this genocide,” pointed out Juliana Sales, a leader of Simesp and CUT National, during the act. “We are mobilizing for the release of one of Israel’s prisoners, Dr. Abu Safiya. Since January this doctor, who was director of one of the hospitals in northern Gaza, was arrested with his team,” she revealed.
Although his team was later released, Abu Safiya remains imprisoned under the terrible conditions in which thousands of other Palestinian prisoners are held. “He remains imprisoned and tortured in Israel’s dungeons. He has already lost nearly 40 kilos. In July, when he met with his lawyer, he denounced that he was given only two spoons of rice a day.”
Juliana called for the doctor’s release and for an end to the genocide. “You saw in recent weeks that Israel’s intention is not to negotiate anything; it is to invade, to eliminate the Palestinians’ territory. It is necessary to go further, that Lula break diplomatic and commercial relations with Israel,” said the union leader, receiving applause.
Amyra El Khalili, for the Women for Peace in Palestine Movement, read a text written by journalist Wisam Zoghbour from Gaza, entitled “In the trench of truth: the ethical duty of the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate in times of extermination.” In it, Zoghbour, who is the director of that syndicate, affirms that it remained “on the front line of the war, without hesitation or bowing to petty calculations,” and did not limit itself “to issuing notes or appeals,” but instead “took on responsibility for the protection, care, and professional strengthening of dozens of journalists in one of the deadliest and most dangerous environments on the planet.”
“In the heart of the massacres, among the rubble, in the complete blackout of electricity, internet, and communications, the Syndicate offered refuge to journalists through the media solidarity centers set up in the Gaza Strip,” in which “journalists could send images of massacres, transmit the population’s messages, and document the wounds of children and mothers, despite the war machine that targets everything that moves, everything that dares to tell the truth.”
The Syndicate, “one of the oldest union organizations in Palestine, was up to the challenge,” says the text read by Amira. “It moved ahead of international institutions, which omitted themselves or limited themselves to notes of concern, and decided to put all its resources at the service of the field. It equipped the centers with power sources and internet access, provided journalists with possible logistical tools, and even offered psychological and moral support to the families of martyr and wounded colleagues, who fell carrying cameras and pens, not weapons.”
Walid Shuqair, secretary-general of Fepal, reminded that in addition to the enormous number of fatalities in Gaza (nearly 63,000), there are 170,000 wounded, many with amputated limbs. “This attack on journalists is part of the ethnic cleansing process that Israel has carried out in Palestine since 1947. They [the Israelis] don’t just want to stop the live transmission of what is happening. They want to eliminate the traces, the evidence of the war crimes they are committing. Every newsroom in the Gaza Strip, without exception, was destroyed, along with its archives. That means they want to erase the history of the Palestinian people. The attack on journalists is also to wipe away the evidence of genocide.”
Regarding the recent shocking episode at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Shuqair stated that the deliberate and repeated attacks on that site, where journalists and a rescue team caring for the wounded were located, prove that the level of cruelty of the actions committed by the Israeli Army surpasses all crimes against humanity committed to date.
“It is important to denounce these crimes and say that the hegemonic media, those that are protecting and covering up the State of Israel, are also defendants in this war crime. They too will have to answer for the genocide of the Palestinian people,” emphasized the Fepal secretary-general.
Watch here the full video recording of the demonstration held on Paulista Avenue:
https://www.youtube.com/live/6TuEicK-QfM
Pedro Pomar is a journalist and director of the São Paulo State Journalists' Union (SJSP).
SJSP Portal, August 29, 2025
https://sjsp.org.br/na-avenida-paulista-sjsp-fenaj-e-entidades-pro-palestina-denunciaram-israel-por-assassinato-em-massa-de-jornalistas-em-gaza-e-midia-brasileira-por-cumplicidade/
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