The assassination of Saleh Aljafarawi is meant to send a dark message

When I heard of the execution of Saleh Aljafarawi, I was successful shock. The warfare had yet ended. We each should person been safe. How could this happen? His assassination not lone broke hearts; it besides brought backmost the feeling of insecurity and fear.

Saleh and I lived successful the aforesaid neighbourhood of Gaza City. We each knew him arsenic a cheerful young antheral who loved singing. I retrieve seeing him during Eid prayers successful beforehand of the mosque, distributing sweets to children. He would beryllium and sing for them; my small sister loved to inquire him to sing for her and her friends.

Saleh began moving arsenic an autarkic writer and lensman during the March of Return successful 2018. He would lend to section outlets and station connected societal media. When the warfare began successful 2023, helium started documenting it with his camera. His footage posted connected societal media would get galore shares. On Instagram, his relationship accumulated 10 cardinal followers, and similar different fashionable accounts documenting Israeli crimes, it was suspended aggregate times.

Through the lens of his camera, Saleh covered the genocide successful each its horrible detail. He was not acrophobic to unreserved to bombing sites to screen massacres, risking his beingness and joining the rescue efforts. He selflessly dedicated himself to journalism and broadcasting the information astir what was happening successful the Gaza Strip contempt helium himself suffering.

Saleh’s parent had cancer, and she had to beryllium evacuated retired of Gaza for treatment. His older brother, Naji, was forcibly disappeared from al-Shifa Hospital by the Israeli army. Saleh’s begetter was besides sick, truthful aft Naji was disappeared, Saleh had to instrumentality up attraction for his full household portion continuing his enactment arsenic a journalist.

Because of his popularity, helium became a target. Israel started issuing threats against him, conscionable similar it did against Anas al-Sharif, Ismail al-Ghoul and Hassan Eslaih earlier assassinating them.

The nighttime the ceasefire was confirmed, Saleh released a cheerful video announcing it, which went viral. His household felt harmless for the archetypal time. They thought the information Saleh was facing was yet over, and they were hoping for Naji’s merchandise truthful they could each beryllium reunited.

But Saleh did not halt covering events. Although the concern claimed to person withdrawn from Gaza, they near down equipped militias to dispersed chaos successful the Strip. When the absorption clashed with these militias successful the Sabra neighbourhood, Saleh was determination covering it.

According to reports, helium was kidnapped, beaten and changeable 7 times.

This quality came arsenic a daze to his family. His father’s information worsened. Naji was released arsenic portion of the speech of captives, but the household could not celebrate. Naji collapsed erstwhile helium was told that Saleh had been killed conscionable the time before.

The assassination of Saleh conscionable aft the ceasefire was announced sent shockwaves done the journalistic assemblage successful Gaza. His colleagues mourned and eulogised him, conscionable arsenic they had done for the much than 250 different journalists killed during the genocide.

His murder, however, is much than a nonaccomplishment of yet different superb Palestinian journalist. It is besides a sign, a informing that Gaza’s journalists are inactive not safe. Anyone who works successful journalism present oregon who, similar me, hopes to bash so, present understands that the information has not abated with the ceasefire.

The Israeli service whitethorn person withdrawn from parts of Gaza, but the shadiness of its run of exterminating those who documented its genocide lingers on. Now the menace comes from the militias the concern has organised to proceed waging warfare connected the Palestinian colonisation aft the ceasefire.

The connection of Saleh’s assassination is clear: Anyone who continues to critically study connected what is going connected successful Gaza, connected Israel’s continuing destructive beingness and the betrayal of its allies connected the crushed volition beryllium captured, tortured and killed.

Journalists, and the civilian colonisation astatine large, volition proceed to beryllium successful information for arsenic agelong arsenic these Israeli collaborators are empowered.

Still, the effort to intimidate and scare volition not enactment with Gaza’s media workers. Despite the wide sidesplitting of journalists, radical proceed to instrumentality up this profession. I myself nary longer consciousness safe, but I inactive bash not mean to springiness up my media studies and my ambition to enactment successful the field.

That said, Palestinian journalists bash request enactment from abroad. We request unions, property state organisations and quality rights watchdogs to mobilise and guarantee protective mechanisms are enactment successful spot truthful Palestinian journalists volition beryllium safe. Foreign journalists indispensable besides not autumn for smear campaigns against Palestinian media workers and openly widen their solidarity.

The views expressed successful this nonfiction are the author’s ain and bash not needfully bespeak Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.