NW journalists lead Derry vigil in memory of fellow journalists murdered in Gaza

The vigil was organised by the North West branch of the National Union of Journalists, with many other groups and individuals joining in solidarity outside Derry’s Guildhall on Friday evening.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has confirmed that as of Friday, 42 journalists and media workers have been killed since October 7 – an average of around one every day.

The vast majority of those, 37, were Palestinian, with four Israeli, and one Lebanese media personnel also killed.

Nine journalists have been reported injured, and three journalists were reported missing.

A further 13 journalists have reportedly been arrested and there have been multiple reports of other journalists being subjected to assaults, threats, cyber attacks, censorship, and the killings of family members.

Those gathered on Friday night were reminded how the NUJ and others had gathered in the same place 18 months ago for a vigil following the murder of renowned and globally respected journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who worked with Al Jazeera.

A representative from the NUJ said: "Shireen was shot by the Israeli Defence Forces, and at the time they denied that she had been targeted.

"A special investigation was ordered by the UN. The report of that investigation came out on the week Israel began its attacks on Gaza. That report from the UN investigation found that she had actually been deliberately targeted by the IDF.”

Several local journalists then took turns reading aloud the names of those killed before the vigil concluded in silence at the nearby Peace Flame where white roses were left in memory of our international colleagues who were killed while simply doing their job.