Advocacy group, CAGE has written to British newspapers regarding the current situation in Iraq and the killing of American journalist, James Foley by an ISIS fighter.
The group said on its Facebook page:
“Given the latest media coverage of the situation in Iraq and the death of journalist James Foley, we have written to the editors of newspapers with the letter below. US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan leading to the deaths of many journalists – their deaths were just as shocking and depraved yet there was no outrage for them.”
This was the letter which was sent to editors of numerous mainstream British newspapers:
Dear Sir/Madame
The targeting of journalists like James Foley in conflict zones is to be unequivocally condemned. While the videoed beheading of Mr Foley is visually graphic and gruesome, had ISIS used a predator drone to kill Mr Foley, would it have been any less “shocking and depraved” to quote Mr Cameron?
In the 2003 invasion of Iraq, two American surface to air missiles hit Al-Jazeera’s office in Baghdad killing Palestinian reporter Tareq Ayyoub. Later that year, a US army tank fired into the 15th floor of the Palestine hotel in Baghdad where nearly all foreign journalists were based, killing Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk.
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The US also bombed al-Jazeera’s Kabul bureau during the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan. During that war,the US apprehended al-Jazeera journalist Sami al-Hajj and detained and tortured him for six years in Guantanamo Bay before releasing him without charge.
The world is today rightfully condemning the killing of a US journalist but let us not forget that in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Arab journalists were not spared. But the world remained silent. Their deaths were equally “shocking and depraved”.
Yours
CAGE
