Statements
In Opposition to the Ongoing US-Israeli War on Iran
On February 28, the US and Israeli militaries launched an unprovoked war on Iran. The ongoing US-Israeli attacks, as well as Iranian counter-attacks, threaten the lives of countless people throughout the Middle East. One Israeli attack has already killed at least 148 people, including students, at an all-girls elementary school in Iran, as reported by Al Jazeera.
US and Israeli airstrikes also targeted Iran’s state broadcaster, which was previously knowingly targeted by Israel, according to Al Jazeera. These attacks come amidst the ongoing Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have killed more journalists than in any other conflict worldwide, per the Committee to Project Journalists.
The Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union denounces the US-Israeli war on Iran and calls on our members, media workers more broadly and workers in all other industries to oppose it in our workplaces, in the streets and in the halls of power.
Solidarity with Washington Post Journalists
The IWW Freelance Journalists Union condemns the abrupt and unwarranted layoffs of hundreds of Washington Post journalists, including those actively reporting from warzones. The Washington Post Guild has organized a support campaign for their affected members and international staff at the Washington Post have also organized a separate campaign in support of international journalists caught up in the layoffs who aren’t protected by the Guild.
The FJU has contributed $500 to the support fund and encourages its members to support both of these campaigns. We must stand in solidarity with our fellow journalists against unfair practices and support our colleagues in their time of need.
In Support of Writers Against the War On Gaza's Call for Comprehensive Coverage of the Israeli Genocide
In September 2025, Save the Children estimated that Israeli forces had been killing more than one Palestinian child per hour since the start of Israel’s genocide in the Gaza Strip—or more than 20,000 children in less than two years. By the end of the month, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported over 66,000 people killed and more than 168,500 injured, the vast majority women and children.
Meanwhile, Israel’s stranglehold on Western news media has been deafening. As Writers Against the War On Gaza has repeatedly noted, the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza should be front-page news—yet it is often conspicuously absent from Western media. In response, WAWOG urges the public to “flood the newsrooms,” encouraging readers everywhere to email editors at leading news outlets and demand truthful, comprehensive coverage of Israel’s continuing war crimes in Gaza.
The Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union fully endorses WAWOG’s call to hold Western news media accountable. We ask our members, fellow printing and publishing workers, and readers everywhere to use WAWOG’s contact lists and templates to demand that the Israeli genocide in Gaza is covered accurately, prominently and with the urgency and gravity it deserves.
In Condemnation of Israel’s Ongoing Killings of Palestinian Journalists
On January 9, 22-year-old self-described “accidental war correspondent” Abubaker Abed spoke out against the lack of support for Palestinian journalists from the international press.
“We have been let down by the international community, particularly the international media organizations,” said Abed as he stood among a crowd of fellow journalists.
He pointed out that the protective gear marked “PRESS” that war correspondents often wear marks Palestinian journalists as targets for Israeli forces carrying out genocide in the Gaza Strip, rather than offering them any meaningful protection.
Abed’s words came just two weeks after an Israeli strike killed five journalists from the Al Quds Network while they were in a van similarly marked “PRESS.” Another journalist was also killed on January 3, bringing the total number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israel since the start of the genocide to at least 198, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
The deliberate killing of journalists is a violation of international law, yet after more than a year of Israel’s genocide, journalists continue to be killed by the Israeli military. To make matters worse, legacy media outlets like The New York Times have failed to detail Israel’s war crimes despite substantiation by authorities like Human Rights Watch in their report “Extermination and Acts of Genocide.”
The Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union joins Abed and his fellow Palestinian journalists in condemning the media silence around Israel’s genocide and in demanding support for Palestinian journalists from international media organizations.
We urge all journalists and media workers across the globe to help platform, boost and share the work of journalists in Palestine. We also urge our members and supporters to continue to contribute to the PJS via the International Federation of Journalists. We stand in solidarity with journalists in occupied Palestine and, as always, echo the motto of the IWW: An injury to one is an injury to all!
In Support of Platforming Palestinian Journalists
In response to the prevalence of Zionist propaganda regarding the State of Israel’s ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip, as well as deteriorating economic conditions in the West Bank due to the Israeli occupation’s escalating violence there, the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union calls upon journalists and editors reporting on Palestine to platform Palestinian journalists as sources and to prioritize them for commissions.
At the time of this writing, at least 152 journalists in both Gaza and the West Bank have been killed by Israeli forces since October 2023. Despite the danger, our Palestinian fellow workers risk life and limb every day to show the world the brutality inflicted upon them and their people. Their courage deserves not only our respect and solidarity, but material support.
To that end, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) is willing and able to connect journalists and editors to its English-speaking members. Especially in the last year, the work of Palestinian journalists has been a crucial driver of support for the liberation of Palestine. By offering to make these connections, PJS is providing journalists and editors with a direct line to the people doing that work, as well as a way to ensure that work continues. To be connected with English-speaking PJS members, please contact Shuruq Asad of the union’s general secretariat at: shuruqasad@icloud.com.
Time and time again, we have seen English-speaking news media refuse to acknowledge the State of Israel’s role in murdering our colleagues. Such cowardice has no place in the IWW FJU. We must reject all editorial decisions that fail to frame killing journalists as just that: killing journalists.
As always, the IWW FJU stands in solidarity with our fellow workers in Palestine. Solidarity forever!