Vigil held outside BBC Radio offices for journalists killed in Gaza

A vigil was held outside the BBC Radio Lancashire offices in Blackburn on Wednesday evening in memory of the journalists killed while reporting on the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.

During the Vigil the flag of Palestine was lit up with candles in recognition of the journalists and members of the press who have died while reporting from inside Gaza.

During funerals in Gaza, blue press vests and helmets are placed on the bodies of reporters and photographers during funerals in Gaza, so protestors had draped similar signs and vests on Darwen Street itself.

About 30 people turned out for the event, which was held on the pavement and included councillors who quit the Labour party over its stance on calling for humanitarian pauses as opposed to a total ceasefire.

It is the latest event staged by protestors from across the region since the conflict started on October 7th, when Hamas terrorists murdered hundreds of people in Israel.

Israel began its bombardment of the Palestinian enclave, which it said was a targeted offensive on Hamas strongholds, however more than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza by the blasts, including many children.

A Labour amendment calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza passed through the House of Commons on Wednesday evening in a night of drama in Parliament.

The protest also aimed to highlight what demonstrators said was a ‘biased’ account of reporting in the mainstream media, in particular the manner of the reporting on some national news websites of Palestinian deaths in comparison to other nations.

In 2023, globally 99 journalists were killed in the line of duty, with 72 of those being Palestinian reporters in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The CPJ said it is investigating claims a dozen journalists killed in the Gaza conflict were deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers, which would constitute a war crime.