Israel has not allowed any international journalists inside Gaza to cover the ongoing genocide since its onset. Israel has even had their communication minister threaten to shutdown their largest and oldest newspaper Haaretz for insufficient bootlicking.

 In order to be informed on what is happening in Gaza, we have been reliant on on the brave Palestinian journalists on the ground, 64 of whom have been killed since 10/7. Journalists were already being targeted and killed by the Israeli army long for years (see my Shireen Abu Akleh post from earlier this year). The last few weeks have seen methods like Internet blackouts, bombing of media stations, and the targeting of journalists families as methods of suppression.

Long time Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh had three generations of his family killed in an Israeli air strike in late October, including his wife, son, daughter and grandson. There is a video of him learning of their death. There is a video of him going back to work the next day and explaining his resolute conviction to continue his duty. There are numerous videos of him in the days and weeks since, comforting others that have lost their own families. In each of these videos Wael’s strength and unshakable faith shine through.

The painting itself pays homage to a video from 2016 of Wael with his family singing by a campfire, which I’ve included a clip of in the post on my Instagram page.

Please look at the comments, and the story highlights on my profile page for more about Wael’s courage, the struggle and targeted assassinations of journalists and their families in Palestine, as well as a beautiful video of Wael and his family singing together, which I tried to honor in this piece.

For more about Wael’s courage, the struggle and targeted assassinations of journalists and their families in Palestine, as well as a beautiful video of Wael and his family singing together, see the dedicated story highlights  entitled "Journalists" on my Instagram profile page.

Acrylic on Canvas 16" x 20"