Activists protesting the Israeli military’s killing of nearly 270 journalists in Palestine and Gaza over the past two years, including the Aug. 10 intentional assassination of Anas al-Sharif and several other journalists and photographers working for Al-Jazeera, held a press conference and rally outside the offices of CBS broadcasting in Philadelphia on Aug. 21.

Speakers targeted corporate media giant CBS because of its recent purchase by Larry Ellison, son of David Ellison, the second-richest individual in the world. David Ellison is also the largest private funder of the Israel Defense Forces and a close friend of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, taking the CBS news, culture, sports mega-empire much further to the right.

While almost 100 Philadelphia community activists stood outside CBS’s offices, no one from CBS or any of the corporate media institutions attended the press conference. This continues to show how CBS, the Philadelphia Inquirer, National Public Radio and other media companies are complicit in their silencing of news around Palestine.

The press conference was chaired by Indigo, from the Philadelphia Palestine Coalition (PPC), which organized the event. Indigo spoke of the mounting deaths of journalists attempting to document the horrors of Israeli occupation in Gaza.

Highest death rate of journalists

Betsey Piette, a managing editor of Workers World newspaper, raised that the number of deaths of journalists killed in Palestine is higher than the number of journalists killed in WWI, WWII, the Korean War, the wars in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia and wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yugoslavia and Ukraine combined.

Piette noted that the Israel Occupation Forces admitted intentionally assassinating Sharif and the others.  She said: “Israel does not want the media on the ground in Gaza to cover their slaughter of well over 63,000 Palestinians; the widespread famine tied to their ethnic cleansing of Gaza; or the mass destruction of all infrastructure in the Gaza Strip — an area the size of Philadelphia.”

Holding corporate media complicit in these journalists’ deaths, Piette noted that the silence on the part of the media is not by accident:  “The media here is owned lock, stock and barrel by greedy corporate interests. It is the public relations arm of U.S. imperialism. Its role is to sell war and to justify U.S. domination of countries abroad.

“Wall Street bankers, multibillion-dollar weapons manufacturers and energy company executives control the boards of directors of every major U.S. news outlet. The owners and boards of directors of several U.S. media outlets have direct ties with Israel. This includes the New York Times, whose commitment to Zionism is systemic and generational.”

Corporate media lies = complicity

Cindy Lou, who is with the PPC and Workers World Party, detailed how the biased language used by corporate media is more than merely annoying, but a tactic of war used by the Zionist entity: “Corporate media outlets lie in their coverage and analysis of Palestine and are complicit in promoting unlawful genocide.”

Tina Sheldon, who is with the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom, called out CBS for being on the wrong side of history: “When you cannot say unequivocally that killing journalists is wrong — you are on the wrong side of history. When you think that billionaires should own and control our news media — you are on the wrong side of history.

“The right side recognizes our common humanity and that more bombs do not lead to a peace agreement. The strength and resilience of the Palestinian people is on full display. The doctors and medics treat the injured even though they have limited or no supplies, and they are weak from hunger themselves. The families that have to search under the rubble for their relatives and friends; the heroes who are working to bring water and the internet to their community; they are on the right side.”

The final speaker from Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine read the remarks that Anas al-Sharif wished to be published should he be killed: “If my words reach you, know that Israel has silenced my voice but not the truth. I lived through pain and loss but never hesitated to share the truth without distortion. I entrust you with Palestine, its people and its oppressed children crushed by occupation bombs. … Do not forget Gaza, and remember me in your prayers.”

When the press conference ended, participants marched to the other side of the building which also houses the corporate headquarters of weapons manufacturer Day & Zimmermann. There they joined protesters for one of the twice-weekly demonstrations, organized by Philadelphia Students for Justice in Palestine, who are calling for this company, which profits from the deaths of Palestinian children, to shut down and leave Philadelphia.