April 30, 2024 by Sam Pecota (‘24)
While Americans basked on beaches and traveled far and wide for spring vacation, citizens of two countries experienced a very different April. Gazans and Sudanese alike are caught in the throes of genocide, their stories facing censorship by Western media.
Their struggles are poignantly detailed by dedicated journalists through the only means available to them—social media and the aid of Western reporters to overcome increasingly aggressive suppression. International law dictates that civilians and reporters must not be harmed during periods of conflict, yet Gazan and Sudanese journalists are targeted and silenced. But these courageous heroes refuse to let their peoples’ narratives be erased.
Palestinian journalist Motaz Azaiza has photographed the carnage in his home country since October 2023, after an attack on a crowd of innocent Israeli civilians by the terrorist group Hamas—a response to the decades-long apartheid imposed on Gaza by Israel. Azaiza has amassed millions of followers, capturing the world’s attention as international leadership fails to successfully call for a ceasefire.
Though the Israeli government has historically imprisoned and killed Gazan journalists, Azaiza continues to risk his life to expose the atrocities committed by Israel’s military and the resilience of the Palestinian people after generations of occupation.
At least fifteen of Azaiza’s family members were killed in a single airstrike on a refugee camp. Despite the unimaginable loss he has undergone, he continues to speak up about the injustices the Palestinian people face. Now living in Qatar, Motaz Azaiza shares his struggles with stress and panic disorder, survivor’s guilt, and the need to continue to fight for the freedom of his people.
Not far from Gaza, another journalist bravely details her experiences in Sudan during a civil war and civilian genocide. Hawa Rahma reveals that both sides of the war—rival military factions—actively hunt members of the press to eliminate free speech and conceal the full scale of the conflict.
The Sudan War has been deemed a “silent genocide;” almost no news escapes its borders. Rahma writes that she has not published a single article inside Sudan for fear of being captured and killed. Rahma writes that guilt eats away at her—she feels it is her duty to reveal to the world the suffering of her people, but that she does not have the defenses available to keep herself safe. In an exposé detailing her desperation to report to the Sudanese people, published on the Western news site the New Humanitarian, Rahma says, “I can’t write about any of it—I am no longer a voice for my people.” Her words may reach us, but her people are left in silence.
Rahma currently survives in Sudan, hidden from authorities.
Two different wars. Two distinct genocides. One shared goal. The drive to expose suffering to the world is what unites journalists around the globe. Motaz Azaiza and Hawa Rahma are joined by thousands more photographers, writers, and reporters who strive to deliver news in the face of annihilation. We must listen to their pleas. We must be part of the solution.