Palestinian journalists Motaz Azaiza, Wael al-Dahdouh honoured at Doha Forum

Palestinian journalists Motaz Azaiza and Wael al-Dahdouh were among six media personnel honoured at the Doha Forum for political dialogue for their sacrifices in reporting from conflict zones.

AFP journalists Christina Assi and Dylan Collins, Al Jazeera journalists al-Dahdouh and Carmen Joukhadar, photojournalist Azaiza and Afghan radio journalist Sadaf Popalzai were honoured at the ceremony on Saturday.

“Today I was honoured to accept the Doha Forum Award alongside brave journalists like Wael al-Dahdouh, Christina Assi, and my courageous media colleagues who have reported from conflict zones including Lebanon, Ukraine and Afghanistan. These reporters have stopped at nothing to tell the truth,” Azaiza wrote on Instagram.

The journalist, who evacuated Gaza in January, dedicated his award to every journalist still in Gaza or anywhere in the world risking their lives for journalism.

“Reporters will not be silenced! We will continue to tell the story of this Gaza genocide so the entire world understands that Palestine must be free.”

Azaiza also thanked Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for presenting him with the award.

“It’s not only about you as a journalist. It’s your life because you’re not an international journalist who does your mission and leave and you get paid and that’s it. No. It’s your home. What’s happening is happening to your family, to your friends,” Azaiza said during the ceremony.

He added that he lost 16 friends during the Israeli assault on Gaza.

“Gaza is a besieged territory but today it is completely destroyed. It is under genocide,” al-Dahdouh said during the panel.

“As a journalist, your mind is always controlled by the idea that you are undertaking a journalistic mission. However, at the same time, you are conducting your duty because, at the end of the day, there are millions of people who are waiting for your story to understand what is happening.”

Moreover, Assi and Collins were wounded while reporting in Lebanon over a year ago.

“I felt like there’s a need to keep speaking up, sharing our story, for me, for us, for Issam and all our colleagues who been targeted this year,” Assi said of slain Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

He was killed in the same incident that wounded Assi and Collins on October 13, 2023, as they were covering cross-border clashes between the Israeli army and armed groups in southern Lebanon.

An in-depth AFP investigation found that a tank round fired by an Israeli unit killed Abdallah and wounded the six other journalists on the scene, including Assi, Collins and Joukhadar.

Assi had to have her right leg amputated.

“I’m still in a wheelchair, and I still need another year to start walking. However, I just can’t wait for that day because that’s how we will get back our justice,” Assi said.

“You keep fighting until the day you actually stand up, hold your camera and do what you love, because that’s our duty, and that’s our job,” she added.

Collins was wounded that day soon after suffering an injury in Ukraine.

“I lost several friends in Ukraine. I lost several friends in Gaza. I lost friends in Lebanon. I think sadly, it’s never been more dangerous of a time to be a journalist,” he said.

“We’ve watched… this label of press on our chest. It’s supposed to protect us, and it’s sadly turned us into a into a target.”

Funds from the prize, awarded by Al-Thani, were to be donated to the Rory Peck Trust, a non-profit organisation supporting freelance journalists.