Carmen Joukhadar: The occupation deliberately targeted the Al Jazeera team, and I will work to expose its crimes against journalists Policy

Beirut- Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Lebanon, Carmen Joukhadar – who was injured along with photographer Elie Barkhia – said that the Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeted the Al Jazeera team more than once, because they clearly broadcast reality and events on the air, but this targeting will increase our enthusiasm and determination to continue reporting the truth.

Jokhdar added in an interview with Al Jazeera Net that the Israeli occupation deliberately targeted and assassinated more than 20 Palestinian journalists in its war on Gaza, and also targeted the family of Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al Dahdouh, and before that it assassinated Al Jazeera correspondent Sherine Abu Aqla, but it will work to spread the truth that the occupation is intentionally committing a crime. War, which is targeting journalists.

She pointed out that the thing that encourages and motivates her is that Al Jazeera, from the first moment, had a firm and firm position that Israel was the one that targeted its journalists, at a time when we witnessed the reluctance or silence of other media outlets regarding the crimes against which their journalistic teams are exposed.

The following is the text of the interview:

First, we want to check on your health?

I have a group of wounds that are healing, but some of them have become infected, and there are suspicions that there is shrapnel in my left foot, and next week we will take pictures and medical examinations to confirm the matter because I feel pain while trying to walk.

But it is important to say that the medical and health condition of our colleague, Al Jazeera photographer Eli Berkhia, is more serious, and he needs to undergo several surgeries.

Can you tell us what happened at the moment of the bombing?

Since October 7, more than one Al Jazeera team has been distributed along the border sectors of southern Lebanon with Israel. I was in the team that was in the Naqoura sector, and for the first two days there was relative calm in the sector in which we were located, and on Monday the 9th October: A dramatic change occurred in the Naqoura sector after an infiltration attempt by the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad movement.

The Al Jazeera team was located in the Marwahin area, and there were no other press teams, nor were there any other people. On the contrary, we were located near one of the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Forces (UNIFIL), but we were directly targeted when an Israeli missile fell directly behind us while we were on the ground. Air, the island’s car was severely damaged.

I remember that Israel at this time was bombing the entire border strip with artillery, but the bombing that targeted us on October 9 was a direct missile attack, which made us confirm that this bombing was not a mistake, but rather a direct targeting of the Al Jazeera team.

On Friday, October 13, we were in the Burj camp for Palestinian refugees in the city of Tire, covering one of the solidarity events with the people of Gaza. After the coverage ended, we returned to Naqoura and went in the afternoon to the town of Alma al-Shaab, where we filmed the bombing operations on a live broadcast, and later a team joined us. The work of Reuters and the AFP team.

In the second live broadcast, at around five-thirty, we filmed an Israeli Apache helicopter in the airspace of the town. I was on the live air and said that this aircraft might be conducting reconnaissance or had another mission. Immediately after the end of the broadcast, the helicopter launched, without any warning bombing, the first missile that hit our colleague Issam Abd. Allah, a Reuters photographer, led to his immediate martyrdom.

Seconds later, another missile fell directly on Al Jazeera’s car, wounding me and the rest of the colleagues. Because I moved away from the car after the first missile, my injury was less than the rest of the colleagues. After that, we called the army forces and the ambulance, but the ambulance’s arrival was delayed for half an hour because Israel was jamming the navigation devices. “GPS”.

You said in a video that the incident changed your life, so how did it affect you?

Certainly, when a person is exposed to this direct targeting, injustice, and evil without any fault, he is affected and in pain. He also has an increased desire and determination to help the injured, and you know that it is not a missile that determines your path and affects your professional life. On the contrary, your determination and eagerness to continue conveying the truth increases.

What is most encouraging and motivating is that Al Jazeera, from the first moment, had a firm and firm position that those who targeted our journalists were Israel, while we witnessed reluctance or silence from other quarters.

We know that you have decided to work on spreading the truth about the occupation targeting journalists. How do you plan to do that?

It is important for the world to know the crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against journalists and against the Palestinian people, because we are waging a battle to confront the narrative of the occupation and reveal the truth to Arab and international opinion.

Can these efforts be useful, especially since the killers of Sherine Abu Aqla have not yet been held accountable and the West supports and protects Israel?

Israel believes that it is above accountability, and we know that convicting or holding it accountable is almost impossible at the present time, but this crime, which represents a war crime, is added to Israel’s record of violations against journalists, and the last of these violations that we witness on air was in Gaza, in which forces assassinated The occupation killed more than 20 journalists and targeted the family of Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al Dahdouh, and before that, Al Jazeera correspondent Sherine Abu Aqla was assassinated.

But we must work to form new frameworks that may facilitate or pressure towards allowing journalists to work more freely, especially journalists who work in the occupied Palestinian territories and are exposed to many Israeli violations.

I also want to say that it is true that Israel killed Sherine Abu Aqleh to hide her voice and even attacked her body during her funeral, but Sherine was very present since the beginning of the Al-Aqsa flood battle, and the occupation bulldozed Sherine Abu Aqleh Street during its storming of the city of Jenin in the West Bank.

This proves that Shirin’s work, ideas, and beliefs were greatly disturbing the occupation, which is what made them assassinate her and other journalists.

Today the battle is the battle of narrative, and I believe that by exposing the crimes of the occupation and presenting an alternative narrative that says that Israel is committing a war crime, we contribute greatly to changing global public opinion.

Were there international human rights or media bodies that contacted you after the incident?

From the first day after the targeting, I cooperated with international human rights organizations, led by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and Reporters Without Borders, by explaining the details of what happened, and the first results were issued by Reporters Without Borders, which pointed the finger of blame at Israel. Preliminary results of its investigation into the incident targeting the Al Jazeera team in Lebanon.