‘Kind, principled’: Colleagues remember Gaza journalist killed by Israel

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Palestinian journalists have paid tribute to their Al Jazeera colleague Ahmed Wishah, who was killed in an Israeli air attack on central Gaza’s Bureij refugee camp. He is the 12th Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israel in Gaza, which has become the deadliest place for journalists in the world.

Wishah, 25, was killed on Saturday, weeks after his brother Mohammed, who also worked for the Doha-based network, was killed in deliberate Israeli shelling of his car.

Who was Wishah?

Born in the Bureij refugee camp, Ahmed Samir Mohammed Wishah was the youngest of three brothers. He worked as a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher.

The journalist was killed when an Israeli air attack hit a house. Two other Palestinians were also killed in the strike as Israel has continued its attacks despite an October “ceasefire”.

Wishah gained prominence during the Gaza war by accompanying and filming footage for his late brother, an Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent killed on April 8.

Together, they formed a media duo that documented the suffering of the Palestinian people and the unfolding events of the war.

In an interview after his brother’s death, Wishah called on the world to stop the killing of journalists.

“Let the martyrdom of Mohammed Wishah be the end to the killing of journalists. This is my message to the world. Someone should stop the occupation from targeting journalists. That’s our only message: Stop the Israeli occupation from targeting journalists,” Ahmed said in April.

Ahmed’s dedication to his brother extended far beyond his journalistic duties.

After Mohammed’s death, he also took care of his late brother’s children and took on additional responsibilities within their family.

What have colleagues said about him?

Talal Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent in Gaza, recalled his close ties with the two brothers.

“I’ve known Ahmed since the beginning of the war. He was always present, accompanying his brother Mohammed in the tent where he stayed,” Mahmoud said.

“Given our shared work, we frequently gathered in that tent at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital or al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat camp, exchanging thoughts and discussing the details of our coverage.”

“He became not just a friend but a colleague at the same channel. He would often accompany me on assignments, documenting the events we covered throughout the long months of this war.”

Mahmoud also shared a poignant story from just days before Ahmed’s death.

“My last encounter with Ahmed was a few days ago when he told us his mother wanted to prepare a meal in memory of his martyred brother, Mohammed. He brought us maftoul [a traditional Palestinian dish], saying, ‘This is from my mother, a mercy offering for the soul of my brother Mohammed. Please pray for him.'”

“We ate until we were full, and we prayed fervently for Mohammed’s mercy and forgiveness,” Mahmoud reflected.

Speaking from a cemetery in Bureij, Khaled al-Shatli, also an Al Jazeera Mubasher cameraman, painted Ahmed as a gentle soul.

“When you talk about Ahmed Wishah, you are talking about a polite and highly moral young man.”

“He was so well-spoken and possessed such beautiful manners. He would constantly joke with all the colleagues working alongside him.”

The final days of Ahmed’s life seemed to carry a farewell message, al-Shatli noted.

“Just yesterday, he was bidding farewell to his friends and family in the Bureij camp, taking photos with them in what felt like a final goodbye,” he said on Sunday.

Recalling their last meeting on Friday, he added: “I joked with him about his new clothes. He replied, ‘It’s an outfit I’m not used to, but perhaps something inside me pushed me to wear it.'”

Mohammad al-Akhras, a photojournalist working with CGTN, the English-language news channel of state-run China Global Television Network, remembered Ahmed as “a kind, gentle and deeply principled person who brought a cheerful spirit to his colleagues”.

“He worked with genuine passion, and his ultimate goal in his coverage was to convey the people’s message and their suffering.”

“He always spoke of martyrdom and paradise. Whenever we jokingly asked him, ‘Don’t you want to get married? Don’t you want us to celebrate you?’ he would simply reply, ‘My wedding will be in paradise.’ He attained exactly what he asked for.”

“As journalists, we walk this path of martyrdom because the Israeli targeting of the press has become a systematic routine,” al-Akhras said.

“The occupation wants to assassinate the image, assassinate the truth and obscure reality.”

‘Smearing of killed Palestinian journalists’

In a statement to the AFP news agency on Saturday, an Israeli military spokesman accused Ahmed Wishah, without providing evidence, of being a “Hamas terrorist”.

In a statement, Al Jazeera refuted that accusation as “baseless”, saying the Israeli military has “relentlessly spread false allegations” against its staff to “justify its crimes against Al Jazeera journalists and cameramen in Gaza”.

“These attempts deceive no one and cannot obscure the truth witnessed by the world,” the media network said, calling it a “smear campaign”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists has previously condemned Israel’s “smearing of killed Palestinian journalists”. The press freedom group said it had documented a pattern of Israel “accusing journalists of being terrorists without producing credible evidence”.

In its statement on Saturday, Al Jazeera said it is determined “to take every available legal measure to prosecute the perpetrators” of the “crimes” against its staff in Gaza.

It added that it remains committed to covering events in the enclave despite the Israeli military’s “attempts to silence the voice of truth”.

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