Watch as protester interrupts candle-light vigil for Gaza in Galashiels
Last updated 4th Apr 2024
It's claimed the killing and silencing of journalists during the Israeli invasion of Gaza is "an unprecedented assault on the truth".
More than 40 people took part in a candle-light vigil in the centre of Galashiels last night (Thursday) to remember those who have lost their lives in the conflict.
Among those in attendance was local journalist Yvonne Ridley, who revealed she plans to visit the war-torn country later this month:
She told Greatest Hits Radio: "Western journalists aren't being given access at the moment because Israel is committing a genocide and it doesn't want journalists reporting the truth. Those that do, we heard at this rally, paid the blood price. They're just being picked off and targeted."
But she added: "I want to go out there and I want to report. And, if it's the last thing that I do - and it could very well be - then I am prepared to pay that price."
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The gathering - organised by the Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign - heard more journalists were killed in the first two months of the invasion than in 20 years of war in Vietnam.
According to the latest stats, the total death toll now stands at more than 100, with more media workers seriously injured or missing.
"I do feel passionate about it," Dr Ridley added. "I have been to Gaza twice and I am going back to Gaza on April the 14th; I am going to sail into the port in Gaza, taking humanitarian aid to a population that is in famine - a man-made famine."
The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign revealed it is also planning a demonstration outside the BBC studios at Ettrick Riverside in Selkirk on Saturday at 1pm, to protest at Israel's inclusion in next month's Eurovision Song Contest.
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