VANCOUVER, BC, Aug. 26, 2025  /CNW/ - Unifor awarded its highest honour, the Nelson Mandela Award, to the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS) in recognition of media workers' dangerous and unrelenting coverage of the conflict in Gaza.  

"We are proud to award the PJS for the incredible work to do and sacrifices they make to tell the world the truth about what is happening in Gaza," said Unifor National President Lana Payne.

"These journalists are subject to constant danger as they fight to report on the atrocities and crimes being committed against Palestinians. They are showing tremendous courage as they continue their work, in spite of bombs, bullets, and starvation."

The award was presented to Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate President Naser Abubaker at Unifor's Constitutional Convention in Vancouver.

"This is an honour to be recognized for our members' work," said Abubaker.

"Gaza's journalists have been telling the world the story – and sadly, many have also become the story, as the casualty count keeps going up. These brave journalists and media are the only ones bearing witness to the atrocities, including starvation, amid Israel's ban on foreign media – all in pursuit of exposing the truth and telling these important stories."

According to recent figures from the International Federation of Journalists, over 225 journalists and media workers have been killed since the start of the conflict – 212 of them Palestinian.

Unifor continues to denounce and condemn the killing of journalists in Gaza, including the recent deaths of four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelancers.

On Monday, Israel struck Nasser hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

Earlier this month, Al Jazeera's Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, cameramen Ibrahim Zaher and Mohammed Noufal were killed in an Israeli attack targeting their media tent near a hospital in Gaza. Freelance cameraman Moamen Aliwa and freelance journalist Mohammed al-Khaldi were also killed in the attack.

Targeting journalists is a war crime and an extreme attack on press freedom. Unifor also calls on the International Criminal Court to fully investigate these killings and hold the Israeli government accountable.

"We denounce these high-profile killings of Palestinian journalists, which are happening at a time when Israel is preparing for a takeover of Gaza, while the starvation crisis is mounting," added Payne.

"Unifor continues to lobby the Canadian government to take urgent action to end the genocide in Palestine with an immediate and permanent ceasefire."

The Nelson Mandela Award also highlights the conditions Palestinian journalists and media workers continue to face, strengthening their motivation and resilience to carry on with their critical work on the ground, while also honouring those workers that have sacrificed everything – including their lives – for their work and the right to press freedom.

Unifor proudly represents more than 10,000 media workers and recognizes the importance of ensuring that journalists can report in safety, protected from unnecessary risk and harm and that press freedoms are safeguarded against political attacks from regimes that seek to silence dissenting voices or cover human rights abuses.

Unifor is Canada's largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy. The union advocates for all working people and their rights, fights for equality and social justice in Canada and abroad and strives to create progressive change for a better future.

SOURCE Unifor