"Keep Going Until Palestine is Free"

Dear friends,

As always, I hope this newsletter finds you well.

Yesterday, while driving from one speaking event to the next city, we learned that Israel assassinated the steadfast journalist, Hossam Shabat. He was targeted and murdered by an airstrike which hit his car in the eastern part of Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza. Shabat was a highly dedicated journalist at only 23 years old, who continued his work despite being targeted and injured in an earlier attack by Israeli occupation forces in 2024. He remained in northern Gaza throughout the heightened siege and perilous invasion and attacks by Israeli forces, which sought to drive out all of its residents. He was one of the few journalists, alongside Anas Al-Sharif, who remained in the north throughout the genocide war.

Having closely followed Hossam’s work and analysis, and relied on his reporting from the northern part of the Gaza Strip throughout this genocide — as many, many others have — I was devastated and enraged to hear this news. Shabat was not just committed to sharing the facts about what Israel has done to our people in Palestine; he was a voice of truth who reminded us that what is happening is fundamentally wrong and cannot be justified under any circumstances. He emphasized the complicity of his colleagues — though, in my opinion, certainly not his equals — in Western media in facilitating, supporting, and protecting this genocide and its perpetrators. For this fidelity to the truth, Israel placed Hossam Shabat and other principled journalists on a “kill list”, attempting to condemn these men to death by hunting them inside the besieged Gaza Strip.

At least 208 Palestinian journalists have been murdered throughout Israel’s genocidal aggression against the people of Gaza since October 7, 2023. Among those was Mohammad Mansour, a Palestinian journalist for Palestine Today, was killed alongside his wife and child when Israel bombed his home in Khan Younis, southern Gaza shortly before the assassination of Shabat. These murders represent an attempt to silence Palestinian journalists of all stripes, to prevent the truth from reaching those of us not currently inside the sealed walls of the Gaza Strip, which Israel has effectively turned into a death camp.

How do we keep going — in my case, yesterday, keep driving — when we feel the devastation of these daily massacres crashing down upon us? The only solace I have found is in the knowledge that these martyrs live forever as long as we remember and honor them for their contribution to the struggle. We do that by taking the lessons they’ve left us; in Shabat’s case, he was generous enough to write a letter expressing his final message and request — that we keep going until Palestine is free. I will end this letter with his words below.

With love and solidarity,

Lara

 

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If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces. When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else. For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people. I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury. I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could. Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side.

By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months . I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people.

I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.

— For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza.