The Reuters and AP news agencies have asked a court in Jerusalem to dismiss the lawsuit brought against them in February by families whose children were murdered at the Nova music festival, "for the participation of journalists and photographers on their behalf in the massacre."
The 10 plaintiffs are the parents of murdered May Naim, Lotan Abir, Guy Gabriel Levy, Shalev Madmoni, and Shani Louk. The families claim in the lawsuit that the journalists accompanied the Hamas terrorists during the October 7 massacre. Journalists and photographers who filmed the atrocities are the same "journalists," the lawsuit claims, who took an active part in the massacre, infiltrated the borders of the State of Israel from the Gaza Strip together with Hamas terrorists, and were sent by AP which published and distributed footage during the massacre.
In the defense filed by The Associated Press Limited through attorneys Gideon Weinbaum and Sapir Even-Hen Bahar of the Epstein Rosenblum Maoz (ERM) law firm, the news agency claims it received the images from independent photographers who were neither commissioned nor employed by them.
"Neither AP nor anyone on its behalf had prior knowledge regarding the October 7, 2023 attack. The claim that while the entire Israeli intelligence community, with its enormous resources, failed to penetrate the veil of secrecy of the attack planners, and therefore did not obtain prior information and failed to predict it and AP somehow had such information is, as stated, an outrageous and baseless claim," the statement read.
'AP’s employees in Gaza received instructions not to approach the area'
According to AP, the entire lawsuit is based on the incorrect assumption that the photographers who filmed the October 7 attack, which AP purchased and published, were either AP employees or acted under its direction and instructions.
"The entire lawsuit is built on the (erroneous) basic assumption that the independent photographers who took photos and videos from the October 7, 2023 attack, which AP purchased and published, were employees of AP, or acted in some other way on its behalf and according to its instructions," the AP request for dismissal reads.
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Yaffa Adar kidnaped by terrorists accompanied by AP photographer
(Photo: AP Photo/Hatem Ali)
In contrast to these independent photographers, the defense states that AP employees in Gaza were instructed early on October 7, as Gazans began flocking toward the border with Israel, not to approach the area, to stay in Gaza, and to ensure their personal safety. "Unlike those independent photographers, AP’s employees in Gaza received instructions in the early hours of October 7, 2023, when Gazans began streaming toward the border with Israel and beyond it, not to approach the area, to stay in Gaza and protect themselves and their personal safety. They followed this instruction and therefore did not and could not photograph images themselves from the field during the attack."
No 'prior knowledge'
Both news agencies also clarify that they had no prior knowledge of the attack, as alleged in the lawsuit. "Neither AP nor anyone on its behalf had prior knowledge regarding the October 7, 2023 attack. The claim that while the entire Israeli intelligence community, with its enormous resources, failed to penetrate the veil of secrecy of the attack planners, and therefore did not obtain prior information and failed to predict it and AP somehow had such information is, as stated, an outrageous and baseless claim."
AP stressed it "did not send and did not control the actions" of these independent photographers, "including not instructing them what to photograph, where to photograph and when. They arrived at the scene of their own accord, photographed the images on their own initiative, and sold them to AP after the fact. Among other things, AP is not responsible for the actions and omissions that the plaintiffs attribute to these photographers."
'These photos gave media consumers a better understanding of nature, scope of atrocities'
AP defends its publication of footage from Israel's bloodiest day by claiming it is part of what journalism is there for. "There is no dispute that at least some of these photos and videos taken by those independent photographers and purchased by AP and published by it are gruesome images, but despite this, and perhaps precisely because of this, they served exactly that purpose. They showed reality. Thanks to those photos and videos, Israeli citizens and media consumers around the world had a better understanding, inter alia, of the nature and extent of the atrocities that occurred that day. Any attempt to minimize the severity of the events that occurred that day was largely doomed to failure in light of the existence of documentation like those photos and videos," the AP argues.
AP’s attorneys also say that, beyond the baseless nature of the case, consideration should also be given to the severe harm to freedom of the press and freedom of speech at stake. “Acceptance of the lawsuit, which, as stated, will mean imposing liability on a news agency for the damage of the victims of October 7, 2023, and their families, will also deal a fatal blow to freedom of press and freedom of expression... It is liable to create a dangerous and chilling effect, limiting the freedom of media outlets operating in Israel." AP also stated that this would endanger the public's "right to know and recognize reality, even when it is disturbing and shocking."
A Reuters spokesperson added, "It is the job of news organizations to document important news as it unfolds and to provide a first-hand account of events on the ground. This is the essential role of a free press, and we remain fully committed to providing this coverage both from Israel and Gaza."
The families filing the lawsuit are represented by attorneys Yossi Ha'Ezrachi, Yehuda Ressler, and Amir Rosenkrantz. Attorney Yossi Ha'Ezrachi responded: "The defense statement does not address the detailed facts in the lawsuit, and not without reason. The court in Israel will decide."
"There is no doubt that AP’s photographers participated in the October 7 massacre, and that AP knew, or at the very least should have known, through simple due diligence, that the people they were paying were longstanding Hamas affiliates and full participants in the terrorist attack that they were also documenting," the claim read.