Al Mayadeen contributing writer and journalist Ayman al-Rafati will be remembered for his absolute sacrifice and determination to stand tall against the Israeli occupation. In mid-February, he was killed during an Israeli occupation raid in Gaza City. And yet, his brand of journalism is a stellar example for all those who will unquestionably follow through on his work on Palestine.

Ayman, one of countless journalistic voices that refused to cower before Zionist oppression, succeeded in accomplishing the noblest of outcomes: speaking Palestine’s truth to power. “On the international horizon, the occupation forces have exposed their own immorality and have been globally recognized as a criminal unethical army that resonates with Nazism, one that is carrying out the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza, and is being tried at the International Court of Justice for its crimes against humanity,” wrote Ayman shortly before his martyrdom.

Sheer bravery of character – shared by many of Ayman’s martyred counterparts – contributed to a trail of powerful, dedicated and courageous journalistic work amid "Israel’s" Gaza genocide. First, Ayman’s martyrdom underscores the dire circumstances faced by journalists in Palestine and the pains they take to challenge Israeli propaganda on actual suffering, self-determination and the state of the resistance.

After all, the brutal occupation army is responsible for a massive spike in killings of journalists, mistaking such cowardice as a way of shutting down critical scrutiny. As the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently made clear, seventy-two of the 99 journalists killed worldwide in 2023 were Palestinians reporting on "Israel’s" war on Gaza. Ayman braved the same vicious circumstances, despite the knowledge that any moment of writing on Palestine could cost him his life. Still, to put fact before life is an exercise in freedom fighting.

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Look no further than Ayman’s last written piece for Al Mayadeen; it was a skillful takedown of occupation military hubris on-ground, detailing the extent of tactical, reputational and political damage suffered by "Israel" since October 7. Ayman’s view that the Israeli occupation can “no longer protect the occupation and its economic and security sphere in the shadow of its recurrent military incompetence” is well supported by a range of independent assessments and insights. Few were as direct on "Israel’s" calculated designs for ethnic cleansing in Gaza as Ayman, even if it meant securing a target on his back from the very occupation he exposed in granular detail.

All this is an exercise in freedom fighting because of one underlying motivation on Palestine: to resist the oppressor at all costs. Reporting on the Israeli assault entails high risks to liberty and life and requires an unwavering commitment to documenting the pains of the oppressed without any omission. The occupation’s genocide makes no exception to valiant journalists who rise beyond access bottlenecks and heavy military bombardment to force the world to reckon with facts written in blood. Ayman was of that same cluster of committed voices that rightly denounced the Israeli “propaganda machine” and pointed to a new generation of resistance fighters that "Israel’s" own genocide has ensured to its peril.

Ayman’s knack was to tell us about a future where the occupation’s internal disintegration was inevitable. After all, the events of October 7 firmly cemented "Israel's" crushing defeat at the hands of a resistance that could spring a surprise at any moment in time. Thus understood, Ayman’s reasoning on "Israel's" internal military cracks and insecurities was in line with the evidence presented by the Resistance to the world.

His martyrdom is bound to inspire a new brand of courageous journalism that will pick up where he left off. That trend has been observed throughout the course of Israel’s genocide, which is responsible for killing nearly 75% of journalists last year. Still, telling footage, hard-hitting write-ups, and unmistakable facts from Palestinian journalists continue to come through. These startling, first-hand accounts are precisely what left Israel’s genocide and ethnic cleansing operation nakedly exposed to the world.

Now, Palestinian journalists have another icon to look up to: Ayman’s work found its way to all of us amid a climate of belligerence from IOFs. Their peak ignorance dictates that the more voices of truth that Israel assassinates, the more the occupation can shield itself from unspeakable war crimes and brutalities against Palestinians. But the work of Ayman and countless other freedom-fighting journalists is proof that present-day Palestine produces the most critical and admirable forms of journalism period. Consider how the oppressor has spared no effort to transform Palestine into killing fields for journalists through systemic attacks on journalists’ coordinates, relentless bombardment, blocking and banning of network contacts, and targeting of media institutions. 

But truth and martyrdom prevail for Ayman and all journalists brought on "Israel's" genocide radar. In addition to their work, these journalists manifest the same fearless spirit against oppression as their Palestinian brothers and sisters. In Ayman’s own telling, "Israel" has ignited a fire and unraveled coals still burning beneath the ashes, and plainly proved to everyone that it is an entity that cannot coexist with the rest of the world.