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Like most teenagers, journalists believe they are invincible.

This is, of course, a dangerous delusion. To date, perhaps as many as nine journalists have been killed while telling the world the ugly truth about what is happening to the children, women and men enduring the daily, relentless shelling in Gaza.

Rami Rayan, a young Palestinian photojournalist, was the latest reporter to be killed. He was among at least 16 people reportedly killed after an Israeli air strike on a crowded market Wednesday during a supposed four-hour “truce.”

Like many of the pictures coming out of Gaza these days, photos of the 23-year-old photographer’s body on a stretcher are graphic and disturbing. What they make clear, however, is at the time of his death, Rayan was wearing a helmet and vest clearly marked “PRESS.” His camera – the tool of his profession – appears to have gone astray.

I have written a lot lately about the failure of Canada’s major political leaders to condemn the killing of civilians — so many of them children — in Gaza. Well, many Canadian journalists and the organizations that purport to represent them have been slow, or have failed, to utter a word of condemnation of the killing of journalists in Gaza.

The Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ), which claims to be “the national voice of Canadian journalists”, has been noticeably silent. If you check the CAJ’s website you won’t find so much as a perfunctory statement denouncing the killing of their colleagues in Gaza. Instead, the top item on its website is a story written by members of the association’s ‘ethics’ committee about that old saw: reporters getting too close to their sources.

The story, the CAJ says, was penned with the help of its “friends” at the Canadian Journalism Project, more popularly known as J Source.

J Source’s goal is to “promote national discussion about journalism as well as providing a source for news, research, commentary … for industry professionals, scholars and students.”

There isn’t a word of news or commentary about the killing of journalists in Gaza on J Source’s website. The big news at J Source.ca is the appointment of the Toronto Star’s new tablet editor. As for commentary, J Source has posted an old piece by the Star’s public editor about whether a local politician is “playing politics with the truth.”

PEN Canada hasn’t devoted so much as a syllable to the killing of journalists in Gaza. And it took until July 31 for the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) to stir from its apparent somnolence to send a letter to Israel’s ambassador.

PEN Canada hasn’t sounded the alarm either. Its raison d’être “envisions a world where writers are free to write, readers are free to read and freedom of expression prevails.” It’s also important to note that PEN Canada’s advisory board includes prominent journalists Naomi Klein and Charles Foran.

Still, just like the CAJ and J Source, PEN Canada hasn’t devoted so much as a syllable to the killing of journalists in Gaza. Perhaps Pen Canada’s aversion to speaking out on Gaza is connected to the odd decision by Revenue Canada to take a close look at its books. The Harper government’s push to audit charities’ political outreach may be having the intended chilling effect.

And it took until July 31 for the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) to stir from its apparent somnolence to send this letter to Israel’s ambassador to Canada denouncing the killing of journalists in Gaza.

In his sharp letter to Ambassador Rafael Barak, CJFE president Arnold Amber writes that the “CJFE condemns the killing of journalists and media workers by Israeli security forces in Gaza … (and urges) that Israel avoid targeting known media outlet locations. CJFE also calls on the Israeli government to respect its responsibilities and obligations under international law with regards to the protection of journalists.”

Amber also makes pointed reference to the recent attack on Al Jazeera’s offices in Gaza. “Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fired at Al Jazeera offices in Gaza, forcing media workers within to flee the complex. This attack came soon after the pejorative remarks made by Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman demonizing the media network.”

The assault on Al Jazeera was an attack on all journalists, but until yesterday it didn’t trigger much, if any, reaction among Canadian journalists and news organizations.

Indeed, to my knowledge the editorial boards of Canada’s major newspapers have been rather quiet about both the bombardment of the Al Jazeera office and the journalists who died doing their jobs in Gaza.

It’s a far cry from recent expressions by Canadian and international media of solidarity with three other Al Jazeera journalists — including Egyptian-Canadian Mohamed Fahmy — who were jailed in Egypt for allegedly aiding the Muslim Brotherhood in their reporting.

The long sentences handed down against the three journalists prompted Toronto Star and CBC journalists, among many others, to duct-tape their mouths while holding a piece of white paper with the hashtag #freeAJstaff in silent protest. It was a laudable display of support for their imprisoned brethren.

The least Canadian journalists could do is to reach for the duct tape again to show their respect and admiration for their fellow journalists in Gaza who are being killed on the job.

Andrew Mitrovica is a writer and journalism instructor. For much of his career, Andrew was an investigative reporter for a variety of news organizations and publications including the CBC’s fifth estate, CTV’s W5, CTV National News — where he was the network’s chief investigative producer — the Walrus magazine and the Globe and Mail, where he was a member of the newspaper’s investigative unit. During the course of his 23-year career, Andrew has won numerous national and international awards for his investigative work.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.