Netanyahu, a defender of free speech?

Binyamin Netanyahu attended the Charlie Hebdo march in Paris to oppose "terrorism" and defend "free speech", a decision that provoked widespread anger and criticism over Israeli double standards.

The Israeli prime minister's participation in the march was a "mockery of the values the march claimed to represent", said a Palestinian activist who asked to remain anonymous because he feared repercussions by the Israeli state.

Terrorists who hold cameras and notebooks in their hands are no different from their colleagues who fire rockets. - Avital Leibovich, Israeli army spokesman

"Israel has imprisoned and continues to imprison thousands of political prisoners, many of them for merely being a member of a student society," he told al-Araby al-Jadeed.

The participation of Netanyahu and other world leaders served to "undermine the message of the march which was supposed to be a unified stand against terrorism and for freedom of speech", he said.

Last summer's Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip killed more than 2,200 Palestinians including 17 journalists, one of whom was a foreign national.

The killing of journalists and media workers was justified at the time by the Israeli military's spokesperson Avital Leibovich, who wrote in a letter to the New York Times, that: "Such terrorists, who hold cameras and notebooks in their hands, are no different from their colleagues who fire rockets aimed at Israeli cities and cannot enjoy the rights and protection afforded to legitimate journalists."

Such justification stands in direct violation of international law, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The accusations of double standards were also directed at Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who rejected an invitation to visit Gaza after the summer assault. Critics also pointed out that the Palestinian Authority has a less than stellar record on freedom of the press.

Here is a list of journalists and media professionals who were killed by Israel between July and August 2014.

Hamid Shihab, 33, a driver for "Media 24", was killed on 9 July 2014, when an Israeli missile hit his vehicle, clearly marked as a press car.

Najlaa al-Haj, 29, a freelance journalist covering the Israeli assault, was killed along with seven members of her family when an Israeli missile hit her home.

Khaled Hamad, 24, worked for a local media company in Gaza City called 'Continue' Production Films. He and Fouad Jaber, an ambulance driver, were killed when an Israeli tank shell struck their ambulance on 20 July 2014.

Mouhammed Daher, 27, a reporter for al-Risalah newspaper, died as a result of wounds inflicted during the particularly vicious shelling of Shejaiya neighbourhood, north of the Gaza Strip, on 20 July 2014.

Abdulrahman Abu Hein, 28, a reporter for al-Kitab TV channel, was killed when a missile struck his home in Shujaiyah, on 23 July 2014.

Izat Dahir, 23, a journalist with the Hebron based Minbar al-Houriyah media outlet, was killed alongside 21 members of his family after an Israeli missile levelled his home in Rafah, in south Gaza, on 29 July 2014.

Bahaa al-Din Grayib, 58, the Israeli affairs editor for Palestine TV, was killed with his daughter by an Israeli missile as they were walking home in the Rafah refugee camp, on 29 July 2014.

	Ahed Zaqout

Ahed Zaqout, 49, a presenter on Palestine TV, was killed during the shelling of the Italian Tower building block, where he lived, on 30 July 2014.

Rami Rayan, 25, photojournalist for Palestine Media Network, was wearing a helmet and a vest marked "press" when he was found among the dead after an Israeli attack on Shujaiyah market, on 30 July 2014.

Mouhammed al-Deiri, 22, Palestine Media Network, was found among the dead after the shelling of Shujaiyah, 30 July 2014.

Samih al-Eryan, 29, a reporter for al-Aqsa TV channel, died during the attack on Shujaiyah, 30 July 2014.

Abdallah Fohjan, 21, a sports photographer for al-Aqsa TV, died in a missile struck him in front of his home, on 2 August 2014.

Shadi Ayyad, 26, freelance journalist, was killed in an attack on his house in Zaytoun, Gaza, 2 August 2014.

Hamad Khaled Mouqate, 29, died after is house was shelled on 4 August 2014.

Ali Abu Afash

Ali Abu Afash, 36, a programme manager for "Doha Centre for Free Press", killed when inspecting a faulty Israeli shell, on 13 August 2014.

Abdallah Mortaja, 26, aournalist and photographer for al-Aqsa TV, killed in Shujaiyah during an Israeli attack.