Iqbal Tamimi – Palestinian Journalists Block demands an investigation regarding the increased incidents of harassment against journalists by the PA
By Iqbal Tamimi • Sep 16th, 2008 at 8:04 • Category: Features, Newswire, Palestine, Somoud: Arab Voices of Resistance
The Palestinian Journalists block has sent me a number of e-mails expressing their serious concerns regarding the security services of the Palestinian Authority increasing incidents of harassment against Palestinian journalists in the West Bank.
The block of Palestinian Journalists expressed their concerns regarding the way the PA services are treating Palestinian journalists, especially after hearing the testimony of our colleague journalist Awad Rajoub, who works as a correspondent for the Al-Jazeera web site. Many e-mails were received reporting about the ill treatment he faced during detention, and how he was subjected to inhumane conditions by the Palestinian security services, during the detainment period of over a month in the West Bank.
Colleagues at The Palestinian Journalists block expressed growing concerns regarding the continuing detention of the Palestinian journalists Mustafa Sabri and Fareed Hamed. Both have been detained since more than 45 days. Their colleagues fear they are being subjected to torture and inappropriate treatment by the security services. Their colleagues expressed worries claiming that the Palestinian Press Syndicate is not making any effort towards releasing them, and is instead keeping silent. No moves have been made to secure their release.
The block revealed that the Palestinian press in some quarters continues its attacks on the Al-Jazeera TV channel in an attempt to involve journalism and journalists in the internal conflict. Thus fearing that such acts will lead to even more narrowing of the margins of media freedoms in the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinian Journalists block emphasized the following:
1 – They demand of human rights organizations to investigate immediately and intervene to check the situation of journalists detained in the security services prisons, specifically, Mustafa Sabri and Fareed Hamed, in light of information received that they are being subjected to humiliation and solitary confinement and have been since the moment of their arrest.
2 – They call upon the Legislative Council in the West Bank to exercise its role in protecting freedoms and defending the rights of journalists, and to stop prosecuting and arresting journalists by means of security agencies.
3 – The Palestinian Journalists block deplores the Press Syndicate attitude in its continuing policy of turning a blind eye to the suffering of detained journalists and not putting any effort for their release.
4 – They invite all colleagues and intellectuals to write to human rights organizations in order to form a united body to face the security establishments that oppress the journalists and act to silence the freedom of the press.
5 – They express full solidarity with our colleague Awad Rajoub the correspondent of Al-Jazeera Net, and invites human rights organizations to investigate the incident of abuse and torture he suffered.
Iqbal Tamimi is a Palestinian journalist and poet from Hebron. She is the creator of a vibrant and important activists' network Palestinian Mothers, open to all who share the vision of peace and justice, men and women alike. She is working now in UK.
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Salaam and Thank you for your work.
Isn't this another case in point that the PA is just another layer of The Occupation?
Freedom of speech and the press is NOT a part of the Zionist agenda and another case in point is the first ever FREEDOM OF SPEECH Trial in Jerusalem which began Jan. 2006, the same day Hamas was democratically elected.
In July 2007, Israel convicted Mordechai Vanunu on 14 counts-from over a hundred interviews he gave foreign journalists in 2004 and sentenced him to 6 more months behind bars.
He returns to court Sept. 23, 2008 to learn his fate.
If they do send him back to jail for 2004 interviews that nobody is reading anymore, what will Israel do about the 2005, 2006 and 2008 video interviews that i have been streaming and of which Israel and USA Government are well aware of; and in which Vanunu is also an eloquent spokesperson for Palestinian human rights.
2008 is also the 60th anniversary of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, upon which Israel's statehood was contingent upon upholding:
Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. -Article 19
Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own and to return to his own country. -Article 13:2
Eileen Fleming, Reporter and Editor WAWA:
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "Keep Hope Alive" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Producer "30 Minutes With Vanunu" and "13 Minutes with Vanunu"
Another case in point of Zionist censorship of freedom of conscience and speech:
Ha'aretz Monday, September 15, 2008
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020999.html
[Translation of Hebrew Title: 'Mazuz orders a criminal investigation against an organization that encourages draft dodging']
By Amos Harel, Haaretz Correspondent
Attorney General Menachem Mazuz recently ordered the police to open a criminal investigation against the New Profile organization – the first time a criminal probe has ever been launched against a group that encourages draft dodging.
The probe, launched in response to a request from the Israel Defense Forces, constitutes an intensification of the army's war on draft dodging. It was prompted by concern over the growing extent of this phenomenon. Military Advocate General Brig. Gen. Avichai Mendelblit asked Mazuz to order the probe in February, and earlier this month, Mazuz acceded to his request.
New Profile's Web site defines the group's purpose as supplying "detailed and reliable information about the procedures that enable one to obtain an exemption from military service," as well as "moral support" for those seeking such an exemption.
Under Israeli law, "incitement to draft dodging" is a crime in itself, though no group has ever before been investigated for this offense. In addition, however, New Profile is suspected of helping people secure exemptions fraudulently. "The severity of [New Profile's] incitement to draft evasion, which includes convincing [people] to obtain exemptions from service, necessitates opening up an investigation," Deputy Attorney General Shai Nitzan wrote in a statement informing Mendelblit of Mazuz's decision.
The main reason for the probe's launch is apparently the fact that New Profile's web site tells people what to say to IDF mental health officers to create the impression that they are psychologically unfit for service. In a document entitled "The goal: 21," it details various ways of getting army evaluators to assign the applicant a profile of 21, which is the IDF code for unfit to serve. Many teens say that such advice has helped them in obtaining draft exemptions.
Last summer, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi declared war on draft evasion, in response to data showing that in 2007, almost 28 percent of all draft-age males would not be drafted. Since then, the IDF has tried various tactics: media campaigns aimed at increasing motivation to serve, closer cooperation with high schools and municipalities, and barring artists who did not serve from performing for the troops.
The IDF's Personnel Directorate claims that these efforts, coupled with a stricter attitude on the part of the army's mental health officers, have begun to bear fruit: This year, the proportion of draft-age males who obtained mental-health exemptions fell to 5.1 percent, from 5.5 percent last year, and the number of soldiers who obtained mental-health exemptions during their service also dropped.
Army sources expressed satisfaction with Mazuz's decision. "Thorough legal treatment of this movement is very important to deter evaders and those who urge them to evade," explained one.
IDF Spokesman Avi Benayahu termed the decision "another important step" in the war on draft dodging. This war, he added, "must be a joint effort by the IDF, the state authorities and Israeli society in general."
Yuval Azoulay adds: Sergei Sandler, one of New Profile's leaders, said in response: "Our activity is completely legal. We give information to young people about to be drafted about the various procedures open to them, which the army obviously has an interest in hiding. The decision to open an investigation against New Profile contains an element of persecution. Every such decision is ultimately a political decision aimed at shutting our mouths and protecting a certain kind of social order. But if they want to investigate, let them. Our activity is legal; we don't encourage fraud; and we're proud of our activity."
Isnt this another tactic to silence the atrocities and horrors from escaping from behind the wall? Without journalists, Palestine is further cut off from the world and the world -those who care-are unable to receive updates and news as to what is going on and how to help-intervene. Obviously, It is important for the world to see and hear what is happening to the Palestinian peoples…this is just another tactic to silence the genocide….and…the PA services is responsible?????
Iqbal, is there a petition started or letter drafted yet?
love EshaAmeena
So, the Palestinian Authority want to emulate Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, the military junta in Myanmar, Kim Il-sung in North Korea? You can know a man by the company he keeps and the PA treats reporters the same way as some of the most repressive regimes in the world? Need I say more?
This is horrible… Freedom of speech is being violated, and we must stand in solidarity with other journalists. The Zionists don't want the world to know what is really going on in Palestine because they want to keep the genocide hidden… Let's take heart in the knowledge that the Zionist beast is doomed to fail and in the fact that we are so, so many people now. They can't jail us or silence us all! Iqbal, I will post it today on Ottawa's site and please. let me know if I can do anything else to help from here.
I read somewhere that Iraq has been the most dangerous ever war for journalists:
Bomb takes death toll of journalists in Iraq war to 126 – Middle … 31 Jan 2008 … Iraq confirmed its reputation as the most dangerous country in the world for journalists this week when a roadside bomb killed an Iraqi …
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bomb-takes-death-toll-of-journalists-in-iraq-war-to-126-776188.html
The freedom of speech is under attack everywhere, although certainly attacks are more serious in different parts of the world. American journalists aren't being killed…yet! But brutal force similar to the Nazi's in 1940's Germany is taking place…now! Below several articles you will never see on the 6 O'Clock news.
Free Speech is Under Attack! Here's how to STOP It:
Permission is freely granted to quote or reprint this entire article. Nobody has the author's permission to make any money off it in so doing. Please circulate this article all over the web, to give publicity to the action program here. This action program is based on solid experience and WILL work! Thank you.
An Attack on Journalists IS an Attack on Free Speech Itself. Need any more be said?
Amy Goodman was not the only journalist to be arrested at the Republican National Convention for the “Crime” of giving news coverage to non-violent protest. See numerous examples of journalists giving coverage to that same event who also were arrested and/or subjected to police violence for the "Crime" of giving news coverage of protests at the RNC:
MORE HERE: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Free-Speech-is-Under-Attac-by-Kathryn-Smith-080904-336.html
____________________________________________
Is Planning a Protest a Terrorist Act?
ARTICLE HERE: http://www.opednews.com/articles/Is-Planning-a-Protest-a-Te-by-John-Basel-080904-948.html
____________________________________________
Alexis Baden-Mayer of the Organic Consumers' Grassroots Netroots Alliance project standing in the line of fire at a gun-point raid on a van of suspected anti-Republican activists. Photo by Adam Eidinger.
Tell local elected officials in Minneapolis and St. Paul:
Put the guns away! Freedom of speech now!
August 30, 2008 — Today, for the first time in my life, I had guns pointed at me. One of the police officers told me over a loud-speaker: "Get out of the line of fire or we will shoot!" I can't believe the cops said they'd shoot me! In Minneapolis!
CLICK HERE to read an account of this and several other police raids and arrests that have targeted suspected anti-Republican activists in Minneapolis-St. Paul where demonstrators have gathered to protest the Republican National Convention.
Then, please call Minneapolis-St. Paul's local elected officials to ask them to put the guns away and let there be freedom of speech and peaceful assembly.
Source: http://www.grassrootsnetroots.org/articles/article_14423.cfm
________________________________________________
BREAKING NEWS: Government crackdowns on journalists
Why We Were Falsely Arrested
Government crackdowns on journalists are a true threat to democracy. Behind all the patriotic hyperbole that accompanies the conventions, and the thousands of journalists and media workers who arrive to cover the staged events, there are serious violations of the basic right of freedom of the press.
VIDEO HERE> http://www.democracynow.org/2008/9/4/stream
Amy Goodman, TruthDig
Amy Goodman Questions Ramsey County Prosecutors on Jailing, Charges of Journalists
Two days after several journalists were arrested covering the RNC protests, including three staffers at Democracy Now!, county and city prosecutors held a press conference in St. Paul. Amy Goodman was there to question them about the crackdown on journalists.
Democracy Now!
Amy Goodman Grills St. Paul Police Chief About Her Arrest and Two Democracy Now! Producers
St. Paul Police Chief John Harrington held a news conference where he spoke about the nearly 300 people arrested in a police crackdown on protesters a day earlier. Amy Goodman questions Harrington about the arrests.
Democracy Now!
I-Witness Video Collective Forced Out of Living Space After Second Raid by St. Paul Police in Five Days
Police in St. Paul are being accused of continuing to intimidate a group of video makers that traveled to the Twin Cities to document police misconduct during the Republican National Convention.
Democracy Now!
Drop the Charges Against Independent Journalists
You won't hear much about it in the tightly scripted primetime broadcasts from St. Paul, but local law enforcement is rounding up reporters in an aggressive — and sometimes violent — sweep outside the Republican National Convention. Their crime: committing journalism.
Craig Aaron, The Hill's Congress Blog
SPJ Concerned over RNC and DNC Arrests
Leaders of the Society of Professional Journalists are expressing outrage over recent arrests of journalists at both the Republican and Democratic National Conventions.
Society of Professional Journalists
RNC Arrests Slammed as Goodman Arrest Video Is Seen 500,000-Plus Times
As more groups denounce the arrest of four journalists at the Republican National Convention, a YouTube video showing Democracy Now! host Amy Goodman's arrest has been viewed more than 508,000 times.
Dave Astor, Editor and Publisher
An Open Letter on Behalf of Amy Goodman
Not only is arresting and detaining journalists for doing their work a violation of free speech and freedom of the press, but it's a travesty that our tax dollars are being used to suppress dissent and arrest journalists at conventions that should be celebrations of our small "d" democracy.
Katrina vanden Heuvel, The Nation
SOURCE: http://ewointl.spaces.live.com/default.aspx?wa=wsignin1.0
Annotation:
The list goes on and on here in America also.
Dear colleagues
I guess we have to keep this forum alive since not much has been done to help Palestinian journalists under attack from all concerned parties. Today I have received the following which I would like to share with you. Welcoming your comments….
"Set Journalists Free" Says Palestinian Union as Plans for Congress Confront Israeli Obstacles
Journalists in Palestine have reiterated calls for reporters to be able to move freely in the region as they plan for a congress of journalists later this year. In a series of meetings called by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate (PJS), journalists renewed demands for freedom of movement in the face of bureaucratic and military constraints imposed by the Israeli authorities.
The journalists' syndicate plans a congress later this year bringing together journalists from Gaza and the West Bank, but Israeli roadblocks and denial of press accreditation to Palestinian reporters are posing serious problems.
The meetings of journalist leaders in Ramallah, Bethlehem and Hebron on 11-13 September brought together 50 journalists and women activists across the West Bank. The internal Palestinian division and the Israeli closure of the Gaza Strip prohibited the organizers from having similar meetings in the Gaza Strip. The meetings were used to develop a national programme of work, around Ethics and Women journalists' empowerment. The meetings made a new call for journalists to move freely and renewed pledges to strengthen ethical journalism and rights of women journalists in the media and in the union.
Palestinian journalists are unable to move freely to report or to visit colleagues or media offices in Jerusalem. The Israeli authorities do not make this available to Palestinian journalists despite numerous calls by the PJS and international organisations to allow journalists to circulate more freely.
A member of Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC), Mrs. Najat Abu Baker, described women's activism in society and called on women to initiate change and become more active in political and social affairs. Palestinian women journalists are to be encouraged to join the union and put themselves forward for leadership posts during the upcoming congress.
In order to give a fresh start to the journalism trade-union movement, Naim Toubassi, President of the Palestine Journalists' Syndicate and a member of the IFJ Executive Committee, signed in March an agreement with the IFJ on plans to renew and relaunch the Syndicate over the coming months. During last week meetings, the PJS leadership was determined more than ever to hold its congress by the end of this year.
"Politics must get out of the way so that journalists can organise themselves," said Nikos Megrelis, an IFJ Executive Committee member from Greece's Journalists' Union of the Athens Daily Newspapers, who was present at the meeting. "Palestinian journalists yearn for reform and renewal and the international journalists' community will support them every step of the way."
The IFJ calls on all Palestinian journalists throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip to give their full support to the PJS and to engage in the review and renewal of the PJS leadership.
"Only by taking concrete steps towards a national congress, will the PJS open the door to a vigorous and open debate among journalists that can lead to the creation of a unified movement able to defend all journalists in the region," Megrelis said.
For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide
Unfortunately, the report is highly accurate. The Paelstinian authority is seriously persecuting non-conformist journalists in the West Bank. I personally know several journalists who have been arrested, mistreated, maltreated and even beaten by members of the Palestinian security agencies. I myself was interrogated at the Hebron Mukhabarat headquarters a few months ago in connection with my work.
Awadh Rajoub of Dura (near Hebron) and Mustafa Sabri of Qalqiya are just two examples of Palestinian journalists persecuted by the Ramallah-based regime in connection to their profession. Rajoub spent more than four weeks at the Preventive Security headquarters in Hebron. He was questioned on his work with al Jazeera. He was confronted with a pile of papers containing reports he had prepared for the Arabic service of al Jazeera.net. Eventually he was released following an appeal by his family to the High Court in Ramallah.
Sabri has been languishing in a PA jail in Qalqilya for more than 55 days. The Palestinian High Court of Justice last week ordered the Military Intelligence to free him. However, anothre PA security agency abducted him as soon as he stepped out of the confines of the jail premises.
My personal impression is that the abductions are politically motivated and mainly aimed at coercing journalists to exercise self-censorship.
Interestingly, whenever we confront PA officials with these grave violations, the typial answer we receive is that "we are not in Sweden" and that "praise God you are not living in Gaza."
Unfortunately, the assault on press freedom and freedom of expression in gerneral is part of an a police state appratus that is being fostered and consolidated by the Ramallah-based government.
Actually, it is a police state without a state.
Now our colleagues Israeli Journalists also aknowlege the restrictions on Journalists by the Israeli government.
I have recieved the following content of a press release from IFJ. Although I respect the support of colleagues working for Israeli media, and that they share with Palestinian colleagues some restrictions on their movement, still …I think the way IFJ report squeezed both sides in the title would emply that both groups of journalists experience similar level of restrictions. This is far far unfair and misleading:
Jerusalem Journalists Propose Forum to Confront Crisis Facing Israeli and Palestinian Media Staff
Israeli journalists have spoken out against restrictions on freedom of movement facing reporters in Palestine and propose a joint forum with Palestinian colleagues to deal with a range of problems facing media and journalists in the region.
In a meeting with a delegation from the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Jerusalem last week leaders of the Jerusalem Association of Journalists proposed setting up a regional forum to encourage joint action by Palestinian and Israeli journalists on issues such as safety and freedom of movement. They also suggest setting up a hotline to help journalists in trouble.
"This would be a major step forward for journalists," said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. "Joint action by Israeli and Palestinian journalists to tackle problems both groups face — such as restrictions on freedom of movement – will strengthen efforts to remove obstacles to the exercise of journalism."
Palestinian journalists say that restrictions on movement between Gaza and the West Bank are proving an obstacle to organising a conference of their syndicate.
Haim Shibi, Head of the Jerusalem Association of Journalists' Committee on Foreign Relations, said: "We recognise the problems. It is clearly unacceptable that Palestinian journalists are unable to meet to organise themselves. Israel should allow journalists to move freely and all journalists, both Palestinian and Israeli, should be able to carry out their professional duties in safety and without fear or intimidation. That is a challenge, too, for the Palestinian Authority."
The meeting between the IFJ and the Jerusalem colleagues covered concerns over stalled negotiations with employers on a new collective agreement. Journalists are under pressure because of declining working conditions, falling media quality and attacks on public broadcasting. It was also agreed to strengthen links between the National Federation of Israel Journalists and the European Federation of Journalists.
For more information contact the IFJ at +32 2 235 2200The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide