MADA: 19 violations against media freedoms were committed during February
In February the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) monitored 19 violations against journalists and media freedoms in Palestine. Israeli authority committed 13 of the violations, while the Palestinians committed 6 (three in the West Bank and three in the Gaza Strip).
Figures from last month show that the number of violations committed against journalists in Palestine hasn’t gone down. MADA monitored 19 violations during January 2015.
The Israeli violations
All of the violations committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) are considered to be severe. The most serious violation was committed against cameraman and director at I’lam Al-Mastaqbal and Al-Quds News Amin Allawiyya. While covering Balin weekly demonstration, he was shot in the head and left with a skull fracture.
MADA monitored another IOF violation in February, where Al-Quds educational TV cameraman Sami Al-Faqih got pepper sprayed while covering events in Abu Deis, and eventually became unconsciousness. Photographer at Palestinian News Network “PNN” Mohammed Al-Azza was assaulted by an Israeli soldier. Mohammed Al-Azza’s, he was hit on his mouth with the barrel of the soldier’s rifle and then the soldier broke his camera.
The Israeli authority renewed the administrative detention of Al-Aqsa TV general manager Aziz Kayed for duration of four months, without an indictment. The IOF also renewed the administration detention of Al-Aqsa TV cameraman Ahmed Al Khatib for duration of four months as well.
Reuters photographer Abdul Raheem Al-Qousini and Wafa news agency photographer Mohammad Nasser were injured with teargas bombs thrown by the IOF while they were covering a demonstration in Kafr Qadoum village on 6/2. Al-Qousini was injured again in his neck by a teargas canister thrown by the IOF while he was covering a demonstration in Kafr Qadoum on 27/2. Xinhua news agency photographer Nidal Eshtayye was injured by three teargas bombs and a rubber bullet shot by the IOF while he was covering events in Kafr Qadoum village.
Reuters’ photographer Mohammad Turkman suffered shortness of breathing as a result of an assault committed by the IOF with pepper spray on a group of journalists, while they were covering a demonstration in Bil’in village. The correspondent of I’lam Al-Quds center Bayan Al-Juba was interrogated on field by the Israeli police on 4/2.
The IOF assaulted Ro’ya Jordanian TV correspondent Nibal Farsakh, while she was interviewing a civilian in Silwad on 9/2 were the village inhabitants were planting trees in a land which they managed to return further to a decision made by an Israeli court.
The Israeli police arrested Q Press website editor and correspondent Sabreen Ebaidat, interrogated her and prohibited her to go to Al-Aqsa mosque for one month. She also had to pay a 500 NIS fine (approximately 143 USD).
The Palestinian violations
Despite the decrease in the Palestinian violations against media freedoms compared to the previous month (decreased from 13 violations in January to 6 violations in February), these violations are considered very dangerous.
The most serious violation was the assault against the editor at Sawt Al-Quds radio station Khaled Abu Mghaiseb committed by the police in Gaza.
MADA also monitored an incident where security forces in Gaza prevented the chief editor at Siyasat magazine and Auther Dr. Atef Ibrahim Abu Saif from travelling to Morocco to participate in a book fair.
Another incident was monitored in Bethlehem where the preventive security forces arrested the freelance cameraman Osaid Amarneh after an interrogation at their headquarters on 23/2 (his detention was extended for 15 days, and is still detained).
In the same month the internal security forces in Gaza interrogated, photojournalist at the Palestinian Network for media, Ramadan Abu Sakran about his profession as a photojournalist.
A similar incident was monitored in Hebron, where The “Institutes Security” interrogated, producer and presenter at A’lam Radio Station, Muntaser Billah Nassar. During the interrogation The Institutes Security threatened to shut down the radio station due to the political subjects Nasser addresses in his programs. On 25/2 the Palestinian Intelligence arrested the freelance photojournalist Sufian Abu Ras in Hebron for three days.
MADA condemns all violations committed against media freedoms in Palestine, and with deep concern demand perpetrators to be held accountable and an end to all media freedoms violations
Details of violations:
(1/2)- The Israeli Police arrested 24-year-old Q Press correspondent Sabreen Obaidat from Jerusalem. After being interrogated she got a fine and was sentenced with a ban from entering Al-Aqsa mosque for a month.
“After I was leaving the old city of Jerusalem, the Israeli police dragged me to Biet Eliaho police station and detained me for 24 hours. Later they transferred me to Al-Qishla interrogation center, they interrogated me about my photos, why I’m filming, and for whom. They later transferred me to Al-Ramleh prison around 2am; where the court sentenced me with exclusion from Al-Aqsa mosque for a month and a 500 Shekels fine. They released me on the afternoon of Monday 2/2/2015,” Obaidat told MADA.
(3/2)- the security forces in Gaza prevented 42-year-old chief editor at Siyasat Magazine and Author Dr. Atef Abu Saif from traveling to Morocco. Abu Saif reported to MADA:
“I headed off to Beit Hanoun crossing border to travel to the West Bank so I could travel to Morocco to attend a book fair, especially that my novel (a suspended life) is nominated for the universal prize for the Arabic novel. When I arrived Beit Hanoun crossing border, the police summoned me to the head of the border’s internal security; the officer interrogated me about my destination and the reason of my travel,”
Abu Saif continued to explain that he waited for an hour after being told by the head of the internal security that he was banned from leaving the Gaza Strip, and when he asked about the decision origin the officer said “higher commanders”, so he had to return to his home in Gaza. After returning Atef Abu Saif addressed several politicians but without success to lift the travel ban.
(4/2)- An Israeli police officer interrogated the correspondent of I’lam Al-Quds center Bayan Al-Juba (age 21), who reported to MADA: “I was going home, and when I arrived at Bab Al-Majles (One of old city of Jerusalem gates); a policemen stopped me and interrogated me about my personal information; like my name and my profession; he told me that he knows I am a journalist but he wants to knows where I work and if I covered the raid of Al-Aqsa mosque a day before. He interrogated me for 15 minutes and then he wrote down my ID information and I was released”.
(6/2)- two teargas bombs thrown by the Israeli Border Police injured 46-year-old Reuters photographer Abdul Raheem Al-Qousini.
“While a group of journalists and I, were covering the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qadoum village, the Israeli Border Police targeted everyone including the photographers. They threw 20 teargas bombs. Two of the bombs hit my legs and my left leg was severely injured,” Al-Qousini said and explained that he got picked up by an ambulance and treated on the field away from the clashes. Al-Qousini underlined that he wasn’t the only journalist present while the bombs where thrown.
“24 FM correspondent Ala’ Badarne, Wafa news agency photographer Ayman Nobani, AFP photographer Ja’far Eshtayye and the Chinese news agency photographer Nidal Eshtayye was also covering the demonstration.”
(6/2)- 34-year-old Wafa news agency photographer Mohammad Nasser was injured by a teargas bomb while covering a demonstration in Kafr Qadoum village.
“While I was covering the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qadoum, I was slightly injured in my right leg near my knee,” Nasser reported to MADA.
(9/2)- the IOF assaulted Ro’ya TV manager and correspondent Nibal Farsakh (age 25) while she was interviewing a civilian in Silwad on 9/2 were the village inhabitants were planting trees in a land which they managed to return further to a decision made by an Israeli court. She reported to MADA:
“We were covering an olive trees planting event on the lands of the village of Silwad. Those lands were returned to their inhabitants after a decision from an Israeli court, but “the Israeli coordination” refused to implement the decision, so the Palestinians protested against that. I was interviewing one of the protesters when a female soldier violently attacked me and pushed and hit me, and another soldier tried to cover the camera’s lens. I continued my interview, but the same female soldier attacked me again, and at that time one settler attacked my colleague, cameraman Jihad Muhtaseb (age 25) and tried to confiscate his camera, and they got into a verbal argument”.
Farsakh added: “The soldiers tried to cover the lenses of all journalists’ cameras present including: Al-Haya Al-Jadida photographer Issam Rimawi, Reuters’ photographer Imad S’eed, and AP photographer Isma’el Khader.”
(13/2)- Reuters’ photographer Mohammad Turkman (age 47) suffered breathing difficulties as a result of spraying him with pepper by the IOF while covering a demonstration in Bil’in village west of Ramallah. Turkman reported to MADA: “We headed to cover the weekly demonstration in Bil’in; the IOF were near the apartheid separation wall, and we had a pretty far location, but the soldiers started throwing teargas bombs heavily everywhere once the protesters came near them. One of the soldiers used pepper spray which affected almost everyone, including me. I fell on the ground and could not see or breathe for few minutes. The photojournalist Issam Al-Rimawi, the AFP photographer Abbas Momani and the APphotographer Majdi Eshtayye were all present on site”.
(15/2)- The Israeli military court renewed the administrative detention of Al-Aqsa TV cameraman Ahmad Al-Khatib (age 28) “for another four months for the third time” as reported by his wife. It should be pointed that the IOF arrested Al-Khatib on 7/7/2014.
(16/2) - the IOF assaulted Al-Quds Educational TV cameraman Sami Al-Faqih (age 31) while he was filming clashes in Abu Dees. He reported to MADA:
“There were clashes between the IOF and Palestinian youth at the 'Bawwabet Al-Shams’ village, which was established on the lands of Abu Dees by Palestinian protestors. I started filming the clashes with my phone while putting my journalism card on my chest. One soldier attacked me from behind and pepper-sprayed me, which made me faint. My colleague Mamdouh Hamamre took me by an ambulance the emergency medical center in Abu Dees where I was treated for two hours.”
(19/2)- The internal security forces in Gaza summoned the Palestinian Network for Media photojournalist, Ramadan Abu Sakran (age 21) and he was interrogated twice about his profession. He reported to MADA:
“On Sunday 16th of February I was summoned to go to the internal security headquarters on Wednesday the 19th, at 9 AM I went there and they interrogated me about my profession, who I work with and who funds the network I work at, as well as about a comedy video I made about the bombing that happened in Gaza.”
He added: “They claimed that the video was inciting Sedition. They released me at 1:30 PM after confiscating my two cellphones, laptop, my USBs, mobile service chip, and my personal identification card. I was told to return on Thursday the 26th”
Abu Sakran added: “I went on Thursday at 8:00 AM and waited until 1:00 PM without any interrogation. They released me at 1:00 and gave me back my possessions”.
(22/2)- the IOF assaulted Palestinian News Network(PNN) photojournalist and Refugee center’s media manager Mohammad Al-Azza (age 24). Who reported to MADA
“At 7:00 PM the IOF raided Ayda refugee camp in Bethlehem to arrest someone, and clashes erupted between the Palestinians and the IOF. I headed to cover the clashes when an Israeli soldier came and hit my mouth with his M16 rifle; he also broke the camera and pushed me to the floor, and then tried to confiscate it, and he pushed me. I got treatment on the field. Some of journalists were on sight, such as Al-Quds.com photographer Abdul Rahman Younis, but he was not injured”.
(23/2)- The Preventive Security forces in Bethlehem arrested the free lance cameraman Osaid Amarneh (age 30) after he was summoned for interrogation to their headquarters in Bethlehem. Amarne reported to MADA before heading to the interrogation:
“In the afternoon of the 22nd February I received a phone call from the preventive security to go to their headquarters, but I refused to go before I inform the Journalists’ syndicate. They called again the next day demanding me to go directly to their place, but I told them that I am a cameraman and the syndicate represents me, and it is up to them to decide whether I should go or not. They told me that it is not related to my profession, but from past experience the interrogation always showed the opposite”.
Amarne’s father reported to MADA: “Osaid went to the preventive security headquarters in Bethlehem on the 23rd around 4pm, and they interrogated him, later he appeared in front of the general prosecution and was charged with inciting sectarian conflict. His detention was extended for 48 hours”.
The lawyer Tahani Amarne reported to MADA that on 26/2 Osaid appeared in front of the general prosecution and he was detained for 15 days. On 1st March she demanded his release but the prosecution denied.
(23/2)- the Israeli occupation authority renewed the detention of Al-Aqsa TV manager Aziz Haroun Kayed for a duration of 4 months. His daughter reported to MADA: “The military court renewed my father’s administrative detention, this happened 2 days before the end of the second detention”.
Haroun has been arrested since 17/6/2014
(25/2)- The “Institutes Security” interrogated 26-year-old producer and presenter at Alam radio station Muntaser Billah Mohammed Nassar. They threatened to close the radio station due to the political subjects that were being addressed in his programs.
“On 22nd of February, I received a phone call from the “Institutes’ security” telling me to go to their headquarters in Hebron on Tuesday, when I refused they sent me an official summon letter. The interrogation was postponed until Wednesday. I went at 10:30am as scheduled, they interrogated in two sessions; specifically about my program “The law in this country”; where I talked about political arrests. The head officer, who treated me in a very bad way, told me that I should not talk about the political imprisonment and that I shouldn’t criticize the security forces. He threatened to close the radio station if I kept criticizing. He also asked me to stop my program and I signed a paper saying that I should commit to the decisions of the Ministry of Information and not use my program to incite against the security forces. I was released at 1:00 PM,” Nassar reported to MADA.
(25/2)- Palestinian Intelligence Service arrested the freelance photojournalist Sufian Abu Ras, seized his ID and inspected his house in Dura, Hebron.
“I was released at 6 am on Sunday the 1st of March after being interrogated for two days. The interrogation was about my affiliation to Hamas, my activity as a student in 2012 and about the reports I prepare as part of my profession. They also interrogated me about the Facebook page “Dora’s mosques” and weather or not I had worked with them, because a photo I took from a demonstration in solidarity with Gaza was later got published on the mentioned Facebook page. They also asked about my Facebook password, but I refused to give it to them. The overall treatment was horrible but I was released, and I was told to return on Monday the 9th of March”. Abu Ras reported to MADA.
(27/2)- A teargas bomb injured 46-year-old Reuters photographer Abdul Rahim Qousini in the neck thrown by the IOF.
“I was covering the weekly demonstration in Kafr Qadoum; when a teargas bomb injured my neck from behind, even though I was wearing my helmet and the press jacket, but I feel to the ground. I was standing with the Chinese news agency photographer Nidal Eshtayye who also got injured. We were standing at distance away from the protestors yet the IOF deliberately targeted us. The place was covered with teargas and Nidal Eshtayye took me away so I could get treatment. I was treated with ice in order to cool the burns on my neck”. Qousini reported to MADA.
(27/2)- At the same demonstration three teargas bombs and a rubber bullet injured 45-year-old Xinhua photographer Nidal Eshtayye while he was covering the demonstration.
“The IOF threw teargas bombs at us while we were covering the demonstration in Kafr Qadoum village. I was hit by three teargas bombs while I was trying to flee; one hit my press vest, another one hit my right ankle and the third hit my left leg. The rubber bullet hit my left thigh causing severe pain; I received treatment at Rafidia hospital (in Nablus city),” Nidal Eshtayye told MADA.
(27/2)- A rubber bullet fired by the IOF fractured Amin Allawiyya’s skull 42-year-old cameraman and director at I’lam Al-Mostaqbal and Al-quds news.
“I was covering the weekly demonstration in Bil’in village and the last thing I remembered was falling to the ground after a bullet was fired. I gained consciousness again in the ambulance; in which they told me that my injury is severe above my left eye, the bullet caused slight fracture and concussion in my skull. I am still residing in Palestine Medial Complex(in Ramallah) awaiting more tests on Monday 2nd of March”.
(27/2)- Khaled Ismail Abu Mghasieb 38-year-old, editor at Sawt Al-Quds Radio, was detained, assaulted, and interrogated until midnight, by the Palestinian police in Gaza, while he was on his way home from work around 7:45pm, and there happened to be a sit-in against the poor living conditions in Gaza.
“The police attacked the sit-in, some of them were wearing their uniforms and others dressed as civilians, they requested me by my name, and they said they need to take me to the police station, so I asked for an official summon letter, a police man walked to their jeep and brought back “what they claimed to be a summon”, but I wasn’t given the time to read thoroughly and confirm it, they then confiscated my cellphone and forcedly dragged me to the vehicle and drove me to their headquarters,” Abu Mghasiseb reported to MADA and added that:
“When we arrived to the headquarters they beat me (slapped me on the face) and they asked me to give them all the photos I took, I told them I didn’t take any. One of them said “take him inside and reverse hang him.” Where they physically assaulted me again and forced me against the wall and asked me to raise my arms up. I told them that I am a journalist and that they have no right to treat me in such way or confiscate my work, and the beating began again, so I told them that I have my syndicate membership card and my press card at Sawt Al-Quds, but they told me to keep them for myself. I was detained until 12 AM and later released after some people intervened”.
In the photo cameraman Amin Allawiyya (Photo By: I’lam Al-Mastaqbal Center)
