Ramallah- 4/5/2015: The Israeli occupation forces suppressed a non-violent demonstration organized by the Journalists Syndicate in the occasion of the World Freedom Press Day. This assault shows a side of the continuous Israeli violations against media freedoms in Palestine.

The IOF fired stun and tear gas grenades at the journalists who participated in the protest towards the northern entrance of Bethlehem city. The protest was to demand freedom of movement and to stop the violations against media freedoms in Palestine and worldwide. Many journalists were injured including the Head of the syndicate Dr. Abdul Nasser Al-Najjar.

Dr. Al-Najjar (age 53) reported to MADA: “I was deliberately targeted with two tear gas grenades that exploded under my legs and caused burns in both of them; I was taken to the hospital; where I stayed for 2 hours until I made sure there were no breaks.”

The member of the Secretariat at the syndicate and the chairman of the Committee of Freedoms the journalist Mohammed al-Lahham (age 48) reported to MADA: “A stun grenade injured my left foot and caused bruises. I got treatment at Beit Jala Hospital; where they told me I had severe bruises and swellings in my toes.”

Reuters’ cameraman Mohammad Abu Ghaniyya (age 42) reported to MADA: “A stun grenade exploded under my feet while I was covering the protest, it caused slight injuries and I got treatment on field.”

It should be pointed that most of the journalist suffered suffocation as a result of the intense tear gas bombs thrown by the IOF.

As the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns this assault that coincided with the World Press Freedom Day, it also considers that not holding the IOF accountable encourages them to escalate their crimes and violations against journalists. Therefore;  MADA demands to hold the oppressors accountable in order to stop these violations.

(Photo By: Abdulrahman Younis) The Head of the syndicate Dr. Abdul Nasser Al-Najjar injured