Ramallah:19/5/2015 The latest days witnessed an escalation in violations against journalists and media freedoms in Palestine in both quality and quantity. It should be pointed that these violations is escalating gradually since years.
The most serious of these violations were the injury of Xinhua Chinese Agency photographer in Nablus Nidal Eshtayye and the journalist at the Palestinian Network for Media Mohammad Yousri Al-Hattab from Gaza by Israeli bullets on Friday and Saturday. In addition to that, numerous violations were committed by Israeli Security Forces and settlers against journalists in Jerusalem and Hawwara while they were covering the events and the clashes on Friday and Saturday 16-17/5/2015.
According to journalists’ testimonies to MADA, the Israeli occupation forces deliberately targeted the journalists once a protest at Hawwara checkpoint south Nablus started on Saturday marking Al-Nakba. While the IOF were heavily using rubber bullets and stun grenades, the journalist Nidal Eshtayye was injured in his left eye by a rubber bullet that almost caused him loss of sight, but his gas mask helped protecting him.
Eshtayye reported to MADA that his eye was bleeding and some of the gas mask shrapnel entered his eye, he also said that he is still having treatment and medical follow up.
On Friday, the journalist Mohammad Hattab was injured by a bullet fired by the IOF while he was covering a demonstration near Al-Shuja’ya crossing in Gaza Strip. Hattab reported to MADA: “I fell on the ground while covering the demonstration as a result of a live bullet fired at my right thigh.”
Ain Ala Al-Quds (An eye on Jerusalem) program correspondent Rami Khatib who was assaulted and injured by the settlers pointed out that the journalists were targeted and assaulted by the settlers even though the Israeli police were present. Khatib said: “They closed the lenses of our cameras and assaulted us with the flags’ sticks and empty bottles; my lip was injured as a result of this assault and I was beaten by their sticks which caused bruises in different parts of my body.”
Many journalists were deliberately assaulted by the settlers in Jerusalem including the photographer Amjad Abu Arafe, the photographer Mohammad Sadeq, Bait Al-Maqdes agency correspondent Liwa’ Abu Rmeile, Bayan Al-Jube, the freelance photographers Mustafa Kharouf and Fadi Al-Jube in addition to others.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemns these escalating violations, we also emphasize again that the continuation of these violations that aim to hide the truth, should be stopped by holding the aggressors accountable.
photographeNidal Esrhtayye injured (photo by: Abdelraheem Qusini)
