On International Women's Day
Ramallah-03/08/2021. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms, "MADA", extends its warmest congratulations to Palestinian female journalists in Palestine and the rest of the world, and all women on the occasion of International Women's Day.
On this occasion, MADA Center stresses the need to stop all forms of violations against female journalists aimed at silencing them and limiting their ability to express themselves. During the past year, attacks have affected a total of 20 Palestinian female journalists in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, despite the circumstances Palestine went through after the spread of the Coronavirus and the decline in the number of violations against media freedoms in general as a result of the declaration of a state of emergency in the country and the accompanying precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
On this occasion, MADA Center demands the immediate release of all female journalists, headed by the journalist, Bushra Jamal Al-Tawil, who has been detained in Israeli prisons since 08/11/2020, where she was transferred to administrative detention immediately after the arrest.
On the occasion of International Women's Day, we express our pride in all Palestinian women journalists. We salute them and commend their achievements and dedication to their work despite the difficult social, economic and political conditions in Palestine. We affirm the need to stop all attacks against them and hold accountable all those responsible for all violations. We also demand to end all forms of discrimination against female journalists and to enable them to assume leadership positions in the Palestinian media.
MADA Center looks with optimism to the upcoming legislative and presidential elections, and stresses the need for attention to the participation of Palestinian women in them as one of the important, influencing and decisive factors in determining the election results, as the percentage of Palestinian women in society is 49%, according to the estimates of the Central Bureau of Statistics in mid-2019.
