Ramallah – 8th Dec. 2022. The number of violations against media freedoms in Palestine decreased during November compared to October. During the past month, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) documented a total of (21) violations against media freedoms in Palestine compared to (81) violations documented thereby during the preceding month. This decrease in the number of violations constitutes 74%.
The violations documented during November were divided into (12) committed by Israeli authorities, (7) committed by various Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and two committed by social media corporates.
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Israeli Violations:
As is the case in the previous months, Israeli violations are still at the forefront of the scene in terms of number, type, and threat to journalists and media freedoms. The seriousness of these violations was noticed in the assaults of settlers, under the protection of the occupation authorities, against journalists. The most prominent example of this was what “FRANCE 24” TV crew was subjected to, physically and verbally, by settlers and in the presence of the occupation police, during its media coverage in West Jerusalem, after two explosions took place in the city.
During November, the Israeli occupation and its settlers committed a total of (12) violations against media freedom and press crews in Palestine, constituting 57% of the total violations. The Israeli violations decreased by a total of (54) compared to October when MADA documented a total of (66) Israeli violations. This decrease in the number of violations constitutes (81%) compared to the previous month.
The occupation authorities physically assaulted three journalists on duty, namely: the journalist ABDULLAH BAHASH, who was beaten for refusing to be blackmailed to pay 50 shekels to enter “Azzun”, and the journalist ABDEL MOHSEN SHALALDEH, who was detained by the occupation forces for 4 hours after being beaten.
The journalist IHAB AL-ALAMI was also wounded by a rubber bullet in his right arm in “Beit Ummar”, Hebron, and settlers assaulted “FRANCE 24” TV crew in the live broadcast in Jerusalem and destroy their camera stand.
The occupation forces arrested the journalist, SABRI JIBRIL, after raiding his house as he remained in detention for 12 hours and was interrogated about his media work. A few days earlier, they prevented him from coverage in the town of “Harmala”, threatened him not to continue his media work, and seized his phone after deleting the filmed material therein.
Furthermore, the occupation extended the administrative detention of journalist AMER ABU ARAFAH for four months few days before releasing him.
Palestinian Violations:
November did not witness any change in the number of Palestinian violations committed against media freedom in Palestine, as the number of such remained in the range of violations documented during the previous month.
MADA has documented a total of (7) violations committed by various Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, compared to (5) violations documented during October, constituting 33% of the total violations committed during November.
The Palestinian violations are broken down into (4) violations in the West Bank, and (3) in Gaza Strip. The most serious of these violations was the arrest by the Palestinian General Intelligence of the journalist of Al-Qastal News Network, AYMAN QAWAREQ, after raiding his house in “Awarta” - Nablus. He was subjected to ill-treatment during the investigation, where he remained detained for four days until the judge released him on 300 JD bail. The General Prosecution in Bethlehem also detained the Director of “Bethlehem 2000” Radio on the basis of a complaint filed against him by the Chairman of Bethlehem Municipality. The Palestinian General Intelligence summoned the journalist JARRAH KHALAF via a phone call, but he did not comply.
In Gaza Strip, Al-Zaytouna Police detained the journalist HANI RIZK for six hours because of a post he shared on Facebook. The journalists ALI JADALLAH and MUTASEM MURTAJA were also beaten by an employee working for the Champions Sports Club while covering a sports event in Gaza Strip.
Social Media Violations:
Social media violations decreased during November to two violations, compared to (9) committed by social media corporates during October.
These violations consisted of deleting the Facebook account of Bethlehem 2000 Radio and deleting the WhatsApp account for the Al-Aqsa TV community permanently and without prior notification.
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Details of Violations:
6th Nov. The Palestinian General Intelligence Service in Jenin summoned the journalist JARRAH KHALAF, via a phone call for an interview at its HQ, without setting a specific date.
The QUDS FEED journalist, JARRAH WALEED KHALAF, (22 years old) stated to MADA that he received a phone call on Sunday, corresponding to 6th Nov. from a person working for the Palestinian General Intelligence to go to the headquarters at the time the journalist deems appropriate.
The journalist asked about the caller’s name, but the latter refused to disclose such and answered later. The journalist also tried to inquire about the reasons for the summons, but the caller completely refused to answer him.
Until the time this report was prepared, the journalist did not go to the headquarters, despite the phone calls his brother received from the General Intelligence Service in a friendly manner to persuade him to go, as they told him that the interview would not exceed five minutes, as they stated.
8th Nov. The journalist ABDALLAH BAHASH was assaulted at the entrance of Azoun, to the east of Qalqilya, on Tuesday morning, at the hands of one of the occupation soldiers after he refused to be blackmailed to pay a soldier a sum of 50 NIS to allow him to enter the town.
Quds News Network reporter, ABDALLAH TAYSEER BAHSH, (24 years old), stated to MADA that at 10:30 AM, on Tuesday, he went with his colleague, Palestine Today TV cameraman, JIHAD BADAWI, to prepare a report on the closures, notifications of house demolitions, lands leveling, and prohibition of olive harvesting taking place in Azoun.
The journalists arrived at the town’s entrance where the soldiers were stationed and asked to be allowed to enter the town as they did not know another way. When the soldier prohibited them to enter the town, they asked for access on foot, but the soldier also refused and requested a sum of 50 NIS from the journalist BAHSH to allow him to enter the town.
The journalist refused to pay the sum, so the soldier threatened him with arrest in case he does not leave the site. The soldier further grabbed his hand and tried to handcuff him.
The journalists left the scene, took another way, and managed to enter the town and prepare the required report.
8th Nov. On Tuesday evening, Facebook deleted Bethlehem 2000 Radio without prior notification. The Director of Bethlehem 2000 Radio, GEORGE CANAVATI, reported that Facebook Administration deleted the Radio page without prior notification on Tuesday evening, followed by three million from all over the world. This led the Radio Administration to broadcast through the alternative page.
The Radio Administration contacted Facebook Administration through “SADA SOCIAL” Institution in an attempt to recover the deleted page. Until the time this report was prepared, they did not receive any reply.
14th Nov. Al-Zaytouna Police followed by Gaza Internal Security Forces detained the journalist HANI ABU RIZK for six hours because of a post he shared on his Facebook account. They released him after posting an apology for the false information that he shared earlier.
The journalist of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida Newspaper, HANI ASHRAF ABU RIZK, (29 years old), stated that on 12th Nov. he met someone by chance, and he told him that the Police Forces bulldozed his house after forcing him to sell it without his consent.
After the journalist was briefed on all the papers in the man’s possession, he published an appeal on his behalf for redress, as he posted a video on Tik Tok, and published some pictures summarizing the man’s story on his private page on Facebook.
The next day, the journalist received a call from the person who bought the house, and he noticed a discrepancy in the narratives reported by the selling man and the buying citizen, which forced him to delete the video. About two hours later, the journalist received a call from Al- Shujaiya Center informing him that the Governor of Gaza requested his presence, but the journalist, apologetically, declined to go.
He then received another phone call from the Center informing him to come for only five minutes, but the journalist requested that the summons be official and written. After about an hour, the journalist received an official notification from Al-Zaytouna Police, at which time HANI published the news of the summons and informed the Journalists’ Syndicate of the matter.
The journalist went to Al-Zaytouna Police at around 10:00 AM on the following morning, corresponding to 14th Nov., and started talking to him about his post about the citizen who denied selling his house, but he told them that he deleted the post due to the conflicting information of the seller and the buyer, and the journalist signed his statement after the conclusion of the investigation. However, the officer decided to detain him for 24 hours, and the detention was for questioning upon the request of the Governor of Gaza.
The journalist was taken to a prison cell, where he handed over his belongings, including his mobile phone, but one of the officers took the journalist to the Special Security Headquarters and asked him very private questions, including his mother’s name, information about his family, in addition to information about his work and the sources of his money.
The journalist met with some of the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) staff members who in turn contacted the Governor to release the journalist. He was then taken to the cell where he remained for about two hours in bad conditions along with detainees of various charges. After that, the Government Media officer in Gaza came and met the journalist and asked him indirectly to write an apology for the false information he shared documented with images so that he can be released.
At around 04:00 PM, a common form was agreed upon for the apology, and accordingly, the journalist was released.
15th Nov. The journalists ALI JADALLAH and MUTASEM MURTAJA were verbally and physically assaulted by the Champions Club personnel, of the Qatari Embassy in Gaza, while covering an event at the Club.
In his statement to MADA, Anatolia Agency cameraman, ALI HASSAN JADALLAH, (32 years old), said that he and his colleague, MUTASEM ABDELRAHMAN MURTAJA, (28 years old), who works for “MEDIA RECORD” Company, at around 04:00 PM were covering a sports march organized by the Champions Club of the Qatari Committee in support of Qatar World Cup, and went towards the Qatari Embassy.
While covering the sports event, a person, who was one of the employees of the sports club, came forward and prevented the journalist from filming, and he called another cameraman from the Club’s personnel to film and cover the event instead of them, and when the journalists told him that they were covering for international and not local parties, he repeatedly verbally assaulted.
The cameraman, ALI, asked the Club employee for his name to file a complaint against him with the Club’s Management, but the latter insulted both the cameraman and the Club.
The employee’s verbal assault continued, and when journalist MUTASEM approached, the employee assaulted the journalists ALI and MUTASEM physically and verbally, as he attacked them and started beating them, which caused injury to the journalist MUTASEM in his neck and hand, in addition to biting him in the leg.
Other parties intervened to disengage them, including police officers and members of the Journalists Syndicate. However, the journalists filed an official complaint against the Club’s Management and the employees who assaulted the police.
17th Nov. On Thursday, the Israeli Occupation Forces detained the journalist ABDULMUHSEN SHALALDEH after assaulting him and beating him while on duty in “Tel Rumeida” in Hebron for four hours at the military point in the area and then released him.In his testimony to MADA, ABDULMUHSEN TAISEER SHALALDEH (28 years old), J-Media cameraman, mentioned that he was in the vicinity of “ASSMOUD” Center – “Tel Rumeida” in Hebron on Thursday at 2:00 PM to prepare a press report about the place. After finishing the report and the interview he had with the Center’s Head at 3:00 PM, two Israeli soldiers approached him and seized his I.D. card, and asked him to leave the area.The Israeli soldiers did not give SHALALDEH the chance to leave the area and started beating and dragging him to the military point in the area that is 200m far from “Tel Rumeida”. The journalist SHALALDEH remained detained blindfolded and handcuffed in a dark and very small room until he was released four hours later, at about 7:00 PM.
19th Nov. “WhatsApp” deleted the “AL-AQSA TV” community with the excuse of breaching the Application’s standards. As AL-AQSA TV created a community on WhatsApp in accordance with the new update of creating unified communities for the same-subject groups. SHADI ASFOUR, an “AL-AQSA TV” reporter mentioned to MADA that “WhatsApp” deleted the AL-AQSA community from the Application, in addition to deleting the admin number.
The creators of the community were surprised by the permanent deletion on Nov. 19th, as it was reporting regular news concerning the current events in the country only. This deletion was attached with a message saying, “you have breached the Application’s standards”.
23rd Nov. A group of settlers attacked a vehicle that was transporting journalists close to the “Ofra” settlement, while they were on their way back from work in Nablus on Wednesday evening. The attack resulted in smashing the vehicle's windshield.The reporter of “AL-ERSAL” Network and the cameraman of “SANAD” Agency the journalist KAREEM SUBHI MOHAMMED KHMAYSEH (24 years old) stated that he was returning from Nablus to Ramallah at about 9:00 PM when the group of settlers attacked him and his colleagues and threw stones at them, QUDS Network reporter YOUSEF SHEHADEH, and ALJAZEERA cameraman MOHAMMED TURKMAN (26 years old).The three journalists finished their work in Nablus and headed to Ramallah in their vehicle, and as they reached the “Ofra” settlement which is located on the lands of the residents of Ein Yabrud and Silwad villages. The settlers were protesting the double explosion that occurred in Jerusalem one day, and they blocked the street entirely.The journalists’ vehicle reached the area and was subject to the settlers’ attack by throwing stones at them which resulted in smashing the windshield. However, the journalists were able to flee the premises.
23rd Nov. The Israeli settlers assaulted the “FRANCE 24” TV crew physically and verbally with the protection of the occupation soldiers while covering the incidents in Jerusalem following the double explosion on Wednesday, corresponding to Nov. 23rd.
“FRANCE 24” reporter LAILA AHMED ODEH (53 years old) stated to MADA that she headed towards the explosions areas in West Jerusalem with the cameraman NADER BEIBERS on Wednesday, Nov. 23rd at 1:30 PM, one of which was close to a bus station and the other in Ramot to the north of the city.
The reporter of “FRANCE” was able to finish the first live feed despite the presence of the orthodox settlers who were practicing their prayers in the area. She delivered a brief about the area and the explosion that took place.
At 03:00 PM, the time of the second live broadcast, the crew did not change the location, yet, they moved a little farther from the previous location. Once the broadcast started, the settlers approached the reporter and surrounded the crew from all directions. They assaulted them verbally and started shouting with racial and incitement slurs such as: “the Arabs are responsible for the explosion”, “go away from here”, “go to Russia”, and “death to Arabs”.
The crew was forced to cut the live broadcast and leave. Then, the settlers increased in numbers and chased the crew with continuous swears and curses. They pushed down the cameraman “BEIBERS” who fell hard on the ground. This resulted in the destruction of the camera stand.
The crew reached for the police who were present in the area. The police pretended to help, but they did nothing and told the crew to leave the area immediately. The assault on the crew lasted twenty (20) minutes before they were able to leave the area.
24th Nov. The Israeli Occupation Forces hindered the work of journalist SABRI JIBRIL a reporter for J-MEDIA Agency (31 years old) on Thursday afternoon in Bethlehem while covering the Occupation incursion of “Harmala” village.
SABRI JIBRIL stated to MADA that he went to cover the Israeli Occupation Forces incursions of “Harmala” village in Bethlehem as the Occupation Forces stormed the shops on the main street.
The reporter reached the area around 12:00 PM and started filming the incursion. When the soldiers noticed his presence, they prevented him from proceeding with his work. He then showed them his journalist card to prove to them that his job is to cover such incidents.
The senior officer came to the area and dragged the journalist by force and seized his mobile phone from his hand and deleted all photographed and filmed material in it. He also confiscated his journalist card and told him that he will be arresting him soon with the excuse that the journalist is practicing incitement against them.
The journalist left the area at 12:14 PM after the seizure of the mobile phone that he used to report the incident.
24th Nov. The Public Prosecution in Bethlehem detained the Director of “Bethlehem 2000” Radio Mr. GEORGE CANAVATI on the basis of a complaint filed by the Chairman of Bethlehem Municipality Mr. “HANNA HANANIYA” that included slanders and defamation. However, Mr. GEORGE CANAVATI was released an hour and a half after being referred to court.
The journalist CANAVATI stated to MADA that he received a phone call from the Public Prosecution in Bethlehem on Nov. 17th that he is to be interrogated based on a complaint by the Chairman of Bethlehem Municipality Mr. “HANNA HANANIYA” of slanders and defamation.
He headed to the Prosecution Office in Bethlehem on the specified day (Nov. 24th) and was subject to an interrogation regarding the complaint. They released him an hour and a half later due to the lack of any transgressions against the Municipality, and after signing a pledge to attend the next session on Dec. 25th.
The journalist has criticized the work of the Municipality and its performance during the previous period in addition to criticizing the violation of the construction of the Chairman’s house. This criticism spread across Facebook through posts and in addition to being mentioned on the radio show “EMMAR YA BALAD” which is broadcasted on “Bethlehem 2000” Radio.
28th Nov. The Israeli Occupation Forces the journalist SABRI JIBRIL after storming his house in Teqoa town to the southeast of Bethlehem on Monday dawn. They released him after 12 hours of arrest.
The reporter of “J-Media” Agency SABRI MOUSA JIBRIL (31 years old) stated to MADA that a large force of the Israeli Occupation Forces, about four military vehicles, brutally stormed his house at 02:30 AM on Monday. They savagely knocked on the door and when he opened the door and they identified him, they arrested him.
JIBRIL was transported to the DCO in Beit Jala and was under the necessary medical check. He then was transported to the Etzion Detention Center, which is a detention center subject to the group of settlements located on the lands of Hebron and Bethlehem. JIBRIL remained there in the extreme cold until 3:00 PM when he was released.
During the hours of arrest, he was subject to an interrogation regarding his journalism work. He was accused by the officer that what he reports and publishes comes in the context of incitement against the occupation. The journalist replied that he reports the incidents as they occur without interfering as the incidents reflect the occupation’s practices. The officer threatened him with arrest in case he continues his field coverage.
The Israeli Occupation Forces released SABRI MOUSA JIBRIL on Monday at 03:00PM, corresponding to Nov. 28th after a 12-hour arrest that included threatening him with arrest if he keeps on the “incitement” work, in their view. They also gave him back his journalist card and the mobile phone that were confiscated by the same occupation officer last Thursday, Nov. 24th.
28th Nov. The Palestinian Security Forces arrested the ALQASTAL Network’s journalist AYMAN FAISAL QAWAREQ (36 years old) from his house in Awarta – Nablus on Monday dawn Nov. 28th. They released him on a 300JD bail and after 4 days of arrest.
QAWAREQ stated to MADA that the Security Forces raided his family’s house and searched it on Monday at 02:30 AM after showing a search warrant. They then headed to AYMAN’s house next to the family’s, searched the house, and arrested AYMAN.
The journalist was transported to “AL-Junaid” Prison as he was admitted to solitary confinement until Monday afternoon and in extremely bad conditions. His hands were cuffed behind his back in a standing position and his head was covered with a black bag in cold weather, knowing that he suffers from arthritis and other health issues, one of which is in his eyes.
During the arrest, the journalist was subject to four interrogation sessions all of which were about general topics regarding his life, study, and the conditions in all governorates such as Jenin, Nablus, and Ramallah.
He also was asked about his Facebook account and was asked for the password, which he refused to provide it. As a result, they accused him of incitement, criticizing the General Leadership, and PA’s leaders through his posts.
In one of the interrogation sessions, the Prison’s Legal Counselor appeared to the journalist and asked him about “the possession and transportation of a weapon”. The journalist was surprised and told him that he was not interrogated regarding this accusation. The Counselor asked AYMAN to sign his statement, but AYMAN refused and denied the accusation in toto.
The journalist was brought before the court on Tuesday as his detention was extended for 48 hours. He had a court session on Thursday, Dec. 1st, and was charged with “possessing a weapon and transporting ammunition”, but the judge decided to release him on 300JD bail. Provided that he shall attend the next court session in Jan. 2023 without setting a specific day.
29th Nov. The Israeli Occupation Forces targeted IHAB AL-ALAMI with a rubber-coated metal bullet and injured him in his arm on Monday while covering the clashes in Beit Ummar in Hebron.
The cameraman of Associated Press IHAB ISSA AL-ALAMI (24 years old) mentioned in his statement to MADA that he was present at 00:30AM in Beit Ummar to cover the intense clashes that took place between the people and the Occupation Forces after raiding the town.
After the withdrawal of the Occupation Forces and during the coverage of the cameraman to the incident, one of the soldiers targeted him with a rubber-coated metal bullet that injured his right elbow. It was a mild injury and he had field treatment.
