Gaza – 19th September 2013:, the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) wrapped up a three day training course for media students at the Alaqsa University in Gaza, the course included training on freedom of expression and opinion, media laws, and the optimal use of social media.

The course was funded by the Ramallah Office of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and was opened in the presence of Dean of the Faculty of Information d. Ahmed Abu-Saeed, who confirmed that the session aimed to give media students a set of concepts and basics in strengthening the protection of freedom of opinion and expression, and to learn international principles relating to freedom of the press in the field of human rights.

The course included training sessions on the concepts and terminology of basic human rights, freedom of opinion and expression in accordance with international standards, the legislation governing freedom of the press and media in the Arab countries and their harmonization with international standards, and discussions on media freedom in Palestine and some Arab countries from the legislative and applied point of view and compared them to the international standards.

The course also touched on the role of journalists to influence national legislation to ensure the protection of freedom of opinion and expression - campaigns and lobbying, the right to know as an essential component of access to information, the judiciary and freedom of opinion and expression, and whether the judiciary is imposing restrictions on freedom of opinion and expression? And can freedom of expression affect the independence of the judiciary? The training also included some models of previous prosecutions of journalists for expressing their views and exercising their professional work.

MADA’s legal adviser over in Gaza Mr. Karem Nashwan about human rights and freedom of opinion and expression in the local and international conventions, and touched on the articles that ensure citizens right to freedom of opinion and expression, both in the Palestinian Basic law and in the Press and Publication Law, in addition Nahswan spoke about the restrictions set by the law on this right and Compared the extent of local laws being in line with international standards.

The second day of the course was allocated to train the students on the right to access information law, specifically the principles set by the organization Article19 in this regard. Mr. Ahmed Hamad (Trainer) spoke about the law draft suggestion, submitted by MADA to the Legal Department of the Council of Ministers, and the importance of the enactment of the access to information law to the whole Palestinian society.

The third and final day of the course was allocated for journalists’ optimal use of social media, and how to launch press releases via these platforms. The training was facilitated by Mohsen Alifranji (Trainer) and focused on the importance of creative production rather than (Copy paste) previous productions, Also a discussion and debate about the limits of using social media, its cons and pros for journalists was conducted and students were given tips on how to start their journalism career through these platforms.

Participants stressed the importance of such courses and the extent of the benefit they gained during the training days. One trainer (Fida Abu Samra) stated that the biggest benefit gained from the course was learning ways to obtain the sources of information in relation to human rights.

At the end of the course students expressed how they are happy they participated and that they benefited, especially since the topics discussed during the sessions were new to them and important for their journalistic work in the future, and they thanked MADA for organizing this course.

The training course was conducted at many Palestinian Universities around the West Bank as well.