Last January witnessed various violations against Palestinian journalists,
most of it was committed by the Israeli occupation forces, which attacked
and assaulted a number of journalists during their professional work, and
they are: Haroon Amayreh, Musa’b Al-Khatib, Ahmad Al-Kilani, Yousif
Shaheen, Ayed Awemer, Rami Swidan, and Issam Rimawi. Also they detained and
then deported Maan News Agency English chief editor Jared Malsin - who is
American citizen.
On the Palestinian side, the last month didn’t marked many violations
against journalists, where the Preventive Security in the West Bank
arrested Mustafa Sabri, and a member of the National Security raided Ammar
Altilawy house, and he was beaten and assaulted in a police station in the
Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) condemns
all violations against journalists, and welcomes the reduction in the
number of violations by the Palestinian side, and emphasizes on the
necessity to stop the violations completely, and to release all the
detained journalists. MADA also expresses its concern over the
significantly Israeli continued attacks on journalists, and calls upon the
international community to pressure Israel government to cease its freedom
of expression violations, in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Details of violations:

(4. Jan)- The free lance journalist Mustafa Sabri was arrested by the
Palestinian Preventive Security forces in Qalqilia city in the West Bank.
Sabri’s wife said that some people affiliated to the PPS came to their
house on Monday 4 January 2010 at 4:45 pm, and they asked Sabri to
accompany them to their headquarters. She asked them to give Sabri time to
eat, because he was fasting, but they refused that.
(8.January)- The Palestinian Public TV correspondent Ayed Awemer was
attacked by the Israeli occupying forces in Al-Nabi Saleh village west of
Ramallah city. Awemer said that he went on Friday 8 January 2010 at 1:30 pm
to cover a march in the village against the confiscation of their land to
expand Halmish settlement, and while he was making a live interview with
the Minister of religious affairs Mahmoud Habash, one soldier approached
him and threw a gas bomb in front of him, so he lost his consciousness for
small period of time, so he was taken to the ambulance for treatment.

(12. Jan) - Maan News Agency English chief editor Jared Malsin was detained
by ben Gorion airport security forces near Tel Aviv, on Wednesday 12
January 2010 .according to Maan statement Malsin was scheduled for
deportation at 6am on the next day, but the move was temporarily stayed,
when Maan attorney Castro Daoud filed an injunction, which was denied by
Israel’s attorney general, but accepted by Judge Sokolov shortly before
midnight. Interrogation transcripts reveal that Malsin’s detention was
linked to his work as a professional journalist. He was interrogated for
eight hours in a detention hall during which time he had no access to a
lawyer or to his consulate. Airport officials indicated that he was denied
entry into the country for “failing to cooperate" with Israeli security
personnel, and because he had authored news stories “inside the
territories" and articles “criticizing the State of Israel".

(14. Jan) - Aqsa TV cameraman and news producer Ammar Yasir Altilawy house
was raided in Khanyounis city (Gaza Strip), by an armed person who works in
the National security forces which belongs to the Ministry of Interior.
Altilawy said that “My house was raided in Thursday evening 14 January
2010 by an armed and military uniformed person who is working in the
National Security Forces affiliated to the Ministry of Interior in Gaza
under the pretext that he wanted to take pictures of military operation
carried out by someone before his martyrdom, so he stole my laptop and he
left a message that if he did not find the pictures on the laptop, he will
kidnap me by force". Altilawy added: " after that I went to the police
headquarter and I reported the incident and the testimony of a witness, and
they told me that they cannot do anything for because the aggressor is
working in the National Security, and that I have to come back to their
office later “. Altilawy added “after that I went with my father to the
police office on Saturday to follow the case, where the duty officer was
one of the aggressor siblings, I asked him about my complaint as its the
third day and the aggressor stills armed and free, I’m afraid that he
will kidnap me, but the officer told me that he did not do anything, so I
stickle that I need an urgent solution, then he said: “go out". I told
him that I’ll solve it on my own way which means that I will go for those
concerned people’. When I almost finished the sentence, the officer said to
his soldiers:" hit him", so they beat me severely with sticks and feet,
they were about ten soldiers, and when my father (50 years old) tried to
keep them away from me, they also beat him. After that they took me to a
room, then the officer came to me after they put me on the wall and raised
my hands on it, he severely beat and slapped me, and then ordered the
soldiers to put me in the jail. They also confiscated my property and my
mobile. after an hour, somebody from the police interfered and tried to
convince me to apologize to the officer to release me but I refused because
I didn’t do anything wrong to him, after that they release me with a
pledge". Altilawy concluded “this is the fifth day after the attack on
me and on my home, and the police didn’t do anything, on the contrary,
when the officer heard that the story began to spread he called one of my
relatives and threatened to arrest and persecutes me".

(20. Jan)- Maan News Agency English chief editor Jared Malsin was deported,
on Wednesday 20 January 2010, by Israeli authorities. Malsin rejected
reports that he left Israel voluntarily, in telephone call to Maan he said
“There’s no such thing as a voluntary deportation. I was deported,
period."

( 23. Jan)- Quds TV correspondent Musa’b Al-Khatib, and Pal media cameraman
Ahmed Kilani were humiliated and detained by the security of settlements
and the Israeli occupation forces near the Ariel settlement near Salfit in
the West Bank. According to Al-Khatib, he was working with his colleague
Kilani on report about “ the chances of resuming the negotiations in the
light of Israeli settlement expansion", and during filming, Two security
men approached them, and asked for their personal identity cards, and then
they summoned the Israeli army, whom forced Kilani to delete the press
material, then they handcuffed and blindfolded their eyes and took them to
unknown area, and threw them on the ground for an hour, and they pictured
them when they were on the ground as a form of humiliation. Al-Khatib
added: “After that, an army officer who spoke Arabic interrogate us about
our professional work and about the TV name which we work with, and he
told us that we would be released soon. After that they took us back to
where we were filming and ordered us to stay away from the area. Al-Khatib
ended by saying:" We told them that we are journalists and we showed them
our journalist’s cards, but they did not care, and continued insulting
and detaining us".

(23. Jan) - Palmedia cameraman Yousif Shaheen was arrested by Israeli
Occupation soldiers in Litwaneh village near Hebron in West Bank. According
to Shaheen, he was covering a protest march against the expansion of Jewish
settlements in Litwaneh on Saturday, 23 January 2010, at 10:00 am, where
one of the soldiers approached him and told him that this is a closed
military zone and he should stay away from here, so he went to another area
to cover, but he solider came again and took him to the police station in
the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Arba, and filed a complaint against him.
Shaheen added “They interrogated me about the Palestinian journalist’s news
sources and the way they work, and accused me that I am inciting the
demonstrators to escalate the protest to be able shoot pretty pictures.
after investigation, he forced me to thumb on papers, which I don’t know
what is written in it, and forced me to sign on another paper in which I
pledge that I will not enter the Litwaneh area for two months, or I will
pay a big fine.

(28. Jan)- Maan News Agency photographer Rami Swidan, Palmedia cameraman
Ashraf Abu Shawish, Reuter’s photographer Abdel-Rahim Alqusini, and
Reuter’s cameraman Hassan Titi, were attacked by the Israeli occupation
army on Thursday, 28 January 2010, in Burin village, south of Nablus city
in the West Bank. Swidan said that they were covering olive trees
cultivation in Burin. The Israeli occupation forces were in the area, where
one soldier approached him and ordered him not to cover, but he insisted on
filming, so they argued, then the soldier hit him on his chest, and tried
to take the camera from him by force, but the journalists interfered and
separated the soldier away from him. After that the soldiers threw tear gas
grenade at them and tried to disperse them.

(29. Jan) - the Palestine Public TV correspondent Haroon Amayreh was
attacked by the Israeli Occupation soldiers in Bili’n village near
Ramallah. Amayreh said that he went on Friday 29 January 2010 to cover the
activities of Bili’n march at 11:30 am, and when he interviewing Fateh
central comity member Sultan Abul-Enein in live broadcasting, Israeli
soldiers threw a gas bomb on them, he had severe difficulty in breathing,
so he could not complete the interview, and he was taken to an ambulance,
and given the necessary treatment.

(29. Jan)- Essam Rimawi, The APA image and Alhayat Aljadeda newspaper
photographer, was injured in Al-Nabi Saleh village in the west of Ramallah
city, by the Israeli occupation forces. Rimawi said that he went on Friday
29 January 2010 at1:00 pm to the village to cover a march against land
confiscation of the village, and while he was doing his job one Israeli
soldier fired (metal-rubber), at him, he was wounded in his left hand.
After that he went quickly to the ambulance and received the necessary
treatment.
———
Contact:
Riham Abu Aita
Public Relation Officer
Ramallah
info@madacenter.org
madapalestine@yahoo.com
www.madacenter.org
Tel. & Fax: 00970 2 2976519