The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly
condemns the Israeli attacks against a group of journalists in the West
Bank and Jerusalem, and preventing them from covering a clashes which
broke out in several areas between the “Israeli occupation army and
police" and Palestinian youths, in protest of the Israeli occupation
authorities opening of “ruin synagogue" in the Old City in Jerusalem.
Where the police today prevented the journalists from covering a clashes
in Al-Esawiya town near Jerusalem. they also attacked the Palestine TV
cameraman Nader Pabers and Pal Media cameraman Hamza Naaji.
On the other hand the Israeli occupation army has detained the Palestine
TV crew (correspondent Haroon Amayreh, cameramen Samer Habash and Najib
Sharoneh) on Atarah checkpoint near Birzeit town in the West Bank
yesterday.
The Associated Press photographer Mahfouz Abu Turk said that the Israeli
army today 16 March 2010 prevented all journalists and news channels
crews from covering the confrontations in Al-Esawiya town, where a group
of press crews like Al Jazeera, Al-Arabiya, CNN, and others were in the
region, but all of them were prevented from filming, and the Israeli army
ordered them to stay away from the area.
Pabers he said that he went yesterday 15 March 2010 11:pm, to Al-Asbat
Gate area in Jerusalem to film the clashes between Palestinian youths and
Israeli police. And while he was filming from one of the buildings, the
police fired gas grenades on him so he suffocated. They also fired
another grenade on his colleague Naaji. And then a police officer
approached them and told them: “If you get hurt, we are not responsible
about you."
On the West Bank, Amayreh said that he went yesterday 15 March 2010 with
the TV crew to Atarah checkpoint near Birzeit to cover a March of the
Birzeit University students. And when they arrived the checkpoint the
Israeli occupation soldiers prevented them from covering and detained them
for an hour and a half. And then they ordered them to leave the area.
MADA stresses on the need for the Palestinian journalists to get their
right of expression and coverage, and calls the international community
and all human rights organizations to intervene quickly to end the
Palestinian journalist’s suffering from ongoing Israeli harassment.
