26 September 2010

On the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian journalist, which coincides with the 26 September, The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) greets the Palestinian journalists, who are doing their professional duty, despite the risks, obstacles and attacks on them, especially by the Israeli occupying forces, which most recently was Yesterday 25 September 2010, where the AP photographer Nasser Shyoukhi subjected a violent attack by the Israeli occupying forces, and he is still at Al-Ahli Hospital in Hebron.

Shyoukhi told MADA details about his attack by saying: "I went to cover the weekly march of Beit Omar in Hebron, after the end of the march, one of the soldiers approached me and said: go from here, I told him I will go now. I walked a few meters, then two Israeli border guards attacked me and put me on the ground and started beating me roughly all over my body. After
that they handcuffed and took me to a nearby wall of the settlement of "Karmi Tsur" which close to the region, there I was detained about two hours, during that all the soldiers whose were standing there, beat and insulted me. After that they released me, then I was taken to Al Ahli hospital in Hebron, the doctors said that I’m suffering from broken of two feathers of my rib cage and bruises all over my body.

"From her part Al-Quds Net correspondent Diala Jwehan said that she has seen her death when she was doing her job on Friday 24 September 2010, in
Al-Essawiyeh area in Jerusalem. Jwehan said that she went at 8:00 pm, accompanied by television producer Fared Saleh for an interview with the family of a Palestinian child who died because of inhalation of the gas grenade thrown by Israeli occupation forces. After they came out of the house, members of the Israeli police were in the region. Jwehan and her
colleague heard the police speaking with each other that they want to fire bullets and tear gas at them, and then they have shed laser light over their bodies and shot bullets in the air and around them, which caused them a huge horror. Jwehan added: "In this moment we believed that we will die, it was a very frightening situation; until now I can’t stand on my legs."
MADA calls all international institutions and human organizations for solidarity with the Palestinian media workers, and to work to ensure their protection, and to halt all attacks against them.

MADA also demands all concerned parties to respect freedom of expression in the occupied Palestinian territory, which guaranteed in article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

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Contact: 
Riham Abu Aita
Public Relation Officer
Ramallah
riham@madacenter.org
www.madacenter.org
00970 2 2976519