18/09/2011- Ramallah: The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms’ (MADA) Director Mousa Rimawi calls upon the international community to support the Palestinian bid for full member state recognition at the United Nations General Assembly this month.
Rimawi said that UN recognition of Palestinian statehood would open new horizons for the end of the Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which since it’s beginning in 1967 has inflicted numerous human rights abuses upon the Palestinian population, including the suppression of the right to freedom of expression.
Rimawi added that it is now the time for the international community to accept its responsibilities and compel Israel to comply with International law and the relevant UN resolutions, because Israel behaves as if it’s above international law, which encourages it to continue its violations including its continued violations of freedom of expression.
Rimawi emphasized that the demise of the occupation would lead to a dramatic reduction in violations against media freedoms, with current statistics showing a total of 504 IOF and settler violations against journalists and press freedoms in the past three and a half years, including the killing of five journalists: Fadel Shana, Basil Faraj, Alaa Murtaja, Omar Silawi, and Ihab Wahedi
MADA demands that the international community take steps to prevent the Israeli government from imposing new sanctions on the Palestinian people during this period. The IOF has a long-standing history of targeting journalists covering demonstrations in the region, and with the upcoming UN bid thousands of people are expected to take to the streets in support of the move towards state recognition. In response MADA demands that the international community applies pressure on the IOF to exercise restraint in containing these demonstrations and allows journalists to operate freely and without threat of hindrance or violence.
MADA additionally wishes to reaffirm the need for an end to the unjust siege of the Gaza Strip, which has created a humanitarian crisis in the area and negatively impacted freedom of expression.
