The month of February saw a surge in the number of violations committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces against the freedom of the media, namely the escalation of aggression and assaults against journalists and media outlets. According to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (MADA) monitoring, the number of violations in February reached nearly twice the number recorded the previous month.
The violations, which included attacks carried out by the Israeli authorities and the occupation army against the freedom of the media, took place on most days throughout the month of February, however, the aggression saw its peak on February 29 when troops stormed the headquarters of two television stations, “Watan” and “Al Quds Educational’ TVs, in Ramallah which is fully under the governance of the Palestinian Authority. They confiscated equipment for broadcasting, computers, and documents from the two stations, which lead to a complete halt in broadcasting.
The Israeli Occupation Forces continued to target journalists and media outlets throughout the month of February while they were covering peaceful demonstrations and protests, putting their lives at risk by firing rubber bullets and tear gas and even resorting to detention, all in order to prevent these professionals from doing their jobs and covering events.
When compared with the previous month, we do not see any significant change in the number of Palestinian violations of media freedom during the month of February. The Preventative Security Services detained Mohammad Ishtiui, correspondent for Al Aqsa Television, and two photographers in the town of Birzeit north of Ramallah. In addition, the sites of Milad and Amad news agencies were blocked in the West Bank. The internal security apparatus in the Gaza Strip summoned freelance photographer Maali Abu Samra. They also arrested editor of the “Alshoa’la” news website Saher Al Aqraa’ on February 17, 2012.
Recommendations
MADA once again denounce the violations committed against freedom of the media in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and expresses its deep concern in the dangerous escalations and continued attacks committed by the occupational forces against journalists and media outlets, especially the storming of “Watan” and “Al Quds Educational” TVs headquarters and the confiscation of their equipment and documents. MADA reiterates its demand that all equipment and documents be returned and calls on the international community to put pressure on the Israeli government to cease violations of media freedoms in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
MADA is pleased of the acquittal of columnist Dr. Assam Shawar on Sunday, February 27, 2012, the last day of his appeal hearing, when he was deemed innocent by the Palestinian court. Shawar had been arrested on January 16, 2011 by the Preventative Security Service after writing four articles that were political in nature and was released on February 13, 2012. On December 4, 2011, he was deemed by the court to be innocent; however, the prosecution appealed the decision, which led to four appeal sessions.
MADA expressed his concern about the increased security control in the West Bank over websites and social networking sites, including two news websites that were blocked.
MADA is demanding that the Palestinian Security Services in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip cease violations against journalists and respect the Freedom of Expression that is guaranteed in Article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law.
Israeli Violations of Media Freedoms
February 3: The forces of the Israeli Occupation detained Palestinian Public TV correspondent and Ali DarAli, and cameraman Najib Faraouna, for 4 hours on Friday, February 3, 2012. Faraouna told MADA that the reason of their detention was their covering of the weekly march in the village of Al Nabi Saleh near Ramallah. The Occupation forces claim that they were found in a closed military zone. They also prevented correspondent for “Al Quds” television Linda Shalash from completing her work during the coverage of Al Nabi Saleh march. Shalash reported to MADA that the soldiers of the Occupation checked all press cards and gave journalists a limited amount of time to finish their work, and If they didn’t leave soon they would be arrested.
February 5: The forces of the Israeli Occupation raided the home of Suhaib Aziz Al A’sa, Bethlehem 2000 radio reporter , at 2:30 am on Sunday, February 5, 2012 in the village of Al Ubayda near Bethlehem. According to his brother Fadi Al Asa, they arrested Suhaib , confiscating his mobile phones, voice recorder, and the memory card from his camera. No reasons were given for the arrest of his brother. On February 22, Suhaib’s arrest was extended for 10 more days in Al Jamla Interrogation Center, where his family is not allowed to visit him.
February 6: The Occupation forces raided the home of freelance photographer Amr Halaiqa Shioukh in the village of Al Shioukh near Hebron at 2 am on Monday, February 6. His uncle journalist Younis Hasasneh told MADA that They ordered his family to leave the house and kept them outside for several hours in the bitter cold, following which they arrested Amr. According to Hasasneh, they took Amr to an unknown place, without informing anyone of his whereabouts, until finally they found out from the Office of Complaints in Jerusalem that he had been taken to the Asqlan Interrogation Center. On Friday, February 25, Amr was released on a bail of 3,000 shekels. As of now, his court date has yet to be scheduled. After his release, Amr reported to MADA that he was never given any reason for his detention, which is why his lawyer has requested the Israeli court for his immediate release.
February 8: Israeli military court has sentenced Amin Abu Wardeh, for PNN News Agency and Alkhalij Newspaper correspondent to administrative detention for 6 months. The forces of the Israeli Occupation had arrested Abu Wardeh on December 28, 2011. His colleague, Atif Douglas, told MADA that the Israeli court had sentenced Abu Wardeh to 6 months of administrative detention, however, the final verdict discount 43 days which he spent in jail since his arrest of his sentence.
February 10: Journalist Hamza Na’aja, correspondent for Pal Media and TRT Turkey, was severely injured while covering the weekly demonstrations in Al Nabi Saleh on Friday, February 10, 2012. Israeli soldiers threw a gas bomb which hit him in the back causing him to fall on a pile of stones, which resulted in a dislocated right shoulder. All of this took place despite the fact that he wore the protective outwear of a journalist, which entitles him to protection from such acts of violence. Naaja informed MADA that the ambulance was not able to reach him for an hour and a half after his injury. Israeli soldiers stopped the vehicle and asked to see his press card before the allowed him to pass, following which he was taken to Ramallah Hospital to receive necessary treatment. The doctors treating him recommended that Naaja stay at home and have complete rest for three weeks, without doing any work that might strain his injury.
February 11: Three journalists were injured when they were hit by rubber bullets from the Israeli Forces near the Ofer Camp on Saturday, February 11, 2012, while covering a march in support of the captured Khader Adnan. Assam Al Rimawi, photographer for Al Hayah Al Jadideh newspaper, told MADA, “We were covering clashes between the protesters and the Israeli forces near the Ofer military checkpoint near Ramallah. We were wearing indicators that were clearly printed with the word 'PRESS’. While we were covering an incident involving a civilian being hit by rubber bullets, the Israeli forces open fire with the rubber bullets. Five were injured included a medic, young man, and three journalists, including myself. I received minor injuries in my right foot. My colleagues freelance journalists Muhammad Turkman and Bernat Arnaout were injured by a rubber bullet in their foots.
February 19: The Israeli Occupation forces detained Palestinian Public TV cameraman Nader Beibers, and Tawfeeq Salibeh, cameraman for Al Arabiyeh TV, for an hour and a half near the Lions Gate in the occupied city of Jerusalem. Nader Beibers told MADA that the Occupation deliberately detains journalists to prevent them from doing their work and covering critical events to prevent images and video footage from reaching the outside world.
February 21: The Israeli military court has renewed the administrative detention of journalist Amer Abu Arfeh, correspondent for Shihab News Agency for 6 additional months. The Israeli Occupation forces had arrested him in his home on August 21, 2011.
February 21: Nasser Shiyoukhi, correspondent of the associated press, was injured when a gas bomb hit his left foot, while he was covering the solidarity demonstration with administrative detained Khader Adnan in the village of Beit Amer near Hebron.
February 22: The Israeli court postponed the sentencing of journalist Raid Rateb Al Sherif, 23 years old, who works as a broadcaster for Marah radio station in Hebron until March 19, 2012. He has been detained since November 13, 2011.
February 24: Ibrahim Hamed, cameraman for Watan Television, was injured while covering the events at Al Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. Hamed told MADA that he was covering the clashes between the demonstrators and the occupational forces, while wearing a protective vest especially for the press. He tried to signal to the soldiers that he was a journalist, but they ignored him and continued to throw tear gas in his direction, which caused him to choke. An ambulance immediately arrived and transported him to the hospital where he received the necessary treatment.
February 25: Journalist Akram Al Natsheh, correspondent for Al Quds Television in Hebron, suffered from asphyxia due to a gas bomb thrown at demonstrators by the Occupational forces on Friday, February 25, 2012. This occurred at the intersection of Tareq Bin Ziyad, south of the city of Hebron. Al Natsheh told MADA that he had fainted because of inhaling the gas, and was taken to hospital to receive the necessary treatment.
February 25: Palestinian Public TV correspondent Haroon Amayreh suffered from severe asphyxia that caused him to faint due to gas bombs thrown by the Israeli forces, while he was covering the weekly demonstrations in Belaen near Ramallah. He received immediate treatment from the medical staff on an ambulance at the scene, then returned to work, covering the remainder of the demonstration. Amayreh confirmed to MADA that journalists are clearly exploited by the forces of the Occupation, which tries to drive them away from the scenes of events by throwing gas bombs at them and even physically pushing them.
February 26: Photojournalist Amer Awad received a minor injury to his left foot when the Israeli forces started to fire live bullets on the crowds, while cover the clashes that took place at the Kalandia checkpoint, when the body of martyr Talat Ramiyeh was displayed. Awad confirmed to MADA that he was standing in a “press-only” area when he was injured, and an Israeli soldier directly targeted him. He noted that the soldier said that he fired the bullet unintentionally. He was immediately treated by the Palestinian Red Crescent which was on the scene.
February 27: Majdi Ashityeh, photojournalist for the Associated Press, was injured in his right thigh by rubber bullets shot by the Israeli forces, while he was covering clashes near the village of Al Ram north of the occupied city of Jerusalem.
February 29: On Wednesday, 29 February 2012, Israeli occupation forces carried out a dawn raid on the local TV headquarters of both Watan and Educational Quds, confiscating computers, documents and radio equipment and leading to the suspension of broadcast.
Watan TV journalist Hamza Salaymeh told MADA: "I and my colleague Ahmed Zaki, who is the broadcast supervisor, were in the TV HQ and at about 2:00 am the building guard told us that there are soldiers and army jeeps in the vicinity of the building. We prepared ourselves to film what is going on, but when we opened the door, we found soldiers in front of us."
Salaymeh added: "They asked to confiscate the transmitter and when we told them we do not know where it is, they went up to the roof of the building and confiscated the head piece of the transmitter. They also confiscated all the computers on the fifth floor (the HQ is in two floors)) and then went to the fourth floor, where two colleagues, Ibrahim Melhem and Abdul Rahman Thaher, were working. They detained us in a room, in addition to the building guard, and began to search and confiscate the equipment and documents. This process continued for around two-and-a-half hours. The soldiers refused to explain why they were seizing the broadcast equipment and other devices."
Ola Abu Gharbia, Watan TV projects officer, said: "They confiscated a total of 21 computers from various sections of the TV headquarters, a transmitter and a device used for live broadcasts from the field, as well as a number of files and TV cassettes, and all TV accounts for the year 2011."
The Israeli occupation army also raided the headquarters of Quds Educational TV, which belongs to the University of Jerusalem’s Institute of Modern Media.
Shadi Barakat, Quds Educational TV broadcast technician, told MADA: "A group of Israeli soldiers, accompanied by several members of the Israeli intelligence and communication engineers raided the television building at 3:30 am, detaining personnel, and confiscating the broadcast equipment and communication devices.”
Quds Educational TV director Haroun Abu A’rra said: "The occupation army stormed the TV headquarters at dawn, confiscating broadcasting equipment, tampering with the contents and other equipment, and stopping the TV broadcast."
He added: "The occupation soldiers who stormed Quds Educational TV also blocked the private TV cameras so they did not affect what the soldiers did. This is an attack on the sanctity of the University of Jerusalem."
Palestinian Violations of Media Freedoms
February 2: “Amad” news website was blocked in the West Bank by the Palestinian Attorney General on February 2, 2012. The site Administration told MADA, “The Palestinian Attorney General Ahmed Al Mughany ordered the Palestinian Telecommunications Company through an official letter to block the site from the West Bank. The site administration wrote several times to the attorney general requesting that he remove the block since it is in violation of Palestinian law.”
February 9: “Milad” news website was blocked by official Palestinian authorities. The site administration team informed MADA, “Official Palestinian authorities ordered the Palestinian Telecommunication Company to block the website in the West Bank and Gaza Strip without any legal justification for it.”
February 14: The internal security forces of Hamas government in the Gaza Strip summoned freelance photographer Ma’lai Abu Samrah on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. Abu Samrah told MADA that this was one of a series of summons that occurred every Monday and Thursday between January 15 and February 14. This accrued after he filmed the visit of Dr. Nabil Shaath, a member of the Central Committee of Fatah in the Gaza Strip, January 1-8. Abu Samrah stated that when he was summoned on February 14, they informed him that this issue was over, but that they would keep him under surveillance for an indefinite period of time. They returned his computer and camera, which had been confiscated since January 15, during his first summon.
February 17: The internal security forces of Hamas government in the Gaza Strip arrested editor of “Al Shoa’lah” news website Saher Al Aqraa’ in the Gaza Strip on the evening of Friday, February 17, 2012. He told MADA that at exactly 11:30 pm, security forces stormed his home, and confiscated his personal computer and their home computer, his cameras, and many of his documents and certificates. He stated that they remained in his house for nearly half an hour, and then took him with them to the headquarters of the Internal Security Agency in the Gaza Strip. He was subject to torture and humiliation by investigators throughout his time there. They beat him on his leg that had previously been broken, even though he brought that to their attention. They wanted to accuse him of collaborating with forces in the city of Ramallah; however, they did not succeed because of lack of evidence. They had to release him after three days of detention and interrogation and asked him not to mention the incident to any anybody especially the media outlets.
February 28: Journalist Muhammad Ishtyui, correspondent of Al Aqsa TV, was detained by the Preventative Security Service in Birzeit town north of Ramallah, while he was returning with a group of photographers after having covered the sit in of the Islamic bloc at Birzeit University on Monday, February 28, 2012. Ishtyui told MADA, “We were returning from covering the sit in, which was held at Birzeit University, and were heading to the city of Ramallah, myself and two photographers from the city of Hebron. With us there were 3 other people. A civilian car followed us and stopped us in the middle of the way. Six people attacked us, confiscated the cameras of the photographers, beat one of them in the face, and took our identity cards. They told us the go to the PSS in Birzeit, and there the agency to which the two photographers belong immediately intervened, and the cameras, equipment, and ID cards were returned to us after 3 hours of detention. They treated us in a very violent manner, and they gave no reason for what they did, especially since there were 5 satellite channels at the demonstration, and they only targeted us.”
