Due to our confirmed keen to the existence of effective journalists
syndicate in the occupied Palestinian territories, which cares about
journalist’s interests and defend it, the Palestinian Center for

Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) have studied the Palestinian
journalist syndicate situation before and after the general Assembly
meeting in Ramallah city on the fifth and sixth of February 2010, and after
consultation with a large group of journalists who represent different
perspectives over the past few weeks, we have come to the conclusion that
it is very difficult, even we can say that it is impossible to overcome the
election’s consequences and return to the pre-meeting of the Assembly
situation .

Therefore, and despite all the observations and breaches that took place
before and during the general Assembly meeting, we believe that it is
necessary to give the syndicate administrative council (63 members) and the
executive comity (21 members) that will be elected from them, the
opportunity to work to rebuild the syndicate on professional basis, and to
save it from the slack and the absence which it was on during the past two
decades.

So we suggest to exercise its duties as transition body for one year at
the most, in which it will work to propose a set of amendments of the
syndicate charter , taking in consideration all developments in the media
sector, with special attention to definition of who is a journalist,
assisted by local, Arabic and international expertise, then to arrange a
general assembly meeting for discussion and approval, and then to check the
membership and the acceptance of new members according to the new
definition of who is a journalist. After that another Assembly meeting will
be convened to elect the leadership of the syndicate under the auspices of
Palestinian NGOs, the Arab Journalists Union and the international
Federation of Journalists.

MADA also emphasizes that the executive comity after its being elected
should immediately make an open dialogue in the coming weeks with blocs and
press media institution, especially in Gaza strip, in order to reach a
common ground to unite the press body in the syndicate on professional and
democratic basis, and in this context, MADA is ready to make every possible
to achieve this noble goal effort, in cooperation with the all.