Ramallah – 21st March 2013 – The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms would like to extend a massage to the USA president Barak Obama asking him to pressure Israel to end its attacks on journalists, which reached 647 attacks in the past five years. 

Mousa Rimawi the general director of MADA stated that Obama’s visit to Israel represents a special opportunity to exert pressure on Israel to respect International laws and Conventions, which guarantees freedom of expression and provides protection to journalists, who are exposed to the continuous attacks by the Israeli Occupation Forces IOF.

Rimawi added that the past year witnessed major escalation in attacks on journalists by the IOF, especially during the latest aggression on the Gaza Strip, where three journalists were killed, and where Palestinian, Arab, and international Media Organizations headquarters were bombed, which lead to a verity of physical injuries to a number of journalists, in addition to large financial loses effecting Media organizations.  What’s most dangerous is that Israel did not hesitate to justify its killing of the three journalists and its bombing of the media headquarters. 

Rimawi confirmed that the international community silence has encouraged Israel to precede with its violations of media freedoms in Occupied Palestine, and is continuing its policy of detaining and administrative arrest of journalists, and we wish to restate our demand for their release.

Rimawi added that MADA is confident that the exercise of pressure on Israel by President Obama, and linking the US relations with Israel by the extent of Israel’s commitment to respect international laws and charters especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will guarantee freedom of expression in particular and human rights in general in Palestine, and would make Israel reconsider its overall policy in regard of media freedoms.