The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) expresses its concern about the continued closure of Ma’an agency and Alarabiya TV offices in the Gaza Strip since 25th of last July, and the policy of prosecuting journalists and bloggers, which increased after the dismissal of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi and after the events at Rabaa Aladawaia and Alnahda. Most recently was the arrest of journalist Thaher Alshamali in Ramallah, and blogger Hazem Salamah who was called for interrogation in Gaza.

Mousa Rimawi the General Director of MADA stated that the continued closure of Ma’an and Alarabiya brings us back to the dark era in the first months after the Palestinian internal division in mid-June 2007, which witnessed the closure of media outlets headquarters in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, the prohibition of media outlets from working, and the prevention from newspapers distribution, in addition to large prosecutions of journalists.

He added: “We believed that we have passed that stage, especially after the breakthrough that has occurred in media freedoms status during the past year and a half, but the return of tension to the relationship between Fatah and Hamas and the recent events in Egypt overshadowed darkly on freedom of expression in Palestine, and led to the deterioration of the freedoms of media in the last two months”.

The Attorney General's adviser in Gaza, Ismail Jabr has issued an order on Thursday 25thJuly 2013 to close the offices of Ma’an and Alarabiya in the Gaza Strip on a temporary basis under the pretext of (Fabrication of News and spreading fabricated rumors and unreal information that is not based on the source of truth that threatens national peace and harms the Palestinian people and its resistance).

Rimawi stated that the continued closure of the offices and prosecution of the journalists is a breach and violation of media freedoms and to the articles 19 and 27 of the Palestinian Basic Law.

In addition, the decision to close was temporary, but did not specify the duration, which gives the potential for closure to take months or years, so we (MADA) call for the offices to be reopened immediately, to enable the journalists and the media outlets to work freely and safely, to end the prosecution of journalists, whether in Gaza or the West Bank, and allow the re-printing and distribution of newspapers in both Gaza and the West Bank.