Ramallah - 8/5/2014: The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) welcomes the resumption of the distribution of Palestinian newspapers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Al-Quds newspaper was distributed yesterday in the Gaza Strip, and the newspapers printed in Gaza are supposed to be distributed today in the West Bank. MADA also demands the distribution of two other West Bank newspapers, Al-Haya Al-Jadida and Al-Ayyam, in Gaza.
The general director of MADA, Mr. Mousa Rimawi, said that distributing all newspapers in both parts of Palestine is an important step to put an end to the impact of the Palestinian division on the media. Indeed, the internal division has had a profound negative influence on the status of media freedoms in Palestine, as illustrated by the over 500 violations against journalists and media outlets monitored by MADA since the Hamas-Fatah split of June 2007. This step will also help in setting a positive atmosphere in the Palestinian political arena and in getting the situation back to how it was before the division.
Rimawi also pointed out that this year witnessed a significant decrease in the number of Palestinian violations against journalists, compared to the same period last year. However, it is still necessary to work on enhancing the right of freedom of expression, which is ensured by the Palestinian basic law, in order to reach a full stop of all kinds of violations against journalists and citizens expressing their opinions.
Rimawi also emphasized the real need to provide a suitable legal environment for the Palestinian media. MADA has been working on that front for the past few years, preparing a draft law on the right to access information and conducting campaigns to raise awareness on the importance of such a law for journalists, citizens and the government itself.
He added that MADA published a study on the legal regulation of media freedoms in Palestine, which recommended the urgent enactment of a basic media law, as well as another study on “The judiciary and the media - freedom of expression theory and practice”.
Rimawi declared: “Some days ago, we (MADA) launched a campaign to shed light on the importance of reforming media laws as part of a European Union funded project that we started at the beginning of the year. In the framework of this project, entitled “Defending Freedom of Opinion and Expression in a Healthy Legal Environment”, MADA conducted a series of workshops with Palestinian media students of the West Bank and Gaza, as well as a special workshop for judges in cooperation with the Higher Judicial Council. Workshops with lawyers will also take place in the near future as part of the project”.
