Press Freedom to Report on Palestinian Statehood

IPI/IFEX) - VIENNA, 29 August 2011 - The joint open letter below was drafted at the initiative of the Steering Committee of the Israeli Palestinian Journalists Forum (IPI-IPJF) of the International Press Institute, the global free media network based in Vienna, Austria.

The IPI-IPJF, which is comprised of journalists from Israel and the Palestinian Territories, met for the first time in Vienna, Austria from 14-16 June 2011 to discuss press freedom issues that affect reporting in the region. The IPI-IPJF and IPI call on leaders in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza to respect press freedom and journalists' rights as the media cover the recent events in Gaza and South Israel, and especially with the possible recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations General Assembly next month.

Vienna, 29 August 2011


Dear Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu,
Dear President Mahmoud Abbas,
Dear Ismail Haniyeh,


We, a forum of journalists from Israel and the Palestinian Territories, are writing today to urge you as the leaders of Israel, the Palestinian National Authority and Gaza to respect the rights of journalists operating in your territories.

The IPI Israeli-Palestinian Journalists Forum is a group of 25 journalists from Israel and Palestinian Territories who gathered together in support of press freedom in June 2011 in Vienna at the initiative of the International Press Institute (IPI), the world's oldest press freedom organization.

The Palestinian National Authority is currently working toward the recognition of a Palestinian state by the United Nations. This is a matter of interest to the region and the world, but moreover, to every person living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. That is why journalists working for Palestinian and Israeli media must be allowed to do their work without restriction. This is a matter of democratic principle. Journalists must be allowed to access and gather information without restriction. Journalists must also be free to responsibly publish news and commentary, without fear of attack or legal reprisal.

This is necessary so that the public in Israel and the Palestinian Territories have access to news from all sides, and to a wide array of political opinion. Journalists must be kept safe so that the people they serve can be kept informed.

The recent events in south Israel and Gaza make press more important than ever. Journalists must be permitted to work on the ground, so that they can report on the social and humanitarian aspects of attacks on all sides, and not just on military and political news. When journalists are prevented from travelling, or are arrested or threatened with attack, they are less able and less likely to report in-depth stories from the other side, and it is the public that suffers because it receives limited information.

Meeting at their first session in 1946, the U.N. General Assembly declared: "Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and is the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated. Freedom of information implies the right to gather, transmit and publish news anywhere and everywhere without fetters. As such it is an essential factor in any serious effort to promote the peace and progress of the world."

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that "Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

We hope that you, as leaders in the region, will respect the rights of each person living in Israel and the Palestinian Territories to access information and news that will help them to understand and make informed decisions about their government and future.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We look forward to your response, and would be happy to meet and discuss this issue with you at your convenience.


Sincerely,

Steering Committee IPI -Israeli-Palestinian Journalists Forum (IPJF)

Taghreed El Khodary
Lily Galili
Mohammed Daraghmeh
Daniel Zaken

Anthony Mills

 

Alison Bethel McKenzie
Director
International Press Institute (IPI)


For more information:

International Press Institute
Spiegelgasse 2/29
A-1010 Vienna
Austria
ipi (@) freemedia.at
Phone: +43 1 5129011
Fax: +43 1 5129014
http://www.freemedia.at/

Italian Journalist Murdered in Gaza

(IPI/IFEX) - 15 April 2011 - Hamas officials have said they found the body of an Italian journalist and activist who was kidnapped yesterday in Gaza, reports say. Vittorio Arrigoni, 36, was affiliated with the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian rights group, and reported on Palestinian issues for the left-wing Italian newspaper Il Manifesto and Peacereporter, and also wrote a blog, according to a report on the ISM website.

The journalist was kidnapped yesterday by a militant Islamist group, which released a YouTube video saying that they would kill Arrigoni unless Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, released a number of political prisoners, reports say. But before the Friday evening deadline had passed, the Hamas-run Interior Ministry in Gaza announced that the activist's body had been found, reports said.

Hamas has said that one suspect is now in custody, CNN reported on its website today.

"Our heartfelt condolences go out to Vittorio Arrigoni's family, friends and colleagues," said IPI Director Alison Bethel McKenzie. "By all accounts, this was a courageous journalist and activist who chose to remain in Gaza even when it was under attack. We are appalled at his death and call on the authorities to fully investigate and prosecute those responsible. It is unacceptable for human lives to be used as bargaining chips."

Hamas is also designated as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and others. Hamas officials have governed Gaza in a parallel government since 2007, after a post-election battle with Fatah, the political group that now dominates the Western-recognized Palestinian National Authority, whose effective control is limited to the West Bank.

In 2007, Hamas helped to free BBC correspondent Alan Johnston after he was held captive by terrorists for four months, and there has been a "history of bad blood" between the rival Islamist groups since then, the Bethlehem-based Maan News Agency reported.

The outcry against Arrigoni's death has been immediate. An ISM co-founder, Huwaida Arraf, told Maan News Agency, "He was more Palestinian than the criminals that killed him."

The website of the Italian daily Il Manifesto, which Arrigoni wrote for, carried the headline "Restiamo Umani" ("Let's Remain Human"), a phrase they say the journalist and activist repeatedly used when discussing the situation in the Palestinian Territories.

"It hurt really badly [to see the video of Arrigoni], if we consider the work that Vittorio has been carrying out from 2008 until today to inform always, at any time, through his blog, on Facebook and through articles on various websites, about what happened in Gaza," colleague Michele Giorgio wrote on in an editorial for Il Manifesto. "Without a moment of rest, even at night."

Officials in Rome condemned "in the strongest manner the act of vile and senseless violence committed by extremists who are indifferent to the value of human life," Maan News Agency reported.

The Palestinian National Authority called the murder "a dark page in our history, "Italian news agency AGI reported today.

And a spokesperson for the Interior Ministry in Gaza said that Hamas "condemns the heinous crime that does not reflect our values, our religion or our custom and tradition," AGI said.

But journalists working in the Gaza Strip have frequently complained of attacks and harassment by Hamas forces. Protests in Gaza last month calling for an end to the rivalry between Hamas and Fatah were violently dispersed, and journalists covering the demonstrations were targeted. The offices of Reuters, Japan TV, CNN and other news agencies were attacked, and individual reporters received death threats, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms said in a report last month.

In October last year, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate's (PJS) headquarters in Gaza were shut down. Although the syndicate is now operating again, their officer Amal Touman was prevented from leaving Gaza to attend an International Federation of Journalists meeting in Morocco this week, PJS President Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar told IPI by phone from Casablanca today.

Al-Najjar called Arrigoni's death a "horrible incident" and a "big crime," and said that perhaps people will now "be aware that these groups will damage the opportunity for freedom of the press and the peace process."

Il Manifesto had planned journalist demonstrations calling for Arrigoni's release in Milan, Rome, Turin and other cities for this afternoon. These will now be turned into memorials, the newspaper's website said.


For more information:

International Press Institute
Spiegelgasse 2/29
A-1010 Vienna
Austria
ipi (@) freemedia.at
Phone: +43 1 5129011
Fax: +43 1 5129014
http://www.freemedia.at/

Hamas Seizes Smuggled Antiquities

GAZA, July 12 (Bernama) — Hamas authorities on Monday said they have foiled an attempt to smuggle ancient antiques from the Gaza Strip to Israel.

The police arrested four smugglers who were trying to take the antiques out through the security fence separating Gaza and Israel, Ayman al-Batniji, spokesman for the police told China’s Xinhua news agency, adding that the arrested have been sent for interrogation.

Al-Batniji said “the antiquities are owned by the state.”

According to sources from the Hamas-run Ministry of Tourism, the seized antiques could date back to the Canaanite era in 2300 BC and the Roman era.

The unnamed sources said Gaza, controlled by the Hamas since 2007, had been the place of several civilization, but many of its monuments were stolen during the occupations and mandates it suffered during the last century.

Some rich people in Gaza used to collect antiques. In 2008, a Gaza businessman opened the first museum in the enclave, housing what he could collect and buy from people.

Hamas Denies Palestinian Journalists Access

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the Hamas interior ministry's decision to deny Palestinian and foreign journalists access to the southern city of Rafah and to all hospitals in the Gaza Strip until further notice. The ban was issued on 14 August 2009, after fighting broke out in Rafah between the Hamas government and a radical Islamist group.

"The Hamas-led government's interior ministry has again demonstrated a desire to control news and information in the Gaza Strip," Reporters Without Borders said. "Only the presence of journalists would ensure independent information about what took place in Rafah on 14 and 15 August."

The press freedom organisation added: "This ban leaves journalists powerless and allows the authorities to avoid having to account for their actions during these important clashes."

The fighting between the Hamas government's security forces and members of Jund Ansar Allah, an armed Salafist group, left more than 20 dead and 112 wounded. It was sparked by the Friday sermon delivered by the group's leader, Sheikh Abdul Latif Musa, in the Ibn Taymiyya mosque on 14 August, in which he announced the creation of an Islamic emirate in Rafah.

The interior ministry's ban has been greeted with anger by virtually all of the Gaza Strip's journalists, who say it is an attack on media freedom and their autonomy. The Palestinian media and Palestinian journalists managed to keep operating and provide coverage during the Israeli offensive against the Gaza Strip last January. But this ban concerns Palestinian journalists as well.

"Many photographers and cameramen have been prevented from working in the neighbourhood where the Ibn Taymiyya mosque is located since just after the start of the fighting on Friday until today," said AFP photographer Said Al-Khatib on 17 August. "They told us it was for safety reasons."

Members of the security forces raided the Gaza City bureau of the British news agency Reuters on 14 August after it ran a report about Musa's sermon together with video of the outbreak of fighting. The security forces demanded the Reuters videotape of the fighting, but did not obtain it.

In a 15 August communiqué, the interior ministry accused the Dubai-based satellite TV station Al Arabiya of broadcasting a report that contained lies and "insulted the Palestinian resistance fighters."

http://www.ifex.org/palestine/2009/08/18/journalists_banned/

Aid Shipment to Gaza Detained

Two Al Jazeera journalists held by Israeli authorities

SOURCE: Reporters Without Borders

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the detention of two journalists employed by the Qatar-based satellite TV station Al Jazeera,who were aboard the "Spirit of Humanity", a ship carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, when it was intercepted by the Israeli navy on 30 June 2009.

"Othman Abufalah and Mansour Al-Abi were aboard the 'Spirit of Humanity' as journalists, not for activist reasons," Reporters Without Borders said. "They must be freed at once."

The ship, which was chartered by the Free Gaza human rights group, was boarded by the Israeli navy at 3 p.m. (local time) on 30 June as it was approaching Gaza's territorial waters and was escorted to the Israeli port of Ashdod (located just to the north of the Gaza Strip). All those aboard, including the two Al Jazeera journalists, were taken to a detention centre near Ben Gurion international airport.

"We expect them to be deported in the next few days, but we want a guarantee that everything aboard the ship will be returned to us," a Free Gaza activist told Reporters Without Borders.

The "Spirit of Humanity" left Cyprus on 29 June with 21 human rights activists from 11 countries aboard. They include Mairead Maguire of Northern Ireland, a co-winner of the Nobel peace prize in 1977, and former US Representative Cynthia McKinney. It was also carrying three tons of medical supplies, toys and material for the repair and rebuilding of 20 houses.

"The aim of this aid was to circumvent the blockade that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip since June 2007 and to symbolically help reconstruction in Gaza following the 22-day Israeli military operation in the territory," the Free Gaza activist told Reporters Without Borders.

http://www.ifex.org/israel/2009/07/08/journalists_held/

For more information:
Reporters Without Borders
47 rue Vivienne 75002 Paris France
rsf (@) rsf.org
Phone: +33 1 44 83 84 84
Fax: +33 1 45 23 11 51
http://www.rsf.org/