(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 17 September 2001 letter to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Yasser Arafat, CPJ strongly protested recent acts of censorship and intimidation carried out by the PNA against journalists covering celebrations among some Palestinians of the Tuesday 11 September terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. On 11 September, according […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 17 September 2001 letter to Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Yasser Arafat, CPJ strongly protested recent acts of censorship and intimidation carried out by the PNA against journalists covering celebrations among some Palestinians of the Tuesday 11 September terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.
On 11 September, according to international press reports, Palestinian police and armed gunmen prevented several news photographers and cameramen from documenting events in the West Bank city of Nablus, where groups of Palestinians celebrated the attacks by honking horns and firing live ammunition rounds into the air.
According to The Associated Press (AP), Palestinian security authorities summoned a free-lance cameraman working for the AP that same day and warned him not to air his footage of the events. Members of the Tanzim militia, affiliated with President Arafat’s Fatah organization, also issued warnings that the AP cameraman interpreted as threatening.
Later, the AP quoted PNA cabinet secretary Ahmed Abdel Rahman as saying that the PNA “[could] not guarantee the life” of the AP cameraman if the film were broadcast. In the end, the footage was not aired, apparently out of concern for the journalist’s safety.
Three days later, on 14 September, Palestinian police briefly detained several photographers and cameramen working with international news agencies in the Gaza Strip and confiscated their equipment. The journalists had been covering a rally to commemorate a Palestinian suicide
bomber that the militant Islamic group Hamas staged in the Nusseirat refugee camp.
During the rally, one protestor reportedly held up a portrait of Osama bin Laden, the exiled Saudi financier suspected by the United States of orchestrating the recent attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Palestinian police later stated that they “confiscated media material which documented illegal acts” at an illegal rally.
Although the PNA returned the journalists’ camera equipment that weekend, some of their video footage had been erased. The AP reported yesterday that its video was missing forty-five seconds of footage. Another photographer told CPJ that images stored on his digital camera had been erased.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– noting that these acts of intimidation and censorship violate the most fundamental norms of free expression
– urging him to ensure that Palestinian authorities immediately cease threatening and censoring journalists in PNA-controlled areas
– urging him to investigate these incidents and prosecute anyone found to have acted illegally in threatening the press
– calling on him to issue a public statement reiterating his personal commitment to protecting the security of journalists and guaranteeing their right to work freely
Appeals To
His Excellency Yasser Arafat
President of the Palestinian National Authority
Al-Muntada, Gaza
Fax: +972 7 282 2365Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
