(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release, followed by the organisation’s letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon: TV Bombing: IFJ Warns Israel Over “Making the world a dangerous place for journalists” THE International Federation of Journalists today warned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel’s latest bombing of Palestinian radio and television facilities, […]
(IFJ/IFEX) – The following is an IFJ media release, followed by the organisation’s letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
TV Bombing: IFJ Warns Israel Over “Making the world a dangerous place for journalists”
THE International Federation of Journalists today warned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that Israel’s latest bombing of Palestinian radio and television facilities, this time in Gaza City, was a dangerous strategy that could lead to targeting of media around the world.
In a letter to the Israeli Prime Minister, the IFJ says that attacks on public broadcasting facilities in Ramallah and Gaza city were not justified and “reinforce our strong belief that Israel is making the world a more dangerous place for journalists.”
“The broadcasts of the Palestine official media have infuriated many Israelis because they tell the story of the conflict from a clear Palestinian perspective,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary, “However, such anger does not justify military targeting of public broadcasting offices and installations.”
The IFJ protest comes only days after an emergency series of risk-awareness training courses organised by the IFJ for around 100 Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza.
“We are anxious to improve levels of safety for both Palestinian and Israeli staff,” says White in his appeal to the Prime Minister. “However, the policy of your government and military strategists compromises the validity of these humanitarian objective.” White last week visited the destroyed premises of the Voice of Palestine in Ramallah and met with Israel’s press information director.
The IFJ, which is the world’s largest journalist group, says Israel’s destruction of Palestine Broadcasting offices and equipment continues an unacceptable trend of targeting of media which began after NATO’s 1999 bombing of the RTS broadcasting station in Belgrade, in which 16 media staff died. This clear precedent is now being followed in the Middle East, in the conflict between India and Pakistan, and the unexplained destruction of the Kabul office of Arabic broadcaster Al-Jazeera in the Afghanistan bombing campaign.
The IFJ has called on Prime Minister Sharon to immediately end targeting of media, if not, “We fear this cycle of violence will intensify with the journalists and media workers becoming victims everywhere in spite of their protection under international law.”
The IFJ also deplored the Israeli attack over the weekend on the headquarters of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions, an organisation affiliated with the International Confederation of Trade Unions. The building, which was erected with the support of the international labour movement, was severely damaged.
The IFJ says that military assaults on legitimate civil institutions like trade unions have nothing to do with the fight against terrorism. “Such attacks,” said White “damage the functioning of legitimate, democratic civil institutions; movements that are essential in any future lasting peace for the region.”
The IFJ is the world’s largest journalists’ group with 500,000 members in 106 countries.
The following is a copy of the IFJ’s letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon:
International Federation of Journalists
From the General Secretary
February 21st 2002
Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister
Government of Israel
Fax: + 972 2 651 26 31
Dear Mr Prime Minister,
The horrifying events in Israel and the neighbouring Palestinian areas in recent days have cost a great deal of suffering and loss of life. On behalf of journalists everywhere, the International Federation of Journalists expresses its deep sympathies to the victims, their families and their communities.
At the same time, we regret to say that the political strategies at work in this conflict themselves may inadvertently contribute to additional suffering, not just in this region, but in other parts of the world.
In particular, the IFJ, the world’s largest journalists’ group, is worried about the implications of the systematic destruction by the Israeli Defence Force of the infrastructure of the Palestine Broadcasting Corporation in Ramallah and, yesterday, in Gaza City.
We know that the broadcasts of the Palestine official media have infuriated many Israelis; that is not surprising given that they tell the story of this conflict from a clear Palestinian perspective. However, we do not accept that such anger justifies the military targeting of public broadcasting offices and installations.
From the perspective of an organisation that records daily the tragic consequences of targeting civilian institutions, particularly in the media field, we believe that one risk of such attacks is to endanger the lives of trades unionists and journalists elsewhere. The attacks on Ramallah and Gaza media reinforce our strong belief that Israel is making the world a more dangerous place for journalists.
We also deplore the attack a few days ago on the headquarters of the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions; an organisation affiliated to the International Confederation of Trade Unions, our partner in the global unions family. The building, which was erected with the support of the international labour movement, was severely damaged. I am sure that you will agree that military assaults on legitimate civil institutions like trade unions have nothing to do with the fight against terrorism. Such attacks, instead, damage the functioning of legitimate, democratic civil institutions; movements that are essential in any future lasting peace for the region.
This is particularly true for media institutions, something that we raised in a meeting last week with the Director of the Government Press Office in Jerusalem.
It is well known that, in these cases, the attacks on Palestinian broadcasting are of no military or strategic significance. Indeed, broadcasting is usually resumed a short time after the destruction of the premises.
Nor are we convinced by allegations that the broadcasting breached international norms of freedom of expression by active incitement to violence. Such allegations have to be properly tested. In these cases they were not.
Until 1999, when NATO bombed the public broadcasting system in Belgrade, a tragedy in which 16 media staff were killed, the military targeting of public media in conflict was virtually unknown.
However, this precedent has since been used to justify other attacks in the Palestinian areas, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Your officials have directly quoted the NATO action to justify recent attacks.
For the first time, we see the routine identification of media installations and media personnel as legitimate military targets, even though this is in defiance of international law, which guarantees the rights of media staff and journalists as non-combatants.
The symbolism of the Israeli attacks on Palestinian broadcasting may serve to strengthen morale in some quarters, but for us it raises the prospect of further attacks and deaths in other regional conflicts such as those in Sri Lanka, Kashmir, Colombia, Central Africa, the Philippines, and a handful of other places, where declared and undeclared conflicts cause great suffering.
We fear this cycle of violence will intensify with the targeting of journalists and media workers, as one side or another seek to justify their actions by precedents being set by NATO, Israel and others.
Our aim is not to take sides in any of these conflicts, but to underscore the need for protection of journalists and media staff. We have in the past few days carried out vital risk-awareness training for media personnel in the Palestinian areas. We are anxious to provide technical materials to improve levels of safety to both Palestinian and Israeli staff. However, the policy of your government and military strategists compromises the validity of these humanitarian objectives.
We ask you to reconsider this policy of targeting media. We ask you to consider whether attacks on civil institutions – including the trade union movement – will contribute to building peace and stability or whether, instead, they will reinforce resentment and reinforce a culture of violence within civil society.
Strategies that put in peril the lives of civilians and that do not, in the end, have a military or strategic justification should be abandoned.
I believe strongly that Israel, as a country committed to the democratic process and the defence of human rights, should not in any way support the notion that it is legitimate to attack media and journalism even when we disagree strongly with the opinions and sentiments they express.
With Kind Regards,
AIDAN WHITE
General Secretary
