MADA condemns the raid by Israeli forces on the studio where the "Good Morning Jerusalem" program was being filmed. Israeli forces claim the program is not licensed and is inciting dissent against the Israeli occupation.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedom (MADA) condemns the raid by Israeli forces on the studio where the Sabah Al-Khair Ya Quds (Good Morning Jerusalem) program was being filmed. They forced the staff to stop broadcasting and also arrested the director of production, Nadir Paprs, a cameraman for Pal Media agency, Ashraf Abu Shaweesh, and one of the guests on the show, claiming that the program is not licensed and is inciting dissent against the Israeli occupation.
The director of the program, Mai Abu Asab, told MADA that Israeli occupation forces raided the headquarters of the studio in Jerusalem, while the program was being broadcast live, and told them to immediately stop filming. Her colleagues, Paprs and Abu Shaweesh, were released after a half hour of interrogation. Mai said: “All the accusations against the program – that it is illegal, not licensed and inciting against the Israeli occupation – are not true at all, since we have been broadcasting for five years through the Pal Media company which is licensed in the city.”
Mai added that the Israeli forces informed her colleagues that a complaint would be submitted against the program administration.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces severely beat freelance journalist Hamdi Abu Rahme, erasing all the photos on his camera and breaking a lens. The incident occurred while the journalist was covering the weekly march in Baleen village, west of Ramallah. Abu Rahme told MADA that Israeli soldiers approached him and ordered him to stop filming and hand them his camera. After he refused, 6 soldiers attacked him. They aimed a gun at his head and his camera was taken forcibly. Abu Rahme added:”They violently beat me, using their fists and butts of their guns. They also erased all the photos taken by on the camera of my freelance colleague, Haitham Al-Khateeb.”
According to MADA, this violation was aimed at concealing the reality faced by the citizens of the occupied city of Jerusalem. MADA urges the international community to promptly put an end to Israeli attacks on media freedom.
