(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, RSF protested the threats against Khaled Amayreh, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Akhbar el-Khalil”, by Palestinian intelligence services in Hebron. RSF asked the president to “see to it that the threats against the journalist cease, and use his influence to guarantee that the Palestinian press law […]
(RSF/IFEX) – In a letter to Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, RSF protested the threats against Khaled Amayreh, editor-in-chief of the weekly “Akhbar el-Khalil”, by Palestinian intelligence services in Hebron. RSF asked the president to “see to it that the threats against the journalist cease, and use his influence to guarantee that the Palestinian press law is respected.” This press law, signed by Arafat in 1995, stipulates that intelligence services do not have the right to interrogate, detain or arrest Palestinian journalists who are doing their professional work.
Moreover, RSF recalled that in 1999 “some ten Palestinian journalists were taken in for questioning or threatened by the Palestinian Authority.”
According to information gathered by RSF, on 11 February 2000, intelligence services officers called Amayreh in for questioning relating to his editorial in the latest issue of “Akhbar el-Khalil”. The journalist was notably accused of raising doubts about the Palestinian leadership’s commitment to the situation of refugees. An officer threatened to close down the newspaper if Amayreh continued to write articles critical of the Palestinian Authority. Three days later, the Israeli coordination bureau for the Hebron district also questioned him. A government official accused him of wanting to pressure the Palestinian Authority into adopting a harsher position vis-à-vis the return of refugees. The Hebron district is part of an area referred to as “Zone B” territories (under joint control), where civil authority is under the stewardship of the Palestinians and security is controlled by the Israelis.
