The Israeli Forces have pursued a policy of silencing the Palestinian press in its efforts to show the bitter reality of living under the continuing violations committed by the occupation forces, says MADA.
(MADA/IFEX) – Ramallah, 28 June 2012 – Since the occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in June 1967, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have pursued a policy of silencing the Palestinian press in its efforts to show the bitter reality of living under the continuing violations committed by the occupation forces.
Israeli violations against journalists and media institutions have continued throughout the long years of occupation. The most grave violations include the killing of 18 Palestinian journalists as well as two foreign journalists in the last decade. In addition, serious physical assaults have permanently disabled other journalists. In the latest incident, Ma’an News Agency correspondent Mohammed Othman became paralyzed
after being shot by the IOF in the Gaza Strip while covering a Nakba Day march last year.
The General Director of the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), Mousa Rimawi, noted that Israeli attacks are not limited to the targeting of journalists as they perform their professional duties. The IOF also attempts to paralyze the work of media institutions by raiding, confiscation, and even complete destroying their equipment, causing a temporary or permanent halt to their work as well as substantial financial losses.
Rimawi added that from 2008 to the present, MADA has monitored numerous violations related to the seizure and destruction of property belonging to Palestinian media outlets in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
This includes storming as many as 11 media headquarters and confiscating equipment belonging to 14 other institutions. During this time, the IOF has also bombed seven other Palestinian and international media headquarters. Several journalists’ homes have been demolished during the Israeli aggression on Gaza Strip in the beginning of 2009, and other journalists have had their cameras damaged while covering events in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt). As a result of the intensification of these practices in the last few months, MADA prepared this special report on these types of violations, which are in direct violation of international laws and conventions.
