On 13 April 1995, officers with General Intelligence raided the Gaza offices of “Al-Watan”, a pro-Hamas weekly newspaper, and detained three journalists with the paper. The officers severely beat deputy editor Ghazi Hamad in the course of the arrest, local sources told the CPJ. Hamad, editor-in-chief Sayed Abu Musameh, and reporter Nafez al-Ji’b were held […]
On 13 April 1995, officers with General Intelligence raided the
Gaza offices of “Al-Watan”, a pro-Hamas weekly newspaper, and
detained three journalists with the paper. The officers severely
beat deputy editor Ghazi Hamad in the course of the arrest, local
sources told the CPJ. Hamad, editor-in-chief Sayed Abu Musameh,
and reporter Nafez al-Ji’b were held for several hours,
questioned and then released. The raid followed the publication
in “Al-Watan” of a commentary which stated that “there is no
difference” between the Palestinian National Authority’s
crackdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad and the repression under
Israeli occupation. As many as 300 people have been arrested
since the 9 April car bombings that killed seven Israeli soldiers
and an American student.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS:
Please write to the Palestinian authorities:
– stating that the actions of the security forces of the
Palestinian National Authority (PNA) have placed press freedom in
Gaza in mortal danger
– respectfully urging a reconsideration of the PNA’s measures
against journalists in Gaza
Appeals To
His Excellency Yasser Arafat
Chairman
Palestinian National Authority
Gaza City, Gaza
Fax: +972 7 823 744
