The Syndicate of Journalists, Nasser Abu Bakr, said that the union monitored 259 Israeli violations against journalists in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Jerusalem in the first half of this year.
Abu Bakr added during a press conference held at the Syndicate headquarters in the city of Al-Bireh today, Thursday, to announce the results of the report of the Liberties Committee of the Syndicate of Journalists on violations of the Israeli occupation of media freedoms during the first half of 2020, that 59 violations were recorded in Jerusalem, which is the most serious, which indicates To direct targeting to prevent media coverage in the capital, Jerusalem.
He announced that the union went to the International Criminal Court with a file on the crimes committed by the occupation against journalists, specifically the witness, Ahmed Abu Hussein, the martyr Yasser Murtaja from the Gaza Strip, and the journalist Moaz Amarneh, who lost his eye with the bullet of the occupation.
He added that the union will follow up on this issue in accordance with international law, and said: "We have a legal file that the Independent Commission for Human Rights helped us to prepare, and we have international legal and volunteer lawyers from Britain to prosecute the crimes committed against journalists."
He pointed out that the union presented a report to the Human Rights Council, and delivered to Palestine Special Commissioner Michael Link a file of crimes, which included in his report to the Council what Palestinian journalists are exposed to, in addition to that the union, in coordination with UNESCO, formed the national mechanism to follow up on violations against journalists, in cooperation with civil society institutions The Office of the Prime Minister and the Ministries of Information and Foreign Affairs were adopted in a report by the Director General of UNESCO in Paris.
On the other hand, Abu Bakr affirmed that this year should be the year of legislation and laws to regulate the profession of journalism in a way that is appropriate for Palestinian journalists and journalists.
For his part, the head of the Syndicate´s Freedoms Committee, member of the General Secretariat Mohamed El-Lahham, said that 14 journalists and journalists were wounded by the Israeli occupation forces, 7 direct injuries to the body with gas, sound and waste water bombs, and 41 cases of suffocation caused by tear gas.
Al-Lahham indicated that the occupation forces arrested 17 journalists and journalists, detained 96 and prevented them from photographing and covering, 16 journalists were presented to the court, while 7 journalists were summoned, and that more than 50 journalists were targeted with gas, and that 17 male and female colleagues received treatment as a result of the occupation attacks, and drew to Increased fines, violations, and deportation from the Old City of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He explained that there is an increase in the level of targeting of Palestinian content, and the monitoring of more than 700 violations of the right of the journalistic situation and the prevention of publication, more than 95% of which were practiced by the company "Facebook", which responded to Israeli complaints to delete Palestinian contents and close accounts.
On internal violations against journalists, Lahham said that the union registered 54 violations in the West Bank and Gaza, noting that there was a regression in these violations due to the Corona pandemic.
He added: In the West Bank, the government´s interest in respecting freedoms was noted, and we hope to achieve a further decline in the second half of the year.
He continued: Also in the Gaza Strip there is a decline in violations from last year, which rose due to the movement "We want to live", noting that there are 15 press institutions still closed in the Gaza Strip, including the Arab satellite channel.
Al-Lahham stressed that the union refuses to harm any press institution or any journalist, calling for the union’s office to be reopened in the Gaza Strip, considering that depriving the union of work and closing its office in Gaza is rejected and condemned, especially since the government media office in Gaza is consistent with the security of “Hamas” .
