The Palestinian Journalists Support Committee said today, Friday, that 26 Palestinian journalists are in Israeli prisons.
This came in a statement issued by the Committee, a non-governmental organization that includes Palestinian and Arab journalists and writers, and that monitors violations on the Palestinian land against journalists. The committee added, "The occupation forces arrested, last week, journalist Laith Jaar from his home in Tulkarm, in the northern occupied West Bank, bringing the number of journalists detained in Israeli prisons to 26." It condemned "the continuation of the Israeli campaign of arrests of Palestinian journalists, and the use of the method of extending and delaying judgment against them." The statement quoted Chairman of the Committee, Saleh Al-Masry, as saying, "The occupation forces intentionally arrest journalists and extend and postpone their trial in an attempt to block the truth from the world." He added, "The occupation forces have continued their deliberate violations against Palestinian journalists and media, despite international laws and charters that guarantee protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression." Al-Masry called on all international press institutions to "put pressure on the occupation to stop its systematic aggression against Palestinian journalists." And arrest "Israel" in its prisons about 4400 Palestinian prisoners, including about 700 patients, according to official Palestinian data.
