Journalists have narrated vivid testimonies of the crimes of the Israeli occupation against Palestinian journalists, coinciding with the World Press Freedom Day.
This came during a seminar organized by the Palestinian Journalists Forum, today, Monday, electronically, with the participation of many journalists.
Nabil Sununu, a member of the forum’s board of directors, who moderated the symposium, said that the Israeli occupation seeks to silence the Palestinian voice and obscure the facts by targeting journalists, indicating that there are 28 imprisoned journalists, including the hunger striking prisoner Alaa al-Rimawi.
Sununu pointed out that World Press Freedom Day falls while the journalists remember their colleagues Yasser Murtaja and Ahmed Abu Hussein, who were martyred while performing their professional duty covering the Great March of Return and breaking the peaceful siege.
For his part, the journalist and academic d. Amin Abu Warda, The occupation courts refuse to acknowledge a journalist´s media past or that he is a journalist while he is in court, and this is a flagrant violation of journalists´ rights.
He explained in his intervention that the press prisoner is not given any rights to communicate, even with his family and with the authority he works for, and is not treated at all as a journalist.
Abu Warda stated that the occupation prevents the bulk of journalists in the West Bank from traveling, imposes a permanent security ban on them, and if the ban is lifted, they are allowed to travel abroad and not enter the lands occupied in 1948.
For his part, journalist Nawaf Amer greeted all journalists, especially the prisoners, saying, "Seeing a Palestinian camera, Palestinian dress, or a journalist´s badge makes the occupation soldiers crazy, full of hatred for seeing those who document their crimes."
"The occupation generalizes to their patrols, considering that a military zone is forbidden to work and photograph in it, to prevent documentation of the occupation´s crimes and its settlers," he added.
Amer pointed out that the occupation targets journalists in the West Bank with beating and the use of pepper gas and dogs, then rubber bullets that are directed to all parts of the journalists ’bodies, adding,“ Last year, a living witness to the use of rubber bullets. An area in the heart of Hebron. "
Amer said, "Live bullets are still a living witness to the fingerprints of the occupation on the bodies of the media."
He mentioned that the occupation confiscates the cameras of journalists who have bought them for huge sums, breaks them and controls them, then gives freedom to "settler bullies" to target journalists who are being beaten. Then there is a systematic campaign when the car is seen with a press signal (press), where the occupation army intends to stop it and hinder its movement Especially in areas that will witness activities to confront settlers or violations of the occupation in villages, towns and cities.
He pointed out that he has been banned from traveling since 1983, in the exceptional case that occurred in 2011 when he performed a one-time Umrah.
He explained that the travel ban is a punishment policy for journalists, specifically to prevent them from participating in press conferences such as those that happen in Turkey permanently, pointing out that the occupation prevented him from participating in the results of an international competition in Europe.
Amer said, "The occupation targets the headquarters of the media work and local radio stations, which it considers incitement to the occupation," noting that there are many people whom the occupation has thrown into its prisons and charged them with "incitement" through Facebook.
In turn, journalist Moamen Qureiqa said that the occupation is committing grave violations against Palestinian journalists.
"The occupation is trying to kill us as journalists, and I was injured several times, the last of which was during the Return Marches, when the occupation directly hit me with tear gas canisters, and almost lost my life by suffocation," Qureiaa added.
He referred to the martyrdom of two colleagues Murtaja and Abu Hussein, and the injury of several journalists while covering the events of the peaceful return march.
Qureiq explained that the injured journalists return to their work again to uncover the truth, indicating that he participated in many conferences outside Palestine.
For his part, the director of the Palestinian Journalists Forum, Muhammad Yassin, asked about the role of the International Federation of Journalists and the role of the international community and human rights institutions towards journalists, and to stop the occupation´s incursion on Palestinian journalists who pay an exorbitant bill from their garages, headquarters and equipment at this moment.
Yassin said, "There are 29 journalists in the occupation prisons who have no sin other than practicing journalism, including colleague Alaa al-Rimawi, who has been on a strike since his arrest," calling on international organizations and the International Federation to take action and translate the charters and laws related to the protection of journalists.
He demanded that the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate be rehabilitated, saying: We cannot face the various challenges that plague the Palestinian media without a unified media body that can face these challenges, on top of which are the violations of substitution and its encroachment on the media, again calling for the need to reform the union’s status and launch the election train in it.
He said, "There are generations of journalists who have not expressed their will until the moment and choose whoever represents them in a strong professional union that defends everyone and works for everyone."
