Attacks on Palestinian journalists doubled in 2011
Violations of press freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories skyrocketed during the months of the Arab spring uprisings and during its UN bid for statehood
By Lena Odgaard, journalist
Incidents of arrests, summoning, confiscation of equipment and not least beatings of Palestinian journalists close to doubled in 2011 according to the Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms, MADA. MADA registers violations of press freedoms and registered 170 cases in the months from January to October this year. For comparison, 99 cases were registered in all of 2010. But contrary to earlier years, the majority of the violations this year were carried out by Palestinian authorities.
“There are attacks from both the Israeli and Palestinian side”, says General Secretary of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Salah Badawi Masharqa, but expresses particular disappointment with the restrictions of press freedom imposed by Palestinian security forces.
Fear of Arab spring uprisings increased attacks by Palestinian authorities
As revolutionary winds swept across the Middle East, they also ignited uprisings in the Palestinian territories calling for political unity between the opposing political parties of Fatah and Hamas. The response was a violent crackdown by local Palestinian authorities in both Gaza and the West Bank not only targeting protesters but also journalists covering the demonstrations.
Close to one quarter of the incidents of harassment of journalists took place in March alone, and of these three out of four were executed by Palestinian security forces. And according to Masharqa these violations of press freedoms influence how journalists cover local issues and politics.
“The harassment makes many of our colleagues less active in their work and causes censorship in our minds”, he says.
UN bid led to increased settler violence
In spite of the significant increase in harassment by Palestinian authorities, local journalists and MADA maintain that the brutality of Israeli settlers and military forces are more severe and a greater threat to the safety of Palestinian journalists.
“The worst thing this year has been the settlers. They throw stones after me and the soldiers make sure no one touches them, but they don’t do anything to stop them”, says Fadi Al-Jayousi, a camera man for the local public TV station, Palestine TV.
After the reconciliation agreement between Hamas and Fatah, attacks on journalists decreased significantly. But in September the Palestinian application for state recognition at the UN led to several demonstrations by Israeli settlers and Palestinian villagers in the West Bank. Journalists covering these demonstrations were in many cases victims of violence from settlers and Israeli military forces. Al-Jayousi and his colleague were fired at with rubber bullets and tear gas as they covered a Palestinian demonstration in support of the UN bid and against the barbed wired fence which cuts through the lands belonging to the village of Bil’in.
The camera becomes a weapon
Violent attacks counts for more than half of the incidents of press freedom violations registered by MADA in 2011. But attacks by Israeli authorities do not scare off Palestinian journalists. On the contrary many see it as their national more than their professional duty to cover settlers’ or Israeli military’s abuses on Palestinians.
“This is not just a job – I want to fight with my camera. When I cover demonstrations, I’m like a sniper with my camera, documenting when the military forces use new kinds of tear gas or ‘bull-shit water’ (a water cannon spraying a smelly substance)”, says Al-Jayousi, who has worked for different local and international news outlets such as Qatar TV, Fox News and Deutche Welle throughout his 10 years career – a period in which he has seen several colleagues get seriously injured or killed – a fate he also he fears for himself.
“Every time I go to cover a demonstration, I always call my mother first, because I think I might not come back. So far I have, but I’m sure that my life will end by me getting shot by a soldier”, says Al-Jayousi.
