The same day, an Associated Press stringer, Mohammed Daraghmeh, was arrested at his home and taken to a detention centre where he was held for 20 hours blindfolded and handcuffed. When he was freed, he faced the same problem as Shalabi and Sawalha : how to get home to Nablus six miles away in the dark during the curfew. As he was walking towards the town, shooting broke out nearby. He asked Israeli soldiers posted along the road to protect him. "If you stay here, I'll shoot you," one soldier said. The journalist only managed to reach home the next morning.
The Israeli army has targeted many privately-owned Palestinian and Arab media.
On 8 April, four Israeli soldiers smashed their way into the Ramallah offices of Abu Dhabi TV and Nile TV, ordered journalists to lie on the floor and broke desks, doors and chairs.
So far this year, many Palestinian journalists have not been able to get their press cards renewed by the Israeli government press office, whose chief, Danny Seaman, has cited "security reasons." Jassim al-Azzawi, Abu Dhabi TV's special correspondent (see picture), was deported on 7 April after his press card was confiscated.
In the past three weeks, many foreign journalists have had their passports, press cards or even equipment seized. A dozen of them were arrested by the Israeli army in Ramallah on 7 April while travelling in a three-vehicle convoy. Passports and press cards were confiscated. Ten days later, some of the documents had still not been returned.
On 13 April, at a checkpoint near Jenin, Israeli soldiers arrested Walid el-Omari, the Ramallah bureau chief of the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera, and seized his equipment.
So far this year, many Palestinian journalists have not been able to get their press cards renewed by the Israeli government press office, whose chief, Danny Seaman, has cited "security reasons." Jassim al-Azzawi, Abu Dhabi TV's special correspondent (see picture), was deported on 7 April after his press card was confiscated.
In the past three weeks, many foreign journalists have had their passports, press cards or even equipment seized. A dozen of them were arrested by the Israeli army in Ramallah on 7 April while travelling in a three-vehicle convoy. Passports and press cards were confiscated. Ten days later, some of the documents had still not been returned.
On 13 April, at a checkpoint near Jenin, Israeli soldiers arrested Walid el-Omari, the Ramallah bureau chief of the Qatari TV station Al-Jazeera, and seized his equipment.
Reporters Without Borders defends imprisoned journalists and press freedom throughout the world, as well as the right to inform the public and to be informed, in accordance with Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
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Article and Photos courtesy of Reporters Without Borders.
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Reporters Without Borders has nine national sections (in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom), representatives in Abidjan, Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Istanbul, Montreal, Moscow, New York, Tokyo and Washington and more than a hundred correspondents worldwide.
Article and Photos courtesy of Reporters Without Borders.
Please visit; http://rsf.org
also on our LINKS page.