Editorial: Demanding Freedom Of Movement And Access For Palestinian Journalists

[Purveyor]

Palestinian journalists have published a petition aimed at pressuring Israel to grant them full freedom of movement and access in order to do their jobs, just as it allows Israeli journalists to work freely in Israel and Palestine. We at +972 support their petition and call on all of our Israeli and international colleagues to do the same.

By the +972 Magazine and Activestills collectives

For more than a decade, Israel has placed serious hurdles in the path of Palestinian journalists, often preventing them from covering the news in their own territory and at times even putting their lives at risk.

Shortly after the Second Intifada began in 2000, the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) stopped issuing credentials to Palestinian journalists, many of whom were veteran employees of international media outlets. GPO cards allow journalists to pass easily through checkpoints and gain entrance to press conferences and other events called by government and army officials. Most importantly, they offer protection in conflict zones and during clashes between security forces and civilians.

Palestinian journalists are given official accreditation by the Palestinian Information Ministry. Israel, however, does not honor those press cards. Palestinian journalists are unable to pass through Israeli checkpoints, are not granted access to official press events and are subject to state violence in a way that Israeli journalists are not. Israeli journalists have broad access, traveling freely between the Muqata and the Knesset.

Palestinian journalists are routinely manhandled, beaten, arrested and even shot at by Israeli soldiers, then denied the right to due process in a civilian court. For freelance Palestinian journalists and those working for international news organizations, job opportunities are often lost because they are unable to cover events and interview officials. Even within the West Bank their freedom of movement is restricted. Moreover, they cannot enter East Jerusalem or travel to Gaza, where their own people live.

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http://972mag.com/editorial-demanding-freedom-of-movement-and-access-for-palestinian-journalists/76997/

[azurnoir]

1. Thanks for posting seems Palestinian journalists just don't get a break

either in Israel or much more recently in Gaza but it does explain the lack of certain types of news from Israel at least from a Palestinian PoV that seems to have been on going for about ever