Nov 1st, 2008 by kawther.salam
Unfortunately, the Palestinian journalists who are held in the jails of Hamas and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah and other West Bank cities are more likely to be tortured than the Palestinian journalists who are held in the Israeli military jails. The Palestinian 
Authority has committed crimes against journalism and the freedom of speech. They held and tortured nine journalists, and have closed two newspapers, “Palestine” and “Al-Risala”. The Hamas in Gaza has also committed crimes against journalism and journalists, they hold three Palestinian journalists from “Al-Hadath Press”, and they have caused lots of troubles for many other journalists. They also took several times illegal steps which hindered the distribution of the newspapers from Ramallah and Jerusalem.
Shame on the Palestinian Authority and shame on Hamas, who are not better than the Israeli occupation in how they deal with Palestinian journalists. I remind both the PA and the ministerial employees of Salam Fayyad in Ramallah and the Hamas Authority in Gaza that the Palestinian journalists who are held illegally in the Israeli occupation jails under administrative arrest are not tortured like the journalists who are held under your criminal power and continue being tortured for political reasons.
I add my voice to the President of International Federation of journalist, general secretary Dr. Aidan White, who issued a statement on October 31, 2008, asking both Palestinian sides to free the imprisoned journalists without conditions.
I also ask the illegal Israeli occupation to free the Palestinian journalists who they hold under administrative arrest since many years. Personally, I remind both the PA and Hamas, that holding journalists is inhuman and illegal, and puts their regimes in one group together with the criminal terrorists of the Israeli occupation. I ask the International journalist organizations to play an active to end this crime against the Palestinian journalists who are held in jails for political reasons and for pursuing their holy journalistic mission honestly. It should be possible to bring these criminal authorities before the International Criminal Court if they do not free these journalists.
The names of the journalists who were jailed because they were exercising their work as journalists are mentioned after the Press release of the IFJ below.
Press Release of the Secretary General of the International Federation of Journalists, Dr. Aidan White.
October 31, 2008
Palestinian Journalists Held in Power Struggle Must be Freed Says IFJ
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) today called for the immediate release of Palestinian journalists who are being held by the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas as part of the political power struggle. The call comes as both sides prepare for new talks to break the political deadlock.“For months, Palestinian journalists have been used as pawns in the ongoing dispute between the Palestinian Authority and Hamas,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White. “Both sides claim journalists are a “security risk” but it is little more than a device for intimidation, media control and political in-fighting.”
Currently there are 11 Palestinian journalists in prisons: eight held by the PA in the West Bank and three held by Hamas in Gaza. Most of them are being held because they worked for media organisations of rival political factions. Security forces on both sides deny this, but not one journalist has been charged or brought to trial.
At least one journalist, Osaid Amarneh from Hebron, was held and then released but only after he agreed to stop working for Hamas media in the West Bank. He signed a document promising the PA he would stop working for Hamas media organization Al Aqsa TV. Media on both sides are also being targeted. Newspapers from the rival parties are banned on both sides and the offices of Palestine TV in Gaza and Al Aqsa TV in the West Bank are still closed.
Palestinian journalists will stand in solidarity with their colleagues and defend their freedom and right to work freely on November 5, a global day of action “Stand Up for Journalism” in defence of journalists’ rights organised by the IFJ. In the Middle East and North Africa region, journalists will mark the day with events promoting their campaign for press freedom, “Breaking the Chains.”
On November 9 a Palestinian national dialogue will start between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo. The IFJ is renewing calls for both governments to end the campaign against media and to free all journalists as part of the new dialogue.
Lists of some of the journalists who are held illegally in PA, Hamas and Israeli occupation jails follow.
Palestinian Prisoners detained in Hamas jails in Gaza are:
- Akram Al-Llouh, director of Al-Hadath Press
- Josef Fayad and Hani Ismael from Al-Hadath Press.
For some time Hamas prevented the Palestinian newspapers Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah to be distributed in Gaza. Hamas accused the PA security systems of assassinating three journalists. - On 15 May 2007, Suleiman Al-Ashe and Mohammad Abdo from Palestine Press and Isam Al-Jojo were killed after the PA security kidnapped them on 12 May 2007.
Some of the Palestinian journalists illegally detained by the PA are:
- Musab Hosam Al-Din Katloni from Nablus, age 24, jailed on 5 March 2008.
- Ala’a Al-Titi from the Al-Fawar refugee camp south of Hebron.
- Asiad Amarneh from Hebron was arrested several times by the PA security and accused of damaging the national security through his journalistic work. After a PA court found him not guilty he was and arrested again by the PA security in May 2008.
- Mohammad Al-Kik from Hebron was arrested several times by the PA, the last time he was arrested while exercising his journalistic duties a during a demonstration against the closure of the charities in Hebron by the Israeli occupation.
- Mohammad Al-Halaika, Beni Neim/ Hebron
- Mohammad Athba and Nimer Hindi, both photographers, were arrested in May 2008 by the PA security.
Palestinian journalists under administrative arrest in the Gulag of the Israeli Occupation:
- Sami Asi from Nablus
- Walid Khaled, director of the “Palestine” newspaper from Salfit
- Tariq Abu Zeed, who was arrested by the PA security
- Mohammad Al-Halayka
- Jihad Dawood
- Nizar Ramadan.
MIDEAST: A Civil War in the Making
August 22, 2008Analysis by Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani | Inter-Press Service
CAIRO, Aug 22 – Recent weeks have seen the worst fighting between rival Palestinian movements Fatah and Hamas since the latter’s takeover of the Gaza Strip last summer. Hamas accuses the “treasonous faction” within Fatah — which worked with U.S. military intelligence in last year’s failed bid to destroy the resistance group — of instigating the violence.
“Hamas’s accusations are understandable,” Abdelaziz Shadi, political science professor and coordinator of the Israeli studies programme at Cairo University told IPS. “Instability in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip would be in Fatah’s interests.”
In the 14 months since Hamas seized control of Gaza from the Fatah-led Palestinian Authority (PA) in a pre-emptive coup, after winning elections in 2006, mutual animosity has been largely confined to a war of words. In recent weeks, however, the dispute between the two movements — which now head rival governments in Gaza and Ramallah — escalated into open conflict.
On Jul. 25, a bomb went off on a crowded beach in the Gaza Strip, killing five major figures in Hamas’s military wing and a six-year-old girl. Hamas, currently party to a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian resistance factions, accused elements of Fatah of carrying out the attack.
Despite official denials by Fatah, Hamas security forces in Gaza carried out a territory-wide campaign of arrests of Fatah personnel suspected of involvement. Fatah retaliated in the West Bank by detaining scores of Hamas-affiliated activists, along with a number of civic leaders not associated with the resistance group.
After human rights groups condemned the arrests — in both territories — as “politically-motivated”, the majority of detainees from both sides were soon released.
Fatah is usually described by the western media as “moderate” because it supports negotiations with Israel, held regularly since last November’s Annapolis summit in the U.S. Hamas, meanwhile, often described as “extremist”, maintains a policy of armed resistance to the Israeli occupation, noting that negotiations have so far failed to achieve a single breakthrough worth mentioning.
The inter-Palestinian rivalry took a drastic turn for the worse on Aug. 2, when fighting erupted between Hamas security forces and members of the prominent Helles clan in Gaza City’s al-Shejaeya district. According to Hamas security officials, certain pro-Fatah members of the clan were suspected of involvement in the Jul. 25 beach bombing.
After a 48-hour-long battle that left 11 dead and much of the neighbourhood in ruins, Hamas security personnel reportedly detained dozens of Helles members for questioning. In an unprecedented development, an estimated 180 clan members — fleeing Hamas security forces — sought refuge in Israel.
“The situation has become so grave that partisans of Fatah actually fled to Israel for protection,” said Shadi.
Following an appeal by PA President Mahmoud Abbas, the Israeli authorities eventually took in the Fatah men — but not before making them undress before television cameras.
“Israel publicly humiliated its own agents,” Magdi Hussein, political analyst and secretary-general of Egypt’s frozen Labour Party, told IPS. He described the episode as “more proof that cooperation with Israel can only lead to degradation and loss.”
The Helles members were later reportedly transported through Israel before being permitted to enter the Fatah-run West Bank.
According to local analysts, Hamas’s claims of Fatah complicity in attempts to destabilise Gaza are not easily dismissed.
“Hamas’s accusations are not without foundation,” Hussein said. “When news of the beach blast was initially broadcast on PA television in Ramallah, it was accompanied by triumphant music and patriotic anthems as if it were a victory.”
Continued . . .
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Tags:Annapolis, detainees, Fatah, Gaza Strip, Hamas, inter-Palestinian rivalries, Israel
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