Silencing the Press

A Report on Israeli Attacks against Journalists

February 21, 2001 – April 29, 2001

The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

Consultative Status with the ECOSOC of the United Nations

Affiliate of the International Commission of Jurists – Geneva

Member of the International Federation for Human Rights – Paris

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network

 E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org

 “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers.”

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948

“Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”

Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966

  “Journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians … They shall be protected as such under the Conventions and this protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians…”

Article 79 – Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 (Protocol 1)

Introduction:

 This report documents Israeli abuses against journalists of local and international press agencies during the period of February 21 – April 29, 2001.  This is the third report in a continuing series on Israeli attacks on the local and international press.  The first report covered Israeli abuses against journalists during the period of September 29 – November 20, 2000.  In the first report, PCHR documented 53 attacks on local and international journalists.  They included the shooting of journalists, the beating and humiliation of journalists, the prevention of journalists from entering particular areas, the destruction of media equipment, and the shelling of media centers and institutions.  The second report covered Israeli abuses against journalists during the period of November 21, 2000 – February 20, 2001, during which PCHR documented 25 attacks.

 During the period covered by the current report, February 21 – April 29, 2001, Israeli forces continued the practice of silencing the press by preventing members of the media from carrying out their duties.  Israeli forces opened fire on journalists, damaging their equipment, despite the fact that they wore attire that clearly identified them as media personnel.  Israeli forces also denied journalists entry into particular areas in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, preventing them from covering certain incidents.  Such an escalation coincided with the election of the extremist leader of the Likud Party as Prime Minister in Israel.  Since then, the Occupied Palestinian Territories have witnessed an unprecedented escalation in killings and attacks perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers against Palestinian civilians and their property. 

 Journalists and reporters of local and international press agencies have not been immune to Israeli abuses. The period under study witnessed 33 incidents in which Israeli forces fired at, beat and humiliated ,and arrested and interrogated journalists.  Military orders were issued by the Israeli occupation forces, preventing the entry of journalists into certain areas of conflict.  In 10 incidents, journalists were wounded with bullets fired by the Israeli occupation forces.  In 16 incidents, journalists were fired at, but were not hurt.  In two incidents, journalists were beaten and humiliated, and in five other incidents, journalists were detained and interrogated.  On April 1, 2001, the Israeli occupation forces issued a military order declaring the Old City of Hebron a military area closed to journalists.  Thus, the total number of attacks by the Israeli occupation forces against press has increased to 111 since the outbreak of Al-Aqsa Intifada on September 29, 2000.

 These attacks by Israeli forces violate all relevant covenants and conventions, especially Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948.  It asserts the right to freedom of opinion and the right to receive and impart information through any media regardless of frontiers.  The forces are also in blatant violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, which states in its Article 19 that “everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing, or print, or through any other media of his choice.”  Article 79 of the Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 (Protocol 1) offers guarantees when it states that “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians” and provides that “they shall be protected as such under the Conventions and this protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.”

 PCHR condemns Israeli forces’ practices against local and international journalists and reporters.  According to evidence and documentation gathered by PCHR, these attacks on journalists were willful and intentional.

 The following is a list of attacks by the Israeli occupation forces on journalists and reporters of local and international press agencies during the period of November 21, 2000 – February 20, 2001:

  February 23, 2001

Israeli occupation forces fired at four journalists who were trying to cover the closure of the coastal road between Gaza City and the middle area of the Gaza Strip, opposite the Netzarim settlement.  The attack was apparently aimed at deterring those journalists from covering what was happening on the ground.  The journalists were approximately 200m away from Israeli soldiers who fired at them.  They were forced to leave the area.  The four journalists were:

1)                     Suhaib Hussam Jadallah, a Reuters cameraman;

2)                     Saber Ibrahim Shehadeh Nour El-Din, a France Press cameraman;

3)                     Hatem Mustafa Mousa, a photographer of the Palestinian press agency Wafa; and

4)                     Peter Andro, a Canadian cameraman of Reuters.

     March 1, 2001

 The Israeli occupation forces fired at Amira Hass, correspondent for the Israeli Haaretz daily newspaper, when she was on her way to Al-Mentar area in Gaza to visit a family whose house had been shelled by the Israeli forces.  Hass was not hurt.  In her testimony to PCHR, Hass said:

 “On March 1, 2001, I intended to visit Al-‘Aaidi family in Gaza to see how they live after their house was shelled by the Israeli forces.  I made four contacts with the spokesman of the Israeli army to inform him of my intention to do such visit to ensure that I would not be fired at by Israeli soldiers.  I last phoned him approximately 15 minutes before my travel to the area and he informed me that I should specify where I was in order for him to inform soldiers.  Although I was surprised by such request, I told him where I was.  Soon, he arrived in a military vehicle to accompany me, but I refused this and decided to travel on the road to the area alone.  Then, I was fired at by Israeli soldiers.”

  March 8, 2001 

 Israeli occupation soldiers in a tank, positioned at Al-Shuhada’ junction to the south of Gaza City opened fire on three Reuters correspondents who were traveling to Gaza City to cover a session of the Palestinian Legislative Council.  They were not hurt.  Israeli soldiers informed them that they must leave the area because it was militarily closed.  The reporters were:

1)                     Christine Haidern, an American correspondent for Reuters;

2)                     Ahmed Bahadu, a Pakistani cameraman for Reuters; and

3)                     Suhaib Hassan, a Palestinian journalist.

   March 10, 2001

 Settlers severely beat two Palestinian journalists, Mazen Da’na, a Reuters cameraman, and Hussam Abu ‘Allan, a cameraman of the French Press Agency, in the Old City of Hebron.  The two journalists were covering attacks by settlers on Al-Rahma, Tal Al-Rumeida and Al-Sahleh neighborhoods and Al-Shuhada’ Street. 

 March 16, 2001

 While he was covering clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli occupation forces near City Inn Hotel in the north of Al-Bireh, Ref’at Hassan El-Zagri, correspondent of the Egyptian Middle East Press Agency, suffered from tear gas inhalation after a canister was fired by the Israeli forces.

 March 17, 2001

 Israeli soldiers positioned at a military roadblock at the southern entrance to Jerusalem detained Firas Tannina, correspondent of Al-Ayyam daily local newspaper.  Tannina was interrogated for two hours, and 22 photos of his were confiscated.  Tannina was on his way to work in Ramallah when he was stopped by Israeli soldiers at the aforementioned roadblock.

    March 19, 2001

 An Italian journalist, Lino Thimadariu, was injured with shrapnel in the left leg while he was covering a march organized by Palestinian women at a military roadblock to the north of Jerusalem.

    March 23, 2001

 At approximately 17:00 local time, Israeli occupation soldiers, positioned at an observation tower near Salah El-Din Gate on the border with Egypt in Rafah, threw a sound bomb towards a mission of Amnesty International while its members were on a visit to the area.  The mission, headed by the Secretary General of Amnesty International, Pierre Sane’, along with the Head of Public Relations at AI, Kamal Smari and the Head of the East Program at AI, Elizabeth Hodgekin, was on a field visit to the Occupied Palestinian Territories to check out the human rights situation  and to express solidarity with the Palestinian victims and families of martyrs of Al-Aqsa Intifada.  The mission was accompanied by Jaber Weshah, Deputy Director of PCHR, who stated that the Israeli forces threw a sound bomb towards them.  In a press conference held at the Palestinian Journalist Association in Gaza on March 24, 2001, Pierre Sneih stated that the mission of Amnesty International was targeted by the Israeli occupation forces with a sound bomb during a visit to Rafah.

 Ahmed Zaki, correspondent of Oman satellite channel, was wounded in the left knee with a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by the Israeli occupation forces while he was covering clashes between these forces and Palestinian civilians in Ramallah.

 March 24, 2001

 At approximately 11:30 local time, a peaceful Palestinian march arrived at an Israeli  roadblock at Al-Ram , north of Jerusalem, calling for a lift of the siege imposed on Palestinian cities by the Israeli occupation forces.  As soon as the this march arrived at the roadblock, the Israeli forces fired rubber-coated metal bullets and tear gas canisters and threw sound bombs at participants who kept the peaceful nature of their parade.  Eleven Palestinian civilians were wounded, including the Coordinator of the Field Work Unit at the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment (LAW) Fahmi Hamdi Shahin, 40, from Hebron, who suffered from tear gas inhalation while he was observing the parade near the headquarters of LAW.  Furthermore, Mahfouzh Abu Turk, 52, from Jerusalem, a correspondent of Reuters and a cameraman of France 2, suffered from burns in the left hand.  In the same incident, Rassem ‘Abdel-Wahed, 42, from Jerusalem, Director of the Palestinian Press Agency (Wafa) in Jerusalem, suffered from burns in the legs.  Both of them were on duty when they were injured.

    April 1, 2001

 The Israeli occupation forces issued a military order by which it declared the Old City and other areas under their control in Hebron as closed military areas.  They prohibited the entry of international and local journalists into these areas, apparently to hide violations committed by Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers against Palestinian civilians in the city.  The Israeli forces informed some journalists that the military order would be in effect from March 26 to May 26, 2001.

   April 4, 2001

 Two Palestinian journalists were fired at by Israeli occupation soldiers in a tank positioned at a bypass road to the north of Jenin, but were not hurt.  The two journalists, Tah’er Abu Baker, a correspondent of Al-Ittihad newspaper and Al-Ahlam radio station in Haifa, and Seif El-Din Shawqi El-Dahla, a photographer of the Palestinian Press Agency Wafa, were trying to reach Al-Almaneyah neighborhood in the east of Jenin to cover the demolition of Palestinian houses in the area by the Israeli occupation forces.

  April 10, 2001

 At approximately 23:30 local time, the house of Subhi Abu Namous in Khan Yunis was hit with an artillery shell fired by the Israeli occupation forces.  Three Palestinian journalists, Mohammed Shana’a, an assistant cameraman of Reuters, ‘Abed-Rabbu ‘Oudetallah, a cameraman of Palestine television channel, and Shams ‘Oudetallah, a cameraman of Reuters, were inside the house, covering the shelling of Khan Yunis by the Israeli occupation forces.  Shana’a was injured with shrapnel in the back, and the other two journalists were injured with shrapnel in the feet.

 April 15, 2001

 The Israeli occupation forces fired at journalist Zakaria Abu Harbid, seriously wounding him in the forearms.  This incident took place when Abu Harbid was covering shelling of Al-Nemsawi neighborhood in Khan Yunis by the Israeli occupation forces.  As a result, he had to undergo surgery, during which a nerve of the right forearm was cut.

  April 20, 2001

 At approximately 13:00 local time, Israeli occupation forces at the border with Egypt to the south of Rafah, opened fire on a staff of Abu Dhabi satellite channel.  Journalist Leila Ahmed ‘Abdullah ‘Oudeh, 30, was wounded with a live bullet in the right leg.  According to PCHR’s investigation, ‘Oudeh, correspondent of Abu Dhabi satellite channel, was with Ayman Rashid El-Razzi, a cameraman and Mohammed Subhi El-Sousi, a sound technician, near Salah El-Din gate on the border, to cover destruction caused by Israeli bulldozers in the area which took place on April 14, 2001.  They were approximately 50m away from the Israeli occupation forces.  In her testimony to PCHR, ‘Oudeh said that the area was completely quiet when they started to work.  She heard sounds of two live bullets having been fired by the Israeli soldiers, she added.  She raised her mike that has the badge of Abu Dhabi satellite channel to show the Israeli forces that she was a journalist.  Nevertheless, an Israeli soldier fired a live bullet at her, wounding her in the right thigh. 

  April 24, 2001

 At approximately 10:15 local time, a number of personnel from the Palestine television channel were detained by the Israeli occupation forces at a military roadblock near Nablus.  The staff, comprised of Ruba Ibrahim Khalil Al-Najjar, 25, an announcer; Bilal Mustafa Jaber Abu El-Rish, 24, a lighting technician; Jaghoub Jareh Saleh Jaghoub, 29, a cameraman; and Samir ‘Abdel-Shafi ‘Abed Rabbu, a sound technician, were on their way from Ramallah to Nablus to record a television program.  They were traveling in a taxi driven by Hassan El-Qernawi, from ‘Askar refugee camp near Nablus.  Israeli occupation soldier stopped the taxi at the junction of Deir Sharaf village near Nablus.  They arrested them and took them to the nearby “Shavi Shomron” settlement, where they were detained and interrogated until 18:00 local time.  The Israeli forces released the television personnel, but they continued to detain the taxi driver for several hours, during which time he was severely beaten.

PCHR considers these practices against journalists as part of ongoing Israeli abuses against Palestinian civilians.  PCHR also considers it evidence of Israeli disregard for international humanitarian law, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.  PCHR asserts the following:

1.                     Most attacks by the Israeli forces against the local and international press agencies were willful and intentional, especially since members of the press wear clearly marked attire.  The attacks are designed to prevent the objective coverage of incidents in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.  These attacks are part of a systematic Israeli policy of isolating the Occupied Palestinian Territories so as to allow further abuses Palestinian civilians.

2.                     PCHR calls on the High Contracting Parties to the Fourth Geneva Convention to meet their obligations under the Convention and immediately provide international protection for the Palestinian people.

3.                     PCHR calls on all international media to intervene and to exert pressure on Israel to stop its occupying forces’ attacks on journalists and to provide the proper climate for practice of the profession without restriction.  

The following table shows attacks by the Israeli forces on local and international  journalists during

 the period of September 28, 2000 – April 24, 2001: