29 dec 2014
Palestinian security forces, Sunday night, arrested a Palestinian journalist after raiding his home in the village of Kafr Ein, north of Ramallah, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate.
A statement issued by the union said that Aysar Barghouthi, a reporter for local TV station "Watan", was taken into custody during the raid, denouncing it as a violation of press freedoms, and demanding that the PA release him immediately.
According to Ma'an News Agency, a 2013 report by Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms counted 78 violations of freedom of speech by Palestinian authorities, primarily in the Gaza Strip.
While officials have claimed that the situation in the Gaza Strip has improved, since a unity deal with signed in April, critics have raised alarm that the PA has continued with politically-motivated arrests and detentions against activists and journalists at the same pace as before.
Furthermore, 16 Palestinian journalists and an Italian photographer were killed in Gaza, this past summer, during Israel's devastating assault on the region.
The 2013 report also found 151 violations of Palestinian freedom of speech by Israeli authorities, which still constitute the biggest threat to Palestinian journalists.
Though defacto Palestinian president and Fateh member Mahmoud Abbas has claimed that the PA will cut ties with Israel, should the heavily disputed resolution for statehood fail, the organization's longstanding coordination with Israeli security forces remains firmly in place.
A statement issued by the union said that Aysar Barghouthi, a reporter for local TV station "Watan", was taken into custody during the raid, denouncing it as a violation of press freedoms, and demanding that the PA release him immediately.
According to Ma'an News Agency, a 2013 report by Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms counted 78 violations of freedom of speech by Palestinian authorities, primarily in the Gaza Strip.
While officials have claimed that the situation in the Gaza Strip has improved, since a unity deal with signed in April, critics have raised alarm that the PA has continued with politically-motivated arrests and detentions against activists and journalists at the same pace as before.
Furthermore, 16 Palestinian journalists and an Italian photographer were killed in Gaza, this past summer, during Israel's devastating assault on the region.
The 2013 report also found 151 violations of Palestinian freedom of speech by Israeli authorities, which still constitute the biggest threat to Palestinian journalists.
Though defacto Palestinian president and Fateh member Mahmoud Abbas has claimed that the PA will cut ties with Israel, should the heavily disputed resolution for statehood fail, the organization's longstanding coordination with Israeli security forces remains firmly in place.
24 dec 2014
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) on Tuesday afternoon violently disbanded a peaceful Palestinian demo staged in the southern West Bank city of Bethlehem.
A PIC correspondent said a non-violent march, bearing the slogan “The Road to Jerusalem,” was staged by the popular resistance committees, calling for opening a road to Occupied Jerusalem on the occasion of Christian holidays.
Heavy spates of tear gas canisters and sound bombs were discharged by the IOF moments before the demonstrators reached the so-called 300 checkpoint, leading to Occupied Jerusalem.
A number of suffocation cases was documented among the peaceful protesters due to prolonged exposure to tear gas.
The Israeli occupation soldiers targeted the journalists who partook in the rally with tear gas and heavy beatings.
A cameramen working for al-Aqsa TV Channel sustained injuries after a gas grenade hit his feet. A sound bomb hurled by an Israeli soldier turned his camera into rubble.
Cameramen Iyad Hamad, working for the AP, was also treated for suffocation due to heavy gas inhalation.
Spokesperson for the popular resistance committees in Eastern Jerusalem, Hani Halabiya, told a PIC journalist: “The demo came to transmit a message to the world with the advent of Christmas Day.”
“Palestinians have seen it all in Bethlehem. Israel’s oppressive tactics have taken different forms, starting from the checkpoints randomly pitched across the city, to the apartheid wall separating the offspring of the same motherland, and above all to the desecration of Muslims’ and Christians’ holy sites,” he added.
“This is a Nazi and fascist regime by excellence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the IOF kidnapped the 12-year-old child Rami Nadher Assaf in the clashes that broke out at the Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem.
A number of schoolchildren sustained critical breathing disorders due to prolonged exposure to tear gas heavily discharged by the IOF on the pupils on their way back home from morning classes.
A PIC correspondent said a non-violent march, bearing the slogan “The Road to Jerusalem,” was staged by the popular resistance committees, calling for opening a road to Occupied Jerusalem on the occasion of Christian holidays.
Heavy spates of tear gas canisters and sound bombs were discharged by the IOF moments before the demonstrators reached the so-called 300 checkpoint, leading to Occupied Jerusalem.
A number of suffocation cases was documented among the peaceful protesters due to prolonged exposure to tear gas.
The Israeli occupation soldiers targeted the journalists who partook in the rally with tear gas and heavy beatings.
A cameramen working for al-Aqsa TV Channel sustained injuries after a gas grenade hit his feet. A sound bomb hurled by an Israeli soldier turned his camera into rubble.
Cameramen Iyad Hamad, working for the AP, was also treated for suffocation due to heavy gas inhalation.
Spokesperson for the popular resistance committees in Eastern Jerusalem, Hani Halabiya, told a PIC journalist: “The demo came to transmit a message to the world with the advent of Christmas Day.”
“Palestinians have seen it all in Bethlehem. Israel’s oppressive tactics have taken different forms, starting from the checkpoints randomly pitched across the city, to the apartheid wall separating the offspring of the same motherland, and above all to the desecration of Muslims’ and Christians’ holy sites,” he added.
“This is a Nazi and fascist regime by excellence,” he said.
Meanwhile, the IOF kidnapped the 12-year-old child Rami Nadher Assaf in the clashes that broke out at the Aida refugee camp, north of Bethlehem.
A number of schoolchildren sustained critical breathing disorders due to prolonged exposure to tear gas heavily discharged by the IOF on the pupils on their way back home from morning classes.
11 dec 2014
The Palestinian center for development and media freedoms MADA said that Israel's trial of journalist Mustafa Khawaja, who works as a reporter for the Aqsa satellite channel, revealed that the channel was classified by Israel as a terrorist organization.
MADA explained that the Israeli prosecutor said during a recent court trial held for Khawaja that the Aqsa channel has been classified by Israel as a banned terrorist organization since the first of October 2014 and therefore working for the channel is prohibited.
The center said that no one had known about Israel's classification of the channel as a terrorist groups before the trial of Khawaja because it was not officially announced, adding that the defense lawyer refuted the Israeli claim, especially since the channel has been on air for about eight years.
An Israeli court released Khawaja on December 9, 2014, on 10,000 shekel bail, pending the completion of his trial. He was arrested on October 20, 2014 and detained for 50 days.
Khawaja told MADA that during his detention he was interrogated about his work at the Aqsa channel and accused of "incitement against Israel and promotion of terror ideas" through his work for the channel.
This was the first time that a Palestinian media outlet was classified as a terrorist organization.
The fact that the Aqsa channel is affiliated with Hamas does not give the Israeli occupation authorities the right to classify it as a terrorist organization since the universal declaration of human rights guarantees freedom of expression for all; in addition, the work of the channel is subject to the Palestinian law.
MADA explained that the Israeli prosecutor said during a recent court trial held for Khawaja that the Aqsa channel has been classified by Israel as a banned terrorist organization since the first of October 2014 and therefore working for the channel is prohibited.
The center said that no one had known about Israel's classification of the channel as a terrorist groups before the trial of Khawaja because it was not officially announced, adding that the defense lawyer refuted the Israeli claim, especially since the channel has been on air for about eight years.
An Israeli court released Khawaja on December 9, 2014, on 10,000 shekel bail, pending the completion of his trial. He was arrested on October 20, 2014 and detained for 50 days.
Khawaja told MADA that during his detention he was interrogated about his work at the Aqsa channel and accused of "incitement against Israel and promotion of terror ideas" through his work for the channel.
This was the first time that a Palestinian media outlet was classified as a terrorist organization.
The fact that the Aqsa channel is affiliated with Hamas does not give the Israeli occupation authorities the right to classify it as a terrorist organization since the universal declaration of human rights guarantees freedom of expression for all; in addition, the work of the channel is subject to the Palestinian law.
The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) overnight Wednesday and at dawn Thursday nabbed at least nine Palestinian citizens throughout a round of assaults on cities of the West Bank.
A PIC correspondent quoted by-standers at the scene as reporting that the IOF troops deployed at the Container checkpoint captured head of the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies, Osama Shahin, while he was on board of a car, and dragged him to an unidentified location.
Shahin was recaptured by the IOF just three months after he was released from Israeli occupation jails. The captive had reportedly spent a total of six years in Israeli prisons.
The IOF further kidnapped Palestinian journalist Quteiba Saleh Qassem, 28, and ex-prisoner Mahmoud Karim Ayad, 26.
Meanwhile, the Israeli TV channel 7 reported that IOF soldiers arrested six Palestinians, five among them affiliated with Hamas, allegedly for being wanted by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Local media sources based in al-Khalil said the Israeli occupation army stormed al-Khalil province and scoured the towns of Halhoul, Sa’ir and Dura before apprehending the ex-prisoner Eid Moussa, 48, from his own family home in Dura.
A PIC correspondent quoted by-standers at the scene as reporting that the IOF troops deployed at the Container checkpoint captured head of the Palestinian Prisoners Center for Studies, Osama Shahin, while he was on board of a car, and dragged him to an unidentified location.
Shahin was recaptured by the IOF just three months after he was released from Israeli occupation jails. The captive had reportedly spent a total of six years in Israeli prisons.
The IOF further kidnapped Palestinian journalist Quteiba Saleh Qassem, 28, and ex-prisoner Mahmoud Karim Ayad, 26.
Meanwhile, the Israeli TV channel 7 reported that IOF soldiers arrested six Palestinians, five among them affiliated with Hamas, allegedly for being wanted by the Israeli occupation authorities.
Local media sources based in al-Khalil said the Israeli occupation army stormed al-Khalil province and scoured the towns of Halhoul, Sa’ir and Dura before apprehending the ex-prisoner Eid Moussa, 48, from his own family home in Dura.
8 dec 2014
The Palestinian center for development and media freedoms known as Mada strongly denounced the Israeli gunfire attack on a photojournalist working for Palestine satellite channel and called for an international investigation into Israeli violations against journalists.
In a report on Sunday, Mada stated that Palestine TV photojournalist Bashar Nazzal, 36, suffered a serious bullet injury last Friday as he was covering the weekly anti-settlement march in Kafr Qaddum village east of Qalqiliya.
It added that an Israeli soldier fired from his silenced firearm at close range an explosive dum-dum bullet at Nazzal's left leg and caused him severe injuries.
Nazzal was rushed to al-Arabi hospital in Nablus to remove bullet fragments from his leg.
In a report on Sunday, Mada stated that Palestine TV photojournalist Bashar Nazzal, 36, suffered a serious bullet injury last Friday as he was covering the weekly anti-settlement march in Kafr Qaddum village east of Qalqiliya.
It added that an Israeli soldier fired from his silenced firearm at close range an explosive dum-dum bullet at Nazzal's left leg and caused him severe injuries.
Nazzal was rushed to al-Arabi hospital in Nablus to remove bullet fragments from his leg.
6 dec 2014
Israeli forces have shot and injured several young Palestinians, this Friday, in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, including a cameraman. In southern Gaza, 17-year-old Alaa Mousa was injured following the explosion of a leftover Israeli missile.
According to Ma'an, Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that two men in their twenties suffered moderate injuries after being shot in the legs by Israeli soldiers, east of Jabalia.
The men were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital, in Beit Lahiya, for treatment.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said that around 70 Palestinians had approached the security fence when Israeli forces began firing warning shots, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them.
On Nov. 23, Fadel Mohammad Halawa, aged 32, was shot dead by Israeli forces east of Jabalia.
Witnesses said that he was hunting birds, while Israeli forces claimed that they opened fire at two men after they approached the separation barrier.
Also in Gaza, on Friday, Alaa Mousa, 17, was injured after the explosion of a leftover Israeli missile ordnance.
Gaza media sources reported an explosion happened near the beach, in Rafah, and cost Mousa part of his leg.
-- --
Furthermore, according to the PNN, in the latest Israeli military aggression on Gaza, Israeli soldiers dropped numerous explosive devices which didn't explode, at the time, but have been causing many severe injuries and deaths to oblivious Palestinians ever since.
In related news, an Israeli settler opened fire at Palestinian citizens on Wednesday evening near the village of "Beitillu" northwest of Ramallah; two Palestinians were injured.
Local sources said the injured were taken to Palestine Medical Complex for treatment. They were identified as Ahmed Zeyada and Thabet Bazar.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there were at least 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the year 2013 alone.
Over 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, in direct contravention of international law.
The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous Balfour Declaration, called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
The Israeli military regime, at the time, occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War.
Israel later annexed Jerusalem in 1980, claiming it for capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state, in a move never recognized by the international community.
-- --
This past Thursday night, through Friday, Israeli police forces performed a series of break ins and arrests in Jerusalem.
Media sources reported that Israeli forces. on Thursday night, arrested Palestinians Anan Obeid and Ali Nasri after they broke into their houses in Al-Issawiyeh and the downtown.
The Israeli military also broke into other Palestinian houses in Shu'fat Camp and Al-Issawiyeh, and kidnapped a number of Palestinian youngsters.
-- --
A Palestinian journalist was shot in the leg by Israeli forces, on Friday, while covering clashes in the Qalqiliya village of Kafr Qaddum, according to Ma'an.
Bashar Nazzal, a cameraman with Palestine TV, was hit in the leg by live fire, the bullet reportedly having shattered the bone in his leg, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.
According to Ma'an, Ministry of Health spokesman Ashraf al-Qidra said that two men in their twenties suffered moderate injuries after being shot in the legs by Israeli soldiers, east of Jabalia.
The men were taken to Kamal Adwan hospital, in Beit Lahiya, for treatment.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said that around 70 Palestinians had approached the security fence when Israeli forces began firing warning shots, rubber bullets and tear gas to disperse them.
On Nov. 23, Fadel Mohammad Halawa, aged 32, was shot dead by Israeli forces east of Jabalia.
Witnesses said that he was hunting birds, while Israeli forces claimed that they opened fire at two men after they approached the separation barrier.
Also in Gaza, on Friday, Alaa Mousa, 17, was injured after the explosion of a leftover Israeli missile ordnance.
Gaza media sources reported an explosion happened near the beach, in Rafah, and cost Mousa part of his leg.
-- --
Furthermore, according to the PNN, in the latest Israeli military aggression on Gaza, Israeli soldiers dropped numerous explosive devices which didn't explode, at the time, but have been causing many severe injuries and deaths to oblivious Palestinians ever since.
In related news, an Israeli settler opened fire at Palestinian citizens on Wednesday evening near the village of "Beitillu" northwest of Ramallah; two Palestinians were injured.
Local sources said the injured were taken to Palestine Medical Complex for treatment. They were identified as Ahmed Zeyada and Thabet Bazar.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, there were at least 399 incidents of settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank in the year 2013 alone.
Over 500,000 Israeli settlers live in settlements across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, in direct contravention of international law.
The roots of the Israel-Palestine conflict date back to 1917, when the British government, in the now-famous Balfour Declaration, called for “the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people”.
The Israeli military regime, at the time, occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank during the 1967 Middle East War.
Israel later annexed Jerusalem in 1980, claiming it for capital of the self-proclaimed Zionist state, in a move never recognized by the international community.
-- --
This past Thursday night, through Friday, Israeli police forces performed a series of break ins and arrests in Jerusalem.
Media sources reported that Israeli forces. on Thursday night, arrested Palestinians Anan Obeid and Ali Nasri after they broke into their houses in Al-Issawiyeh and the downtown.
The Israeli military also broke into other Palestinian houses in Shu'fat Camp and Al-Issawiyeh, and kidnapped a number of Palestinian youngsters.
-- --
A Palestinian journalist was shot in the leg by Israeli forces, on Friday, while covering clashes in the Qalqiliya village of Kafr Qaddum, according to Ma'an.
Bashar Nazzal, a cameraman with Palestine TV, was hit in the leg by live fire, the bullet reportedly having shattered the bone in his leg, and was taken to a local hospital for treatment.