State of Failure by Jonathan Schanzer

Author:Jonathan Schanzer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Published: 2013-09-09T16:00:00+00:00

12

Quashing Critical Media and Protesters

While the PA was never a full-fledged democracy, one could argue that the Palestinians enjoyed more freedoms under the PA than the majority of their neighbors in the Middle East. These freedoms are enshrined in Palestinian law. Article 19 of the Palestinian Basic Law, amended in 2003, states, “Every person shall have the right to freedom of thought, conscience and expression, and shall have the right to publish his opinion orally, in writing, or in any form of art, or through any other form of expression, provided that it does not contradict with the provisions of law.” Additionally, Article 27 states, “Censorship on media shall be prohibited.”1

Palestinian journalists are quick to note that Israel obstructs Palestinian press freedoms. From blocking access to certain locales to detentions, George Hale, an editor for Ma’an News Agency, notes that “Israeli restrictions” are common. “The restrictions I face as an American passport holder are negligible compared to what Palestinian journalists put up with, but they are prohibitive,” he notes.2

But under the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian press freedom has suffered further. Specifically, the West Bank government has reportedly carried out a campaign against websites and journalists who have dared to challenge Abbas and his old-guard order.

According to the Palestinian human rights group Al-Haq, “It is difficult to know exactly how many people have been detained in violation of the right to freedom of expression because victims, in many cases, are charged with or accused of penal offenses to mask the political motivation behind their arrest.”3 Since 2007, in particular, incidents have skyrocketed in which PA security forces have violated the rights of journalists in the West Bank.

In the summer of 2007, after the Gaza war between Hamas and Fatah, the West Bank became a highly inhospitable environment for Hamas members. It was common to see Fatah and PLO loyalists attack Hamas members. But these attacks were not limited to militants or even political figures. Those loyal to Abbas attacked Hamas media outlets, much as Hamas attacked Fatah and PLO outlets in Gaza.4

Early on, many Hamas media outlets were simply shut down. In 2007, Hamas press conferences,5 TV, and even journalists who were not critical of Hamas were all targets of the PA security forces.6 The following year, Palestinian forces arrested two Palestinian journalists, charging them with being Hamas members.7 The PA also banned a number of journalists from entering the presidential compound in Ramallah, including those from Al-Jazeera, reportedly due to the Qatar-based satellite station’s decision to air a speech by Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Damascus, rather than remarks by Abbas to the PLO in Ramallah.8

Around the same time, the pro-Hamas Ramattan News Agency was forced to stop operations after “relentless and heightened persecution” by the PA following positive coverage of Hamas events.9 And in January 2009, Mohammed Suleiman Abu Shtayyeh, a journalist who reported on a pro-Hamas rally in Ramallah, was attacked by PA loyalists and sustained a broken nose.10 The crackdown continued the following month,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.