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Al-Jazeera web reporter freed for lack of evidence after six months

26 May 2006


Palestinian journalist Awad Rajoub, a reporter for the Arabic-language website of the satellite TV station Al Jazeera, was freed on 24 May 2006 after being held by the Israeli authorities for six months. He was arrested on 30 November 2005 at his home in Doura, 10 km outside the West Bank city of Hebron, and accused by the Israeli military of “threatening state security.” The Al-Jazeera bureau in Paris told Reporters Without Borders the Israeli court that was supposed to try him ruled there was insufficient evidence and ordered his release. 

Palestinian PM urged to punish gunmen who attacked TV bureau

5 June 2006


Reporters Without Borders condemned a 5 June 2006 attack on Palestinian national TV installations in the south of the Gaza Strip and urged Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh to put a stop to violence against journalists in the Palestinian territories. Witnesses blamed the attack on gunmen of the Ezzedine Al Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas. “It is essential that effective measures are taken to ensure the physical safety of journalists,” Reporters Without Borders said. 

Palestinian journalists attacked, threatened by leading factions

6 June 2006


The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned by attacks and threats against the press in the West Bank and Gaza Strip by suspected members of the two major Palestinian parties, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), and the Palestine Liberation Organization’s Fatah movement. On Monday, nearly 50 armed militants stormed a studio of Fatah-affiliated Palestine Television in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. The attackers ordered staff to leave, and beat several cameramen and technicians. They fired at the equipment and in the direction of employees. 

Israeli authorities restrict Gaza press access

27 June 2006


The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about Israeli government restrictions on journalists attempting to report from the Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday that Israeli passport holders and dual nationals would be prohibited from entering Gaza. “Due to the current security assessments journalists with Israeli citizenship or those holding a dual citizenship cannot enter the Gaza Strip at the present time,” a statement said. 

Unlikely Clippings: "Israel Comes Clean"

10 July 2006


At times such as the current crisis in Gaza, BNN’s hard working editorial team dips into our file cabinet of unlikely clippings, a magical place where things you never thought you would see are seen, and things you thought you would never hear are heard. In this clipping, from the mysterious and glittering office metal storage box in which the jinn dance and frolic, and from which the sound of childrens’ laughter echos through the worm hole of possible futures, Israel comes clean. Delightfully plucked from the tiny fingers of the filing cabinet jinn by BNN’s Sarrah Al-Kiyaas. 

Palestinian Family Members Killed and Injured in the Latest Israeli Military Escalation in the Gaza Strip

9 July 2006


On the evening of Saturday, 8 July 2006, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed a Palestinian woman and two of her children, and injured another five members of the same family, when an IOF plane dropped a bomb close to their house located to the east of the Sheja’iya area of Gaza City. This crime is a continuation of a series of war crimes that have been perpetrated by IOF in the Gaza Strip over the past two weeks. Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip are paying the price of the war launched by IOF, which has led to the killing and injury of a large number of civilians. 

Photostory: Mohammad Az Zanoun's Images of Gaza Under Siege

8 July 2006


Mohammad Az Zanoun, a photographer with Maan Images, was shot on 8 July as he photographed in the Zaitoun area of Gaza. On Thursday, 6 July, he narrowly escaped injury as an Israeli shell fell among a group of Palestinians, as he was photographing. On 8 July, he was injured by shrapnel, yet continued to photograph, continuing his work of documenting the Israeli siege on Gaza with moving and memorable photos that bring the experiences of Palestinians to the world. As he continued to photograph, he was shot directly in the stomach, and underwent serious surgery at Al Shifa hospital. This photostory presents some of Mohammad Az Zanoun’s images of Gaza. 

PNGO statement of condemnation of Israeli attack on north Gaza and a call on the international community for intervention

8 July 2006


The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network (PNGO) calls upon the United Nations, and the international community, to intervene and stop the Israeli Occupation forces’ attacks on the Palestinian people, which have been concentrated in the northern Gaza Strip since the night of 5 July 2006. The serious escalation of Israeli attacks against Palestinian citizens and property utilizing heavy arms, including tanks and air forces, caused outrageous impacts of civilian life and property. 

Globalizing the Occupation

Jamal Juma' 8 July 2006


This year, the 9th of July is a bitter day for Palestinians. The Occupation Army besieges Gaza, massacres its people and attacks its infrastructure. The ghettos of the West Bank take shape as the Apartheid Wall edges closer to completion and the Palestinian exodus from Jerusalem has begun. Over 9000 Palestinians sit in Israeli prison cells whilst Palestinians who remain on their 1948 lands do so under the subjugation of the most vicious and discriminatory Apartheid system. The brief euphoria of two years ago, following the ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the Wall, is a distant memory. Some hailed a victory for international law in Palestine when the ICJ ruled the Wall illegal. 

Israel's Attacks on Gaza

8 July 2006


Israel is using weapons supplied by the United States to target Palestinian civilians and civilian infrastructure in the Gaza Strip in violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, the Foreign Assistance Act and the Geneva Conventions. Israeli air force fighter squadrons are composed of Lockheed Martin F-16I Fighting Falcons and Boeing F-15Is, which fire U.S.-manufactured AMRAAM, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles. Between 2005-2005, the United States licensed to Israel at least $1.062 billion of spare parts, engines, and missiles for its F-15 and F-16 fighter planes.