Al Mezan Center For Human Rights 16 March 2008
On 11 March 2008, the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) stormed into Al Quds Radio and Al Majd Radio headquarters in Jenin, West Bank and confiscated most of the contents in the buildings. According to sources from Al Quds Radio, the IOF, which carried out an incursion into the town of Jenin, in the northern West Bank, raided the headquarters of the radio station. They seized the main radio transmission device and other appliances, archives, and all documents from the office. As a result, work at the radio station was suspended.
That same day, the IOF raided and confiscated the contents of Al Majd Radio headquarters, also in Jenin. The IOF stormed in and searched the Al Maiseloni building, where Al Majd Radio is located. Al Majd was also forced to suspend its work as a result.
On 10 March 2008, the IOF arrested Hassan Abdul Jawad, a board member in the press syndicate from his home in Bethlehem and assaulted his family.
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights is concerned by the IOF’s systematic attacks on Palestinian and foreign journalists who work in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and its systematic attacks on media organizations. IOF attacks killed and injured many Palestinian and foreign journalists, including British journalist, James Miller. Miller was killed while making a documentary film about the children of Rafah despite wearing clothes marked “press,” with a white flag raised and a light shined on him by his colleagues. According to Al Mezan’s documentation, the IOF attacked most of the crews of Al Jazeera, Al Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Reuters and others agencies that work in the OPT. The IOF carried out attacks on local radio and newspaper headquarters repeatedly in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
Al Mezan condemns these attacks, which violate every person’s right to free expression. The Center calls on the international community to act effectively and urgently to stop the Israeli violations against the press and other civilians, and provide international protection of the population in the OPT. Al Mezan also calls on local and international media institutions to express their solidarity with Al Quds and Al Majd Radio stations and with Palestinian journalists who endure much suffering in order to continue their work under IOF attacks and the imposed siege, which deprives them of their most basic necessities to report events in the OPT.
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