Committee to Protect Journalists

AFP photographer shot in Jenin


Media watchdog CPJ is concerned by today’s shooting by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) of Palestinian photographer Saif Dahla in the West Bank city of Jenin. Two witnesses told CPJ that there were about half a dozen journalists standing together on the sidewalk of a residential neighborhood in Jenin, covering an Israeli incursion into the city in the early afternoon when the shooting occurred. Dahla was shot when a soldier in a tank about 20 meters away fired a few rounds from a machine gun. 

Masked men attack Palestinian TV station


At around 4:00 a.m. on Monday, February 2, three masked Palestinian men carrying automatic rifles stormed the offices of the Ramallah-based Al-Quds Educational Television, according to staff. Assistant Manager Haroun Abu Arrah, one of two station employees present at the time, told CPJ that one of the men demanded a “tape,” and when Abu Arrah asked for clarification the assailants began beating the two staffers with rifle butts and fists. After the beating, two of the assailants went into another room and fired several rounds at some of the station’s equipment, destroying computer screens and video equipment. 

Al-Arabiyya offices attacked


The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the recent raid on the Ramallah offices of the Dubai-based Arabic satellite news channel Al-Arabiyya. Al-Arabiyya producer Qassem Al-Khateeb told CPJ that on the evening of Saturday, September 13, five masked and armed men entered the building where Al-Arabiyya is housed and asked whether it was the office of Al-Arabiyya. Al-Khateeb responded that it was, and the assailants immediately ordered him and the two other employees at the station at gunpoint to go to the editing room. 

Mazen Dana: In his own words


Yesterday, Reuters cameraman Mazen Dana was shot and killed by US occupation forces in Iraq. In 2001, Dana was honored by the Committee to Protect Journalists ago for his years of courageous reporting on the conflict in his hometown of Hebron in the West Bank. He worked for the Reuters news agency covering one of the most dangerous beats in the world, the West Bank city of Hebron, where journalists are routinely targets of violence. Dana has been wounded repeatedly during the seven years he has documented the clashes in his hometown for Reuters. 

Palestinian cameraman Mazen Dana killed in Baghdad


Mazen Dana, a veteran television cameraman for Reuters, was killed in Baghdad on Sunday while filming outside the city’s Abu Ghraib prison. According to wire service reports, Dana was shot by U.S.soldiers riding on a tank in the Iraqi capital. The 43-year-old Palestinian was honored by CPJ two years ago for his years of courageous reporting on the conflict in his hometown of Hebron in the West Bank. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a full investigation into the shooting, and a public accounting of the circumstances.