by Khaled Abu Toameh • March 7,
2019 at 5:00 am
- The Palestinian
Journalists Syndicate, a body dominated by Fatah loyalists,
condemned the arrest of Hazem Nasser and called for his
immediate release. The syndicate pointed out that Nasser had
been summoned for interrogation by the Palestinian Authority
(PA) security forces several times in the past few weeks despite
the fact that he did not commit any crime.
- In the world of the PA
and Hamas, the only "good" journalists are those who
report negatively about Israel. Independent journalists
therefore find themselves forced to seek work in non-Palestinian
media organizations, including some in Israel. Even then, these
journalists, especially those who live under the PA and Hamas,
engage in massive self-censorship.
- What is hard to
understand are the continued closed mouths of the international
community and media towards this ongoing assault on the freedom
of the media in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Had Nasser and Abu
Arafeh been arrested by the Israeli authorities, their
"plight" would have been splashed over headlines
across the globe.
The
Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank is continuing its
unremitting security crackdown on Palestinian journalists,
particularly on those who are not affiliated with Mahmoud Abbas's
ruling Fatah faction. Journalist Hazem Nasser was recently arrested
by the PA security forces, and told his lawyer that he was physically
tortured during his interrogation in the Central Prison in Jericho.
(Image source: iStock. Image is illustrative and does not represent any
person in the article.)
The Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank is
continuing its unremitting security crackdown on Palestinian
journalists, particularly on those who are not affiliated with
Mahmoud Abbas's ruling Fatah faction. Scores of journalists have been
arrested or summoned by the PA in the West Bank on a regular basis in
the past few years. In the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, Palestinian
journalists are facing a similar campaign of intimidation and
harassment.
In the past few days, another two journalists, Hazem
Nasser and Amer Abu Arafeh, were arrested by the PA security forces
-- and not for the first time. Nasser, who is from the city of
Tulkarem, and Abu Arafeh, who is from Hebron, have, in fact, become
"frequent visitors" of PA detention centers and
interrogation rooms.
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