RAMALLAH– Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalist that coincides on September 26 of every year, two Palestinian journalists were killed by Israeli army gunfire this year and 20 are currently in prisons.
The first half of this year witnessed the Israeli army’s murder of the journalists Shireen Abu Akleh and Ghufran Warasna, while 20 other journalists are languishing in Israeli prisons, including Bushra al-Tawil, from the city of al-Bireh, and the journalism student Dina Jaradat, from Jenin.
The latest report by the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate recorded 479 violations and crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinian journalists in the first half of 2022.
The report said the most terrible violation this year was the assassination of Al-Jazeera journalist Abu Akleh on May 11, which exposed to the world the brutality of the Israeli occupation in dealing with the Palestinians.
Data showed that the violations varied between detention and prevention of coverage, which had the largest share for a total of 175 cases, and deliberate killing, arrest, and targeting with bullets as 35 bullets hit journalists, in addition to the travel ban, appearing in courts, summons, beatings, and other abuses aimed at preventing journalists from doing their work.
The data also showed a remarkable increase in attacks by settlers against Palestinian journalists under the protection of the occupation army, and that the occupation forces did not differentiate between male and female journalists in the practice of violence against them, as 14 percent of female journalists faced violations and two female journalists – Abu Akleh and Warasna – were killed.
Jerusalem topped the list of the number of violations against journalists, with 131 violations, or 30% of the total violations by the occupation forces recorded followed by Hebron governorate, then Nablus governorate.
The International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Journalist which coincides on September 26 of every year was decided by the International Federation of Journalists in 1996 following the “tunnel” uprising when Palestinians protested the Israeli occupation authorities’ opening of a tunnel under Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem and many Palestinians were killed during that uprising, including journalists.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency (WAFA)