The International Day of Persecuting Palestinian Journalists
by Bassam Tawil • October 5, 2023 at 5:00 am
The Palestinian Authority's crackdown on journalists and political activists is part of an ongoing effort to silence and intimidate its critics.
Palestinian leaders have repeatedly shown that they reject any form of criticism directed against them. The only criticism they accept is that which is directed against Israel. Palestinian leaders are not different than most of the Arab heads of state whose governments control the media, which serves as a mouthpiece for the Arab regimes.
The latest victim of the Palestinian Authority crackdown is Palestinian journalist Tariq al-Sarkaji, a resident of the West Bank city of Nablus.
In recent weeks, several other journalists were also arrested. They include Sami al-Sa'i, Mohammed Shawasha, Jarrah Khalaf, Hatem Hamdan, Akeel Awawdeh, Ahmed al-Bitawi, and Muath Washha.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms condemned the arrest of freelance journalist Jarrah Khalaf by the Palestinian Military Intelligence Service on September 4. The group said that Khalaf, 23, was summoned for an interview at the Military Intelligence headquarters in the city of Jenin. The next day, he was brought before the Jenin Prosecution Office and charged with "possession of weapons." This is a charge that the Palestinian Authority often uses to justify the arrest of journalists and political activists.
It is a sad truth that, three decades after the inception of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinians still do not have a free and independent media.
An even sadder truth is that most international human rights organizations care nothing about the abuse perpetrated against Palestinian journalists by their own leaders.
September 26 marked the International Day of Solidarity with Palestinian Journalists. As in previous years, anti-Israel organizations used the occasion to make false and libelous accusations against Israel, including the lie that Israelis intentionally target Palestinian journalists.
Israel, needless to say, does not target any journalist. Journalists who choose to cover a violent conflict can often find themselves caught in a crossfire. If journalists are killed or injured, that is not because the Israeli army ordered its soldiers to target them. It is because the journalists were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Every journalist who steps into a war zone is aware of the risks involved.
Notably, while the anti-Israel groups continue to denounce Israel, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has stepped up its crackdown on Palestinian journalists in the West Bank.
