Journalist Support Committee condemns the assaults on Palestinian media
and calls for the establishment of an international committee to document the crimes of the Israeli forces

The Journalist Support Committee denounces the closure of 8 Palestinian media, with the confiscation of their equipment, archives, and devices by the Israeli forces in cooperation with the Shabak, on Wednesday, 18 October 2017, in the West Bank.

And in a statement provided to the Journalist Support Committee, a number of workers in the raided institutions confirmed that a large force of the Israeli army, composed of at least 10 vehicles belonging to the military forces, raided three media companies: PalMedia, RamSat and Trans Media, which provides information services to Palestinian, Arab and international satellite channels, including Al-Quds TV, Al-Aqsa TV, Palestine Today, Al-Manar, Russia Today and France 24. In addition, the Israeli forces raided the premises of Al-Ramouni printing press and confiscated their contents.

The incursions affected the following cities: Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, and Bethlehem. The Israeli forces also issued a decision to close the institution and the printing press for six months after the confiscation of all equipment, under the pretext of “Broadcast and delivering materials that incite violence”.

The committee confirmed that the Israeli forces also arrested the director of Trans Media and its financial director, journalist Amer Al-Jaabari and Ibrahim Al-Jaabari. Bringing the number of journalists detained in Israeli prisons to 33 journalists according to the committee’s monitoring provided in its monthly report.

The Journalist Support Committee calls on all international institutions concerned with the rights of journalists to exercise necessary pressure on the Israeli authorities to cease its continued aggression on the Palestinian media institutions. 

The Committee pointed out that the occupation is seeking from these attacks to undermine media institutions in order to conceal the truth and silence the press, in a clear violation of all international conventions and covenants that guarantee freedom of broadcasting, speech an opinion.

The committee urges the UN Security Council to expeditiously implement resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists, and to start prosecuting “Israel” for its repeated breaching of international law, and to establish an international commission to document the ongoing crimes of the occupation and its continued aggression against Palestinian media.

The Committee reiterates its call for the release of all journalists and media workers detained without any charge while ensuring their freedom of opinion and expression guaranteed by international laws.

Watch moments of the closure of the media institution and the confiscation of their content: 

Journalist Support Committee - Palestine
18 October 2017