Journalist Support Committee: Repeated Aggression by the Occupation on Journalists requires an International Investigation

The Journalist Support Committee strongly condemns the repeated attacks on Palestinian journalists in the Palestinian territories, the latest of which was the injury of journalist Issam Rimawi who was shot with a rubber-coated metal bullet by the occupation forces while covering the clashes in Nabi Saleh, West Bank.

The Committee confirmed that the attack on journalist Issam Rimawi coincides with what was revealed by "Haaretz" newspaper, stating that the Israeli army has issued military orders to its soldiers to target Palestinian journalists and prevent them from covering the developing situation on the ground and documenting Israeli violations against Palestinian demonstrators. 

The Israeli newspaper reported in its Friday edition that in August 2012 Israeli soldiers beat five journalists with batons, destroyed their cameras, arrested them and threatened to target them again if they returned to cover the weekly confrontations in the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqiliya, an attack that was documented and videotaped by "Btselem", a left-wing Israeli organization.

And according to data monitored by the Committee, the Israeli occupation forces continued their attacks on Palestinian journalists, where last February the Committee recorded 50 violations against media freedoms in the occupied Palestinian territories by the occupation soldiers.

The Committee confirmed that there is a clear restriction on the right to freedom of movement of Palestinian journalists by Israeli soldiers, which violates all International Conventions and laws, and which requires an urgent investigation into all attacks on journalists in the Palestinian territories by International institutions concerned with freedom of opinion and expression, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression and the International Federation of Journalists.

Attached are scenes of the attacks on journalists in August 2012 captured by Btselem organization:

Journalist Support Committee - Palestine
2 March 2018