LONDON: On Monday, numerous Palestinian journalists mobilized outside the UN building in Ramallah to demand press freedom, in response to violent clashes with Palestinian security forces initially sparked by the death of Nizar Banat, a 43-year-old activist from Hebron.
Banat, a harsh critic of the Palestinian Authority (PA), died last week after security forces stormed his home and violently arrested him.
Palestinian journalists reportedly submitted a letter to the UN urging it “to take necessary and immediate measures” to protect press freedom.
The letter comes amid increasing attacks and harassment by Palestinian security forces against Palestinian journalists.
The Palestinian Journalist Syndicate also called on Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh to fire the Palestinian police chief for not protecting journalists and allowing undercover police to attack and arrest them.
“Journalists were deliberately targeted — especially women journalists in the field — through assault, hijacking of cameras, or theft of communication devices,” Ammar al-Dwaik, the director general of the Independent Commission for Human Rights, said.
Reporters Without Borders indicated that 12 Palestinian journalists, including five women, had been assaulted by Palestinian police in the West Bank during the clashes.
Similarly, in neighbouring Lebanon, three journalists were reportedly detained in South Beirut on Monday while covering the country’s fuel crisis.
The journalists were kidnapped by members of Hezbollah, but one of the reporters was reportedly released to the Lebanese authorities shortly after.
