Defending freedom of the press and protecting journalists

On the third of May every year, hundreds of thousands of journalists around the world celebrate World Press Freedom Day. On the martyrdom of colleague Sherine Abu Aqleh, correspondent for Al Jazeera channel and icon of the Palestinian and international press, in addition to the family of Palestinian journalists heading to hold the General Conference of the Syndicate on the twenty-third and twenty-fourth of this month.

"Freedom of the press" is the most necessary condition for the work of journalists and their profession, and a free press is an essential and indispensable condition for any normal contemporary society, free from all manifestations of oppression, corruption, tyranny, ignorance and arbitrariness, and before that from the scourge of colonialism and occupation, as is the case of our Palestinian people who are still suffering from The results of the catastrophe, whose infamous anniversary falls in this month as well. This fact reminds us all that the responsibility for defending freedom of the press is not the task of journalists alone, but rather the task of all forces and bodies that are keen on human rights and the interests of the people and the nation. It is the task of all supporters of freedom and democracy. Serving the entire community and providing it with the information it needs in the various affairs of the lives of all citizens.

And if freedom of the press is a necessary condition for the success of the mission of journalists, then it is not sufficient alone without meeting the urgent life interests, individual and collective, of journalists, such as adequate wages, decent work conditions, occupational safety, health and social insurance, unemployment, disability and old age insurance. Promoting the profession, developing laws regulating the work of the press, including the Journalists Syndicate Law, and the right to obtain information, to training new graduates and creating journalistic jobs in institutions and facilities that lack this or refer them to non-specialists.

Palestine was one of the first Arab countries to know the press and the trade union organization of the press in the twenties of the last century. Journalists were among the first to be aware of the Zionist danger and warned of it before other politicians and notables. Anyone who wants to learn more about the pioneering role of the Palestinian press can follow the important documentary materials that he continues to publish. Colleague Imad Al-Asfar, Director of the Media Development Center at Birzeit University, based on the archives of the Palestinian press at that time.

The occasion passes us this year amid the continuation of violations by the occupation first, and secondly by the Palestinian parties in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and in recent years, the practices of social media administrations have been added, targeting Palestinian content and the right of Palestinians to express their opinion, and it seems that these administrations are linked With close relations with the occupying state and its institutions, it adopts its racist standards to demonize and criminalize the Palestinian struggle. Mostly, the number of Israeli violations of freedom of the press exceeds the total number of violations in the West Bank and Gaza, and what concerns us in this regard, and despite our knowledge that the Israeli violations are quantitatively and qualitatively different from the Palestinian violations, they are the gross and most serious violations, and affect the right to life of journalists before their right to life is affected movement and work, and includes killing journalists and deliberately assaulting them, as happened with Sherine Abu Aqelah, Ghfran, Rasneh, Nazih Darwaza, Yasser Murtaja, Ahmed Abu Hussein, and more than fifty journalists who were martyred during the last four decades. Israel's targeting of journalists included bombing towers and buildings that house press offices and news agencies, and snipers targeting journalists despite wearing their distinctive vests. Most of the journalists were prevented from entering Jerusalem, as well as from moving between the West Bank and Gaza, and from reaching the places of events. And the arrest of hundreds of journalists, where about 15 journalists are still detained so far, and the destruction of journalists’ cameras, tools, equipment, and vehicles. However, the continuation of Palestinian violations in all its forms, including arrests, summons, threats, beatings, prevention of coverage, dismissal from work, and others, represents a dark and defective page in our Palestinian life. Everyone is responsible for folding and closing it by criminalizing and forbidding the arrest, exposure and threat of journalists, and holding accountable all those who encroach on press freedoms, with a reminder that these freedoms are guaranteed and stipulated in the Declaration of Independence and the Basic Law, and have previously been affirmed and repeated by the highest political and national references, especially by the President and successive governments.

Since its inception, the Palestinian press has been associated with the national cause. It was the most important means of exposing colonial and aggressive plans, a tool for formulating and building national awareness, and one of the most important levers for preserving the national identity, as well as its daring role in revealing the truth and informing the world about the crimes of the occupation. Therefore, the press has always been targeted by Before colonialism and occupation, it is unfortunate that it also turned into a victim of division, separation and internal crises.

On World Press Day, we bow in honor of the martyrs of the Palestinian press, including the leaders and symbols of the Palestinian revolution, such as Ghassan Kanafani, Majid Abu Sharar, Kamal Nasser, Kamal Adwan, Wael Zuaiter, Hanna Moqbel, Naji Al-Ali, Hani Jawhariyyah, Izz al-Din al-Qalq, Saeed Hamami, Abdel-Wahhab al-Kayyali, and Michel Nimri, all the way to the martyrs of the occupied land, Hassan Abdul Halim to Shirin, Ghufran and dozens of others, and we do not forget the foreign martyrs of the press from among the friends of Palestine who gave their lives in order for the world to know what is going on in our country, including James Miller, Raphael Chirillo, Victor Argoni, Simon Camelli, and Cevdet Kiliclar, as well as the martyrs of the press outside the homeland, including them Tariq Ayoub, Mazen Tamizi, Mazen Dana.

On this anniversary, we remember the journalistic figures who presented the most beautiful years of their lives in the service of the press and journalists, including the late captains Radwan Abu Ayyash, Naim Al-Tubasi and Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar, and the heads of the leading media institutions Mahmoud Abu Al-Zalf, Mahmoud Yaish and the martyr Youssef Nasr.

Finally, all the best wishes for the Journalists Syndicate conference, with the hope of building a broad popular national coalition to defend freedom of the press and protect journalists. The press, which has dedicated itself to Palestine, deserves support, backing and protection from its people.