Press Freedom Violations in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Areas

Press Freedom Violations in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Areas
28 September 2000 - 23 July 2001
 
  Since the beginning of the violent crisis in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories on September 28, journalists are among the victims. They have repeatedly been targeted, shot, beaten, arrested, threatened and intimidated by Israelis (both soldiers and settlers) and by Palestinians (police and civilians).
The political climate throughout the Palestinian territories and Israel has turned explosive. Violence and bloodshed has taken over the political scene. The clashes, which began ten months ago, have already left over 600 people dead, around 80% of whom were Palestinian. The numbers of people wounded are estimated at well over 14,500.

The summary of incidents involving press freedom violations in the Appendix displays a chilling pattern. Out of a total of 102 incidents there were two deaths, 43 journalists were shot and 42 were harassed and physically assaulted in other ways. Four broadcasting stations were effectively censored (due to shutdown by order of authorities or because of missile attacks), one foreign journalist's accreditation was revoked, at least two were seriously threatened, three were denied entry to Israel from the West Bank and all Palestinian journalists were denied Israeli press cards and thus severely obstructed in carrying out their professions.

Seventy-six press freedom violations were carried out by Israeli authorities. At least six of these, however, have been contested. Ten violations were committed by Israeli settlers, at least one of which has been contested. One was perpetrated jointly by soldiers and settlers. Thus, 87% of all violations were perpetrated by Israelis. Another 8 violations were carried out by Palestinian authorities, two by Palestinian paramilitaries, and three by Palestinian civilians, at least one of which has also been contested. The overwhelming majority of victimised journalists are of Palestinian origin. Fifty-two Palestinian media workers have been attacked, 17 beaten, 29 shot, and 8 shot at.

In an interview published by Reuters on July 6 2001,Yehudith Orbach, head of the journalism and communications department at Bar-Ilan University, said Palestinians and Israelis fully understood the importance of the image. "In war...television is a battlefield," Orbach said to Reuters. "The picture is worth more than 1,000 words... The fact that it is a cliché does not mean that it is any less true". Palestinian spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi told Reuters Israel knew the importance of the media, and she quoted Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as saying that winning the struggle was 80-90 percent dependent on the medias effectiveness.
 
  A press release by Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) on October 22nd, reported that "...in this conflict, both sides realise how crucial film and photos are in the contest for the support of international opinion."
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) also acknowledges the medias power in shaping international perception of the current crisis, stating in their special report, "Bloodied and Beleaguered" (October 25th) that "... the two sides are also fighting a media battle in which words and images are weapons of war. For this reason, both sides have abused journalists in order to influence public perceptions of the conflict."

Some members of the press have been caught in the middle of the clashes, where they were harassed, arrested, beaten or shot. Others have been denied freedom of movement and in some cases media facilities have been targeted, such as radio and television stations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
   (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

A Palestinian photographer injured in the face by a rubber bullet, near the Jewish settlement of Gush Katif in the outskirts of the southern Gaza town of Khan Yunis Friday Oct. 20, 2000.
 
  Eight journalists were victims of physical violence from Israeli security forces on the day of the first killings in the Intifada (the Palestinian uprising). Hazem Bader, a cameraman with the Associated Press (AP); Khaled al-Zeghary, a freelance journalist; Mahfouz Abu-Turk, a freelance photographer, Aamer El Jabari, an NBC reporter, Naji Dana (France 2) and Awad Awad, a photographer with the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency were all injured by shots fired at them by Israeli soldiers on September 29th.
Bader was wounded in his right hand by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by an Israeli sniper while filming clashes at al-Aqsa Mosque (the Noble Sanctuary) in Jerusalem. He was taken to hospital for treatment.

According to CPJ, Zeghari was beaten by Israeli soldiers and shot in the leg with a rubber-coated metal bullet while also covering clashes at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. This attack took place about five minutes after Bader was shot. "I was filming the crowd during Friday prayers and when the clashes took place by the Magharbeh Gate I took refuge behind a large rock [stone column] in the courtyard of the Islamic Museum," Zeghari said. "I witnessed how the wounded youths were falling on the ground as the shooting intensified." He said after ten minutes or so, a group of Israeli soldiers stormed the courtyard, opening fire. "At that time I was filming the event while lying down on the ground. All of a sudden the soldiers approached me and began beating me with bats and sticks on my head and shoulders". Zeghari did not realise until doctors examined him at the hospital that he had been hit in the leg by a rubber-coated metal bullet. The bullet, which left a gash measuring 2 cm by 2cm by 4cm (8 by .8 by 1.6 inches) and lodged in Zeghari's leg, was apparently fired at close range. In addition to the bullet wound, Zeghari suffered a cut and several bruises on his head as well as bruises on his back, right shoulder and left hand. He also lost his camera and film. He later told LAW: "That was the twentieth time in seven years that Israeli soldiers have attacked me. I have been hit by live and rubber-coated steel bullets, and I have also been beaten several times."

Abu Turk was hit in the left thigh with a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli troops, according to CPJ,. He had been covering the clashes at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque and was taking cover behind a large stone column. He fled the scene after he was shot, but still kept filming while heading in the direction of the mosque. Shortly afterwards, he was hit in the right foot by another rubber bullet. He was taken to Al-Makased Hospital for treatment and released the same day.

According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), Aamer El Jabari, a reporter working for the NBC was wounded while covering clashes in Jerusalem. He was shot in the mouth by an Israeli soldier and rushed to hospital for treatment. Naji Dana, who works for France 2 was also shot by an Israeli rubber-coated metal bullet. In Bethlehem, Rami Noufal, a reporter working for the Palestinian Broadcasting Station was beaten by Israeli troops. In Gaza, Wafiq Mattar, a journalist for the Palestinian Political Steering Bureau was also beaten by Israeli troops.

On the same day, Khalid Abu Aker, a correspondent with the French television station France 2, was beaten by Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque. According to CPJ, the attack occurred after Abu Aker refused to comply with a police officer who demanded that the journalist hand over a rubber bullet that he had picked up off the ground. Abu Aker's shirt was ripped and his eyeglasses broken.

(AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

A television cameraman helps a fellow Palestinian journalist who was injured by a ricocheting bullet fired by an Israeli soldier during clashes in the West Bank town of Ramallah Monday Oct. 16, 2000.    On September 30th, a cameraman with France 2, Talal Hassan Abu Rahma, filmed the killing of a Palestinian boy by the Israeli army. The footage recorded how 12 year-old Muhammed Al Durra was killed as he and his father tried, for almost an hour, to protect themselves from gunfire. It was shown around the world and had a huge impact on international opinion. Shortly afterwards, the France 2 correspondent in Jerusalem, Charles Enderlin, received telephone threats, apparently from Jewish extremists.
According to LAW, Muwafaq Matar, a photojournalist for Falasteen Al Yawm in Ramallah, was shot in the head by Israeli forces while covering clashes at Netzarim junction in Gaza on the same day.

On October 1st, Amer Al Jabri, a Palestinian cameraman working for ABC News was wounded in the head by an unidentified object, thought to be either a rock thrown by a Palestinian demonstrator or a rubber bullet, fired by Israeli troops. At the time of the incident, he was covering clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli troops in Hebron.

On October 2nd, Mazen Daana and Luay Haikal, Reuters journalists, and Wael Al Shiokhy, a Palestinian journalist with the local television station Al Nawras were all shot in Hebron by Israeli troops. Daana, who was covering clashes on Hebron's Shallalah Street was hit in the left foot and leg by live ammunition fired by Israeli forces. Earlier on the same day, Da'ana was attacked by Jewish settlers. On the previous day, Daana was hit in the same leg by a rubber-coated steel bullet. He told CPJ that he thought the attack may have been deliberate. Haikal was also hit in the leg by a rubber-coated metal bullet, while covering clashes between Palestinian demonstrations and Israeli troops, according to CPJ,. His injury was described as not serious.
 

Also on October 2nd, the car of Marwan El-Ghoul, a cameraman working for CBC and director of Mayadin Company for Media and Television Production, was shelled. An Israeli combat helicopter shelled the car while El-Ghoul was covering clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli troops near the Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip. El-Ghouls car, and photography equipment worth $20,000 left in the car were destroyed. According to El-Ghoul, his car was distinguished from the other cars in the area as a press car.

According to RSF, on October 4th Atta Oweisat, a Palestinian photographer for the Israeli press agency Zoom 77 was beaten with clubs by Israeli policemen or a group of Israeli security agents, disguised as Arabs, while he was filming a Palestinian demonstration in Jabel Al Moukaber, near Jerusalem. CPJ reports that he had been standing with a group of Israeli journalists when chaos erupted after a number of undercover Israeli security agents arrived suddenly and began arresting Palestinian youths. "When I began to take pictures, seven of them [Israeli agents] attacked me, threw me to the ground and started beating me and stepping on me, trying hard to pull the cameras away from me...I was holding the camera which was hanging from my neck tight. Then a Border Patrol soldier came and held me by the neck and one of the [agents] stepped on my stomach." Oweisat was knocked unconscious and woke up in the hospital. His bullet-proof vest prevented serious injuries, he said.

In other clashes, journalists were attacked by both Arab and Israeli civilians in the West Bank and in Israel proper. On October 4th, Arab Israelis attacked an Italian journalist in Jaffa. On Yom Kippur, Israelis in Tel Aviv attacked an Israeli camera crew with bottles and stones.

Walid Suleiman Amayreh, publisher and editor of the biweekly Hebron Times, was detained on October 7th by Palestinian police following his live appearance on the Gulf-based satellite news station Al-Shareqah. During the program, Amayreh criticised the PNA for its corruption and its negotiations with Israel. He also called for the release of imprisoned Hamas activists.

The arrest reportedly took place following a complaint from the Palestinian Ministry of Information, according to CPJ. Amayreh was questioned and released after 30 hours in custody. He was forced to sign a pledge affirming that he would abide by Palestinian information laws.

According to CPJ, a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli forces hit the camera lens of Luc Delahaye, a free-lance photographer working for the Magnum photo agency and Newsweek magazine on October 9th. He had been filming clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian demonstrators in Ramallah. Delahaye estimated that he was shot at a distance of 40 meters (44 yards). His camera was destroyed.

The next day, Delahayes head was grazed by another rubber bullet, also in Ramallah. One week later, he was hit in the forehead by a third rubber bullet while photographing a Palestinian protester who had just been hit in the head by a live round. Delahaye told CPJ that "in the three incidents I was definitely targeted by the soldiers, but I cannot say if I was targeted as a human being or as a journalist," adding that he was wearing only a T-shirt and not a flak jacket.

On October 11th, according to CPJ, Israeli police summoned Oweisat for questioning in Jerusalem. He initially thought he had been called in about a complaint he filed about his beating by an undercover Israeli security unit in Jerusalem on October 4th. Instead, he was charged on several counts, including insulting the police, injuring an officer, and preventing the police from arresting demonstrators. He was finally released on bail of NIS 5,000 (US$1250).

Photographer Nasser Ishtayyeh of Reuters was attacked by Israeli soldiers on the same day. The journalist was driving his car Al Bireh when the soldiers fired with a machinegun and destroyed the car. The journalist managed to escape and was rescued by a Red Crescent ambulance.

On October 12th, an Italian television crew filmed the killing of two Israelis in the West Bank town of Ramallah by a group of Palestinian civilians. The Palestinians forced their way into a police station, where the two Israelis were kept and attacked them. Later they threw one of the bodies out of a window and reportedly marched through the city centre carrying the other body. According to international news reports, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) had tried to confiscate the film from the reporters, by beating the cameraman and assaulting the other crew members. The Italian broadcaster pulled its reporters out of the Middle East after receiving threats. According to RSF, several film crews were assaulted by Palestinian civilians and policemen who ripped out videotapes and in some cases seized cameras as well. Bertrand Aguirre, correspondent with the French channel TF1, was assaulted by Palestinians after filming at the scene in Ramallah.

British free-lance photographer Mark Seager was also assaulted and had his camera seized. "Instinctively, I reached for my camera," Seager later wrote in the London Sunday Telegraph. "I was composing the picture when I was punched in the face by a Palestinian. Another Palestinian pointed right at me shouting 'no picture, no picture!' while another guy hit me in the face and said 'give me your film!' I tried to get the film out but they were all grabbing me and one guy just pulled the camera off me and smashed it to the floor."

According to CPJ, Patrick Baz, a photographer for AFP, had two of his cameras confiscated by the crowd. "I bumped into a crowd. They wanted my film," he told CPJ, saying the crowd suspected him of belonging to an undercover Israeli unit. After being harassed by the crowd, Baz got one of his cameras back, but the other was destroyed.

One journalist working for a Western news organisation who was at the scene said the angry crowd prevented several photojournalists who were on hand from filming the incident.

In response to the killing of the two Israelis in Ramallah, the Israeli forces fired rockets at two transmission towers and other facilities used by the official radio broadcasting channel Voice of Palestine. According to the Israeli forces, Voice of Palestine was targeted because it "played a key role in the incitement". However, after being off the air for one hour, the radio switched to an FM frequency to get back on the air. According to International Press Institute (IPI) sources, nearby apartment buildings appeared to be undamaged after the attack, which indicates that the station was singled out with the aim of closing it down. In addition, the Israeli army had said in statements released to the media that its targets were "carefully chosen".

The car of journalists Hassan El-Titi and Abdel-Rahman Qousini both working for the Associated Press, was attacked by Jewish settlers on October 14th. The attack, which took place near the village of Hawwara near Nablus, destroyed the front part of the car and windows.

Mahfouz Abu Turk, a photographer working with Reuters, was wounded in the hand by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired by Israeli troops, on October 17th. According to CPJ, he was covering clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces that erupted in Bethlehem after the funeral of a Palestinian boy. Just before the attack, Abu Turk was filming the clashes from behind a cement block. He was taken to hospital in Beit Jala where he received four stitches for the wound. Abu Turk claimed that the camera he was holding clearly identified him as a journalist.

An Israeli soldier shot Patrick Baz from AFP in the finger with a rubber-coated metal bullet while the photographer was covering clashes between Israeli forces and stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in Ramallah on October 18th. Baz was standing with another photographer at the time. "It was obvious [we were journalists]. We were wearing white helmets and flak jackets," Baz told CPJ. "I got it on my finger while [the finger] was on my camera...I can't say it was a stray bullet..." adding that "I would not complain if I was in the middle of the demonstration ...[but] we were on the side between demonstrators and soldiers and in an empty field really."

On the same day, according to CPJ, Israel's Government Press Office (GPO) revoked the accreditation of Riccardo Cristiano, a journalist with the Italian state television network RAI, after a Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida, published a controversial open letter in which he stated that RAI had not filmed the killing of two Israelis in Ramallah on October 12th. Cristiano stated that RAI would not have filmed such an incident, given the opportunity. He also pledged that both he and RAI would abide by PNA regulations for the media. Many interpreted this to mean that he would avoid negative news coverage of the PNA.

Shortly afterwards, the Israeli authorities revoked Cristiano's accreditation. RAI recalled the journalist to Rome and closed down its Jerusalem bureau, citing security concerns.
 
  (AP Photo/Adel Hana)

Palestinian journalists hold posters of Azez Al-Teneh after his death during a protest march on the streets of Gaza city, Sunday Oct. 29, 2000.    Azez Al-Teneh, director of the Palestinian Wafa news agency's Bethlehem office, died in a hospital in Amman, Jordan, on 28 October of injuries sustained in an explosion on 19 October. He was in the headquarters of a special unit responsible for the security of Yasser Arafat and other Palestinian officials when the explosion occurred. Two members of Arafat's personal guard were also killed in what was widely believed to have been a gas explosion. Israeli officials claimed that the blast occurred during the preparation of a bomb, while many Palestinians maintained that the building was hit by an Israeli missile.
Abdul Rahman Al Khattib, a photographer working for Al Ayyam Newspaper was shot in the mouth by Israeli live ammunition, while covering clashes in Khan Younis, Gaza on October 20th. According to a report by PCHR, Al Khattibs injury was in his upper lip.

On the same day, Hammed Eghbareya, director of Sawt Al-Haq Walhorreya (the Voice of Right and Freedom) was attacked by Israeli troops and border guards while covering clashes in Nazareth, according to PCHR.

On October 21st, Bruno Stephens, a free-lance photographer working with the French newspaper Liberation and the German magazine Stern, was grazed in the throat by a live bullet while covering clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Ramallah. Stephens was standing with several other journalists, well away from Palestinian demonstrators. He said the bullet, which he believed was fired by Israeli troops, passed over the head of a British free-lance photographer and then ricocheted off a wall before grazing his throat. He suffered a minor burn.
 
  Also on October 21st Ibrahim Al Husary, working for the Palestinian Wattan TV; Jamal Arour, a photographer with AFP; and Jacques-Marie Bourget, working for Paris Match, were shot by an Israeli sniper while covering clashes in Al Biereh, on the outskirts of Ramallah. Al Husary reported that he, along with the other journalists were clearly identified as members of the press because of their cameras. According to Al Husary, the journalists did not think that they were in danger, firstly because they were standing at a good distance away from the confrontation and secondly because it seemed at first that the Israeli troops were targeting the demonstrators only.
After the shooting intensified, the journalists moved to a near-by building for shelter. There, they noticed that, in addition to the soldiers on the ground, there were a number of "snipers" on top of the building. This is when the first of the five journalists Arour, was shot in the hand by live ammunition.

After a couple of hours, the demonstrators were forced to disperse because of the intensified shooting and tear gas. Al Husary, along with French journalist Bourget began walking away from the scene. After reaching an area where almost no confrontation was taking place, Al Husary and Bourget were shot by a "sniper" on top of a building. The journalists fell on the ground after realizing that the Israelis on top of the building were targeting them.

After a short while, an ambulance arrived and took the two journalists to the Ramallah hospital. While being treated for his wounds, Al Husary found out that he was shot in the ear and Bourget was shot in the chest.

All three injuries were from Israeli live ammunition. "Of course, it was fired by an Israeli. Everybody knows it," Paris-Match photographer Thierry Esch told AFP. Esch was standing next to Bourget when he was hit. Paris-Match deputy editor Patrick Jarnoux told The Toronto Star that "...a 57-year old man can't easily be mistaken for a 15-year-old rock thrower." Bourget was taken to Ramallah hospital unconscious. He was treated there for three days and was then flown to France for surgery.

Nasser Shiyoukhi, a reporter and cameraman working for AP was prevented from entering the West Bank village of Sumoua, near Hebron on October 23rd, according to CPJ, his Israeli government press card was also confiscated. At the time of the incident, Shiyoukhi was returning to Sumoua after helping a number of foreign reporters who were having difficulty gaining access to the town. When he arrived at the checkpoint, the Israeli soldiers told him he could not re-enter Sumoua, and then took his press card.

Abdel-Rahman Khbeisa, a photographer working for the Associated Press was attacked by Jewish settlers near the village of Hawwara in Nablus on October 24th. Settlers threw a rock on Khbeisas car, while he was driving, according to PCHR sources. The front of his car and the front window were hit.

Aadel Abu Naeima, a correspondent of Al-Ayyam daily local newspaper and Reuters; Fathi Brahma, a correspondent of Sawt Falasteen (Voice of Palestine); and Emad Abu Sonbol, a correspondent of Al-Hayat Al-Jadida daily local newspaper and France Press were all shot at by Israeli troops on October 29th. The three journalists were attacked while they were driving to Jericho hospital to see patients who had been wounded during clashes. No one was injured.

Reuters cameraman Shams Odeh was shot at by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip on October 31st. Odeh was not injured; yet he lost his camera equipment as he tried fleeing the scene.

Photo Jamal Arouri

Ibrahim Al Husary, cameraman with Wattan TV, on 21 October 2000 after he was shot by an Israeli sniper.    On the same day, Israeli Channel 2 reporter and cameraman, Suleiman al-Shafei, was detained by Israeli soldiers when he tried to re-enter Israel from the Gaza Strip via the Erez checkpoint. CPJ reports that the soldiers told al-Shafei that he was violating an order prohibiting Israeli citizens from entering the occupied territories. After al-Shafei identified himself as a an Israeli citizen and reporter for Channel 2, the soldiers called in Israeli police, who took the journalist to a nearby police station and questioned him for four hours. Al-Shafei refused to answer the questions and protested his detention. The police officers then tried to make al-Shafei sign a written pledge that he would not enter Gaza for 90 days. He refused and was eventually released on NIS 5,000 (US$1,250) bail, but the soldiers confiscated his footage of the aftermath of Israel's bombing of PNA offices in Gaza on the previous night.
 
  Ben Wedeman, CNNs Cairo bureau chief, was shot in the back by Israeli Forces while caught in the middle of clashes at the Karni crossing between Gaza and Israel on October 31st. After being taken to hospital, Wedeman told CPJ that the bullet pierced the flak jacket he was wearing. Wedeman could not determine the source of the shot, but did say that his back was to the Israeli position, between 400 meters (437 yards) and one kilometre (0.62 miles) away. While AFP reported that journalists, including the CNN crew, were fired on by Israeli forces, an official at CNN told CPJ that there was "no reason to believe whoever fired upon Wedeman knew he was a journalist."
In a separate incident at Karni crossing a few hours earlier, AFP still photographer Fayez Nourredine and Reuters cameraman Shams Odeh were covering clashes between stone-throwing Palestinians and Israeli forces. As they were moving in the direction of the Israeli position, a bullet passed by Nourredine's head. Both men subsequently retreated.
   (AP Photo/Mohammed Rawas)

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat speaks to Ben Wedeman, 41, CNN bureau chief in Cairo, at the Shefa hospital in Gaza city, Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2000.
  Ismael Khader, Reuters' Ramallah-based soundman was hit by Israeli live ammunition in October. Khader was covering clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Ramallah. The bullet penetrated Khader's leg and came out the other end. Khader was taken to the U.S. for treatment.
According to IPI sources, on November 1st the Israeli Defence Ministry issued a proclamation on Defence Force Radio that Palestinian journalists would no longer be given permits to move freely, because Israel claims that they "only" report the views of the Palestinian National Authority. According to Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, Israeli Defence Ministry issued an order to stop issuing press credentials to Palestinians working with Western news organisations, because of their biased reporting. While press cards are not a guarantee of freedom of movement for Palestinian journalists, they often facilitate movement through Israeli checkpoints. Palestinian journalists also told CPJ that Israeli authorities have cancelled the travel permits that they need to enter Israeli-controlled areas. Journalists of other nationalities can still move more freely in the areas.

On November 2nd, Al-Shafei, who was detained by Israeli soldiers on the Erez crossing on October 31st, was once again stopped at the Erez checkpoint by Israeli troops for violating the ban on entry into the occupied territories. The Israeli troops transferred him to police custody. After another interrogation, he was released on bail of NIS15,000 (US$3,750).

On November 9th, Israeli troops shot at French journalist Robert Laubrant, a correspondent of the Associated Press, wounding him with a live bullet in the thigh. This incident took place while Laubrant was covering clashes between Palestinian civilians and the Israeli troops near Al-Tuffah roadblock, between Khan Younis and the Al-Mawasi agricultural area, in the Gaza Strip.

According to LAW, Japanese journalist Riokahi Yama was hit by a steel bullet in the left eye on the same day while covering clashes north of Al Bireh. Yama was treated at Al Razi Ophthalmic Hospital.

The car of journalist Marwan El-Ghoul was shot at for the second time by Israeli troops on November 11th. This incident took place while El-Ghoul was covering the burning of a civilian car in which two Palestinian civilians were shot dead by the Israeli troops in Al-Qarara. According to a report by PCHR, El Ghoul was two meters away from his car when it was shot.

On the same day, Samir Khalifa, a correspondent with the Palestinian Television was taken to Shifa hospital in Gaza after inhaling tear gas used by the Israeli troops in Al Qarara. According to Khalifa, a number of journalists were trapped in the area as firing and teargas by Israeli troops intensified.
 
  (AP Photo/Nasser Shiyoukhi)

Palestinian paramedics attend to Yola Monakhov, a freelance photographer on assignment for The Associated Press, at the Beit Jala hospital after she was shot in the abdomen near Rachel's tomb on the outskirts of the West Bank city of Bethlehem Saturday Nov. 11, 2000.    Yola Monakhov, a twenty-six year-old American free-lance photographer working for AP, was struck in the lower abdomen by a live round fired by an Israeli soldier in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on November 11th. She sustained serious injuries to her bladder and other internal organs. Her pelvis was also fractured in several places. According to AP, Monakhov had been with a small group of Palestinian youths near Rachel's Tomb, the site of many Israeli-Palestinian clashes. She will reportedly suffer lifetime after-affects from the shooting.

According to CPJ, the youths were breaking up stones to use in their slingshots. Some were hurling stones toward an Israeli outpost. An Israeli solider appeared from around a corner and took aim at the group from an estimated distance of fifty meters. Monakhov fled along with the youths, who took shelter in a small recess behind a closed gate. "There was maybe one youth pressed in the doorway with me," she told the AP, explaining that her bulky backpack prevented her from entering the narrow space behind the gate. "I was waiting for the shot. And a second later I collapsed." The Israeli army denied that a journalist had been shot that day, but on November 17th, an army spokesman acknowledged that Israeli troops had shot Monakhov.
 
  According to CPJ, Jewish settlers attacked a car carrying photographers Abdel Rahim Qusini (Reuters) and Nasser Ishtayyeh (AP) on November 12th. The two journalists were travelling from Jerusalem toward the West Bank city of Nablus to investigate news that a settler had been killed that day. The journalists and their driver were approaching a bus station at the Za'tara intersection, on the main road to Nablus, where they saw some five Israeli soldiers standing with a handful of settlers. About a dozen settlers then came forward from behind a concrete barrier and started hurling stones at the car. A separate group of about thirty settlers then emerged, also throwing stones and pieces of cement at the car. One stone broke the glass of the left window and struck Qusini in the shoulder. Both of them were bruised in the assault. The journalists said the attack took place in front of the Israeli soldiers who did not intervene, even though their car displayed a "press" sticker and had Israeli license plates. The two journalists somehow escaped while their car was being destroyed. They received first aid in a nearby Palestinian village and were later taken to a hospital in Nablus.
On the same day, Israeli soldiers stopped Reuters cameraman Mazen Da'ana at the Khallet Khadour checkpoint, near the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arba, and prevented him from entering the old city of Hebron. Da'ana was travelling with Mary Robinson, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights. The soldiers claimed that all journalists were prohibited from entering the old city. After Robinson protested, Da'ana told CPJ, he was finally allowed to proceed. After they passed through the checkpoint, a group of Jewish settlers attacked Da'ana's car with stones and metal bars. Afterwards, the journalist was taken to the local police station and was questioned for one-and-a-half hours.

On November 15th, CPJ reported, PNA security forces raided the private, Bethlehem-based television station Al-Roa' and temporarily forced it off the air. Two PNA soldiers beat station director Hamdi Farraj and several other staff members. According to Al-Roa', some of the soldiers threatened to shoot the staff and destroy the station's equipment. After forcing the staff outside, the soldiers locked the station's doors and confiscated the keys. Though the authorities did not give a reason for the raid, it was apparently prompted by Al-Roa's incorrect report that Israeli forces had bombed a Palestinian military headquarters in Bethlehem. Farraj and several staff members were briefly detained. The station was allowed to resume broadcasting shortly thereafter.

On November 16th, Mohammed Zeid El-Kielani, a cameraman of Arab News Network (ANN) was wounded by an Israeli rubber-coated plastic bullet while covering clashes in Ramallah. El-Zielani was wounded in the shoulder.

On November 17th, Palestinian police ordered Al Roa to cease broadcasting, according to CPJ. The police carried a letter that had been sent to Palestinian National Authority chairman Yasser Arafat, asking Arafat to order the closure of Al-Roa' and the arrest of Farraj, who was accused of promoting sectarian strife. Al Roa staff told CPJ that the authorities had accused the station of promoting religious "strife" within the Palestinian community, but did not elaborate. On November 19th, the station resumed broadcasting, after an estimated 100 local residents marched to the station's offices and demanded it be reopened.

Mouaffaq Turki Qassem Mattar, a photographer working for the Ramallah-based newspaper Falasteen Al-Yawm (Palestine Today), was wounded by an Israeli rubber-coated metal bullet in the head. This incident took place on November 19th, while Mattar was covering clashes in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli forces bombarded the Palestinian Radio 2 station in Gaza on November 21st, according to LAW.

Israeli gunfire and a shell from a tank based in the Jewish settlement of Psagot, near Ramallah, targeted Al Quds Universitys Medical Professions building, on November 22nd, which hosts Al Quds Educational Television, a non-governmental, not for profit station owned and administered by the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University. None of the TV staff members were hurt and no structural damage was made. The shelling caused a small fire in the buildings courtyard. In a statement issued after the incident, Daoud Kuttab, director of the Institute of Modern Media at Al Quds University denounced the attack on the university and the educational television station. Kuttab expressed concern that the attack was aimed at shutting down the station, stating that "...we dont understand why we were targeted since we are far away from the lines of confrontation and there was absolutely no fire coming out from the vicinity of the University compound." Kuttab added that the shelling of "an institution committed to a peaceful resolution of the conflict is a setback to moderate voices in the Palestinian community."

Mohammad Al Ashkar from Tulkarem is a cameraman for Al Salam television. He told LAW the following: On Friday 24 November, there was a massive protest in south-west Tulkarem. I was covering the protest while wearing a bullet-proof vest and a hat with the word Press written on it. I was also carrying a camera. When the clashes started, a man was shot twice in the leg and fell to the ground... I started filming him from a distance of only three metres; we were 15 metres away from the Israeli soldiers. Suddenly I was hit in the heel by an unknown type of bullet. I held my camera up so the soldiers would realise I was a journalist, but then I heard another shot. An ambulance took me to Tulkarem hospital. I am positive that I was intentionally shot by the soldiers, who were very close by.

On January 17th, masked gunmen in the Gaza Strip assassinated Hisham Mekki, the general head of the official Palestinian radio and television stations and member of the Fatah movement. A Palestinian group, known as "Palestinian Al Aqsa Brigades" claimed responsibility for the assassination of Mekki. According to RSF, doctors at nearby Shifa Hospital said Mekki was shot twice in the head and once in the chest.

Palestinian Authority Security officials arrested Palestinian television cameraman Majdi Arbid for filming the execution of Majdi Makawi in Gaza on January 20th. Arbid sold the film to the Israeli Channel 2, which broadcasted the execution, according to a Reuters report.

Cameraman Ashraf Kutkut and reporters Mas'adah 'Uthman and Duha Al Shami, all working for Al Wattan TV, were attacked by Israeli troops on January 28, at the entrance of Ein Kenia, a village near Ramallah, although they all had valid press cards. Al Shami was beaten by the soldiers and the crews equipment was confiscated at the check point. Eventually, the crew was released, and the next day they retrieved their cameras and video cassettes after they had been inspected by the Israeli authorities.

On February 11th, Laurent Van der Stockt working for Gamma Photo Agency was wounded on the outskirts of Ramallah, in the West Bank. Van der Stockt was shot in the leg while covering clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli soldiers. Five months after his injury Van der Stockt's left leg is still paralysed. In six to eight months, he should know whether he will ever walk again normally.

Khalid Jahshan, a Palestine Television photographer; Husam Abu-Allan, an AFP photographer; and Lu'ay Abu-Haykal, a Reuters photographer were beaten by Israeli troops in Hebron on February 11th.

On February 12th the Israeli army bombed Palestinian residential areas in the West Bank. One of the buildings targeted was the Al Hayat Al Jadida newspaper, located in Ramallah. According to Reuters, the shelling destroyed three windows, two doors and a printing press. In the editorial suite, six windows, three PCs, a stone pillar, the newspaper sign and the lights were destroyed. The Palestinian Al Salam Television was also shelled by Israeli forces.

Abed Odeh, who works for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation, Shams Odeh and Ahmed Jadala, both working for Reuters, were injured on February 13th, in Khan Younis, the Gaza Strip. According to a report by Reuters, the journalists were injured during clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces near the Jewish settlement of Gush Kitif. According to LAW, the journalists were all hit by shrapnel from Israeli shelling.

On the same day, Laila Odeh, the Abu Dhabi TV Bureau Chief was threatened in Jerusalem by Israelis while doing a report. According to reports, Odeh had to take the Abu Dhabi TV sign off her microphone, out of fear of being beaten. She also claimed that members of the Israeli security forces had to protect her from an angry crowd of Israelis.

According to a special report on Laila Odeh in Al Quds Newspaper (January 13th), Odeh has been harassed on several occasions by both Jewish settlers and Israeli troops. Odeh has been shot at by troops, assaulted by settlers and denied freedom of movement in the West Bank and Israel. Although Odeh holds a Jerusalem identification card and a press card (both which enable her to move freely in country) she is often stopped from entering towns and villages due to the Israeli military closures on Palestinian areas.

On February 14th Reuters Mazen Daana was once again injured by Israeli troops. According to a report by Abu Dhabi TV, Da'ana was beaten by Israeli border point troops between Bethlehem and Hebron. A soldier reportedly hit Daana with his gun. According to Daana, even after he identified himself as a journalist the soldier continued beating him.

An Israeli soldier in an armoured car fired a heavy machinegun towards three Reuters journalists, Christine Hauser, Ahmed Bahadou and Suhaib Salem, at Netzarim junction in the Gaza Strip on March 8th. No one was hurt and the army said only warning shots were fired and that civilians were not allowed to approach Israeli military posts in the Gaza Strip "because of a present threat of terror activity". At the time, journalists were actually not required to ask permission from the IDF in order to work at Netzarim junction. Yet, after the shooting, an Israeli soldier arrived in an army jeep and told the journalists that they were not allowed to be there.

Jewish settlers attacked journalists covering scuffles on March 10th between settlers and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron. Reuters cameramen Nael Shyoukhi and Mazen Da'ana were filming the scuffle when settlers surrounded Da'ana and beat him. Shyoukhi was hit by a stone thrown by settlers and a photographer for Agence France-Presse, Hosam Abu Alam, was also attacked. IDF troops intervened and escorted the journalists to an ambulance, which took them to hospital.

Palestinian security forces ordered the closure of Al-Jazeera TVs office in Ramallah on March 20th.The Palestinian security service had allegedly been offended by an image of Lebanese guerrilla soldiers holding up a picture of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat with a shoe hanging from it in a preview for a documentary on the 1975-90 Lebanese civil war. Jazeera's correspondent in Ramallah, Walid Al-Omari, said in a broadcast that members of a Palestinian security service entered the office and demanded that part of the preview for the documentary be removed. When the change was not made, station employees "were informed... about the closure of the office". Two days later, Arafat ordered the office to reopen. Millions of Arab viewers across the Middle East tune in to Jazeera's 24-hour broadcasts, considered one of the most outspoken and critical news services in the region. The station has actively covered the Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation.

Ahmed Zaki, a correspondent for Oman Satellite Television, was hit in the knee with a rubber-coated metal bullet while he was reporting on clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians at the northern entrance of the West Bank city of Ramallah on March 23rd.

Yusef Samir, a 63-year-old Israeli Arab of Egyptian extraction was arrested by the Palestinian Authority while on a shopping trip with his wife in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on April 4th. Palestinian intelligence chief Tawfiq al-Tirawi later accused the Egyptian-born writer of "collaborating with Israel's intelligence service". Palestinian Preventive Security chief for the West Bank Jibril al-Rajoub told the Israeli daily, Ha'aretz, in early May that Samir had been released. But in fact Samir himself managed to escape from the Palestinian prison in Bethlehem, a month later, on June 6th. Israel granted Samir political asylum in 1968 after he was released from a prison in Egypt where he had been held for participating in a student revolt and voicing criticism against then-Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser's regime. In Israel, Samir works as an editor and anchor at Israel Radio's Arabic service, and took up residence at the edge of the West Bank Jewish settlement of Gilo, close to the Palestinian town of Beit Jala.

According to RSF, Zakaria Abu Harbeid, a journalist with the local press agency Ramatan, was wounded in Khan Younes (Gaza Strip) on April 14th while taking pictures of Israeli soldiers shooting at Palestinians. Harbeid was hit in the left hand and had to be hospitalised for a few days .

Israeli troops shot and wounded Laila Odeh (see Feb. 13), while she and her crew were filming at the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza on April 20th. Ms. Odeh was hit in the leg by live ammunition after identifying herself as a journalist to the Israeli soldiers positioned nearby. There were no confrontations at the place and time when the soldiers targeted and shot her. By her own account, and that of others at the scene, she left the area immediately when ordered to do so by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and was shot as she was fleeing. After criticism from press associations and press freedom organisations, the official IDF reaction to the incident stated that "the presence of journalists among rioters and at friction points represents a danger to their well-being." This statement would appear to place the blame for the shooting on Ms. Odeh rather than on the soldier who shot her and the soldier's commanding officers. It would also appear to call into question the right of journalists to report and photograph confrontations at "friction points" first-hand rather than rely on the accounts of combatants or other involved parties. The foreign press spokesman of the IDF also said that the shooting of Ms. Odeh was being "very seriously" investigated.

Israeli soldiers detained a Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) television crew and their driver while filming military vehicles and army positions near the West Bank town of Nablus on April 24th . "The soldiers thought it was suspicious that they were taking pictures of so many army positions. They detained them...took them to another place for a short inquiry," an IDF source said. However, officials at the PBC said the four-member crew was detained during their routine news coverage and were left waiting in the sun for six hours before being taken for questioning. The crew was released but their driver remained in custody on suspicion of involvement in hostile activities, military and PBC officials said.

Israeli troops shot and wounded Iman Masarweh as she was driving home through the village Al-Sawahreh Al-Sharqiyyah near East Jerusalem in a car marked "Press" on May 13th. The London based Quds Press News Agency reporter was hit in the leg, then taken to Hadassa Hospital where she underwent an operation to remove the live bullet. Masarweh said there were no confrontations at the place and time when the soldiers targeted and shot her.

French television reporter, Bertrand Aguirre of TF1, was shot while covering clashes in the West Bank on May 15th, but the round of live ammunition was stopped by a flak jacket, though it caused a haematoma. The reporter was standing among a group of TV cameramen near Ramallah. An Associated Press Television News photographer's video showed an Israeli border policeman, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, jump out of a dark green jeep, aim his M-16 rifle in the direction of the TV crews and fire a single shot. The camera jumps wildly out of control for a moment, and then shows Aguirre, wearing a flak jacket, writhing in pain on the ground as other members of his crew try to help him. Aguirre was taken to a Ramallah hospital by ambulance. "If I had not been wearing this jacket, I would be dead now," he said afterwards. He charged that the Israeli paramilitary policeman targeted him. "It was clear that I am a journalist, and the camera was proof," Aguirre said. Witnesses said he was targeted by the Israeli sniper while speaking into a microphone in front of the camera. The army voiced regret at the wounding of the correspondent and said it was investigating the circumstances of the incident.

On May 16th General Eliezer Stern ordered the suspension the Israeli Army weekly, BeMahaneh, for several weeks after it published a profile of a homosexual reserve colonel. RSF reported that it was "amazed" that the Israeli Army was "punishing a publication for providing a profile of a homosexual colonel when the army itself acknowledges admitting homosexuals among its ranks". According to an army spokesperson, "articles published in the newspaper [on May 4th, 2001] did not correspond to the army's norms".

Newsweek Jerusalem bureau chief Joshua Hammer and photographer Gary Knight were detained while interviewing Palestinian militants in the town of Rafah on May 29th. The militants claimed to be members of the Fatah Hawks. During the interview, the militants informed the two journalists that they were being detained "to protest unfair American and British press coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," according to Newsweek. The journalists' driver and translator were also detained. They were all allowed to leave unharmed after four and a half hours and said they did not feel threatened during the incident.

Mazen Da'ana and Nael Shyoukhi, Reuters cameramen in Hebron, were attacked by Jewish settlers in Hebron while filming on June 22nd. Mazen's tripod was destroyed and his car windows damaged.

According to CPJ, Hazem Bader, a free-lance cameraman working with the Associated Press Television News (APTN) in the West Bank city of Hebron, came under heavy machine gun fire while driving his car on June 26th. Bader, a veteran Hebron-based cameraman who strings for the APTN, was driving home from an assignment when his car came under attack in the Palestinian-controlled Bab al-Zawiyah section of the city. Bader said the fire came from an Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) outpost near the Jewish settlement of Tel Rumeida, about 500 meters away. The first burst hit a wall just a few meters from his car, causing him to exit the vehicle and take cover. It was followed ten seconds later by a second burst, Bader said, which struck a nearby streetlight. A few minutes later, five or six machine gun rounds were fired directly at his car three of which struck the vehicle.

On July 6th, Reuters photographer Loay Al Haikal was hit by an Israeli rubber-coated metal bullet, while covering clashes between Israeli troops and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Hebron. Haikal, who has been shot at by Israeli troops on several occasions in the past, said he was standing far from the confrontation line when a bullet hit his leg. Heikal was taken to the Hebron hospital for treatment and was released on the same day.

Recommendations

IPI urges the Israeli government, responsible for an overwhelming majority of press freedom violations during the Intifada, to undertake thorough investigations into the repeated incidents of firing at, or otherwise harassing media workers, journalists and media outlets covering the conflicts, or simply residing in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. IPI further requests that the results of these investigations be made public.

IPI also recommends that the Israeli government take appropriate measures to ensure the protection of journalists and media workers as stated under the Articles19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and under Articles 50 and 51 of the "Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention which emphasise the protection of civilians in the time of war including journalists, since they are part of the civilian population". Article 79 of the 'Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention' further stipulates that: "journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50, paragraph1.They shall be protected as such under the conventions and this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians". So far, there has not been any reported evidence of journalists taking such action.

The PNA should acknowledge its duty, under international norms of free expression, to tolerate free public expression of dissenting views. The PNA should also stop trying to control the Palestinian media by arbitrary arrests and intimidations of journalists. It should also refrain from closing or censoring media outlets.

It seems as if the news and propaganda war is gaining in importance as the conflict continues. The media has been directly affected by the growing hostilities and entwined in the overall deteriorating state of affairs. This is very unfortunate since the peace process needs a free and unbiased media in order to uncover the truth in the omnipresence of political propaganda.

.
 

IPI wishes to acknowledge and thank its primary source, the Committee to Protect Journalists - CPJ (Joel Campagna). We are also in deep gratitude to RSF, IFJ, Associated Press (AP), Reuters, The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), LAW - The Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, Abu Dhabi TV, Wattan TV, Miftah: The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, Addameer: Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, B'tselem: The Israeli Information Centre for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Walid Batrawi, Hanoch Marmari, Ibrahim Al Husary and Daoud Kuttab.

 

Appendix: Press Freedom Violations in Israel and Occupied Palestinian Areas
28 September 2000-23 July 2001

Total number of incidents 102
Numbers of incidents perpetrated by Israelis 89
(87%)
 
Number of incidents perpetrated by Palestinians  13
(13%)
 
Incidents of media workers shot: 43
(42%)
 
Incidents of media workers shot at (and missed) 11
(11%)
 
Incidents of media workers otherwise harassed 42
(41%)
 
Number of Press Freedom Violations caused by Israeli Settlers  11
(10%)
 
Numbers of Press Freedom Violations caused by Israeli authorities* 77
(76%)
 
Number of Press Freedom Violations caused by Israeli civilians 3
(3%)
 
Number of Press Freedom Violations caused by Palestinian authorities  8
(8%)
 
Number of Press Freedom Violations caused by Palestinian Civilians  3
(3%)
 
Number of incidents in which Palestinian journalists or media outlets were victimised 75
(73%)
 
Number of incidents in which Israeli journalists or media outlets victimised 4
(4%)
 
Number of incidents in which foreign journalists or media outlets** victimised 22
(22%)
 
Number of Press freedom violations caused by Palestinian paramilitaries  2
(2%)
 
 

*One percent of the incidents was committed jointly by Israeli forces and settlers.
**Many or most of the victimised employees working for the targeted foreign media outlets were Palestinian.

 

Number
 Date
 Name
 Profession
 Media
 Location
 Injury and Damage
 Inflicted by
 
1.
 29-09-2000
 Hazem Bader
 Cameraman
 Associated Press
 Jerusalem
 Shot in the right hand by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli sniper
 
2.
 29-09-2000
 Khaled Al-Zeghary
 Freelance journalist
 -
 Jerusalem
 Beaten with sticks and bats on the head and shoulders. Shot in the leg by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
3.
 29-09-2000
 Awad Awad
 Photographer
 Agence France- Presse
 Jerusalem
 Shot
 Israeli Defense Force (Contested)
 
4.
 29-09-2000
 Mahfouz Abu-Turk
 Freelance photographer
 -
 Jerusalem
 Shot in the left thigh, and left foot with rubber-coated metal bullets
 Israeli Defense Force
 
5.
 29-09-2000
 Khaled Abu Aker
 Correspondent
 France 2
 Jerusalem
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
6.
 29-09-2000
 Aamer El-Jabari
 Reporter
 NBC
 Jerusalem
 Shot in the mouth
 Israeli Defense Force
 
7.
 29-09-2000
 Naji Dana
 Reporter
 France 2
 -
 Shot by rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
8.
 29-09-2000
 Rami Noufal
 Reporter
 Palestinian Broadcasting Station
 Bethlehem
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
9.
 30-09-2000
 Wafiq Mattar
 Journalist
 Palestinian Political Steering Bureau
 Gaza
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
10.
 30-09-2000
 Talal Hassan Abu Rahma
 Cameraman
 France 2
 Karni
 Threatened
 Jewish Settlers (Contested)
 
11.
 01-10-2000
 Muwafaq Matar
 Photographer
 Dar Falasteen Al Yawm
 Netzarim Junction, Gaza
 Shot in the head
 Israeli Defense Force
 
12.
 01-10-2000
 Amer Al Jabri
 Cameraman
 ABC News
 Hebron
 Wounded in the head by an unidentified object
 Israeli Defense Force or Palestinian Demonstrators
 
13.
 02-10-2000
 Mazen Daana
 Journalist
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Shot in the left leg by rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
14.
 02-10-2000
 Mazen Daana
 Journalist
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Attacked
 Jewish Settlers
 
15.
 02-10-2000
 Mazen Daana
 Journalist
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Shot in the left foot and leg by live ammunition
 Israeli Defense Force
 
16.
 02-10-2000
 Luay Haikal
 Journalist
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Shot in the leg by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
17.
 02-10-2000
 Wael Al Shiokhy
 Journalist
 Al Nawras (Palestinian TV station)
 Hebron
 Shot
 Israeli Defense Force
 
18.
 04-10-2000
 Mawan El-Ghoul
 Cameraman
 CBC
 Gaza
 His car was shelled
 Israeli Defense Force
 
19.
 04-10-2000
 Atta Oweisat
 Photographer
 Zoom 77

(Israeli press agency)
 Jabel Al Moukaber, near Jerusalem
 Beaten and knocked unconscious
 Israeli police or Israeli security agents
 
20.
 04-10-2000
 -
 Italian journalist
 -
 Jaffa
 Attacked
 Arab-Israeli civilians
 
21.
 07-10-2000
 -
 Israeli

Camera crew
 -
 Tel Aviv
 Attacked
 Israeli civilians
 
22.
 09-10-2000
 Walid Suleiman Amayreh
 Publisher and editor
 Hebron Times
 -
 Detained
 Palestinian police
 
23.
 10-10-2000
 Luc Delahaye
 Freelance photographer
 Magnum (photo agency) and Newsweek magazine
 Ramallah
 A rubber-coated metal bullet hit Delahayes camera lens
 Israeli Defense Force
 
24.
 11-10-2000
 Luc Delahaye
 Freelance photographer
 Magnum (photo agency) and Newsweek magazine
 Ramallah
 Hit in the head with a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force (Contested)
 
25.
 11-10-2000 Atta Oweisat
 Photographer
 Zoom 77

(Israeli press agency)
 Jerusalem
 Summoned for questioning

and charged on several counts
 Israeli police
 
26.
 12-10-2000
 Nasser Ishtayyeh
 Photographer
 AP
 Al Bireh
 Targeted by machinegun whilst driving; car destroyed
 Israeli soldiers
 
27.
 12-10-2000
 -
 Film crew
 RAI
 Ramallah
 Beaten and footage nearly confiscated
 Palestinian civilians and Palestinian police
 
28.
 12-10-2000
 Bertrand Aguirre
 Correspondent
 TFI
 Ramallah
 Assaulted
 Palestinians
 
29.
 12-10-2000
 Patrick Baz
 Photographer
 Agence France-Presse
 Ramallah
 Assaulted and camera confiscated
 Palestinian Civilians
 
30.
 12-10-2000
 Mark Seager
 Freelance

Photographer
 -
 Ramallah
 Assaulted and his camera seized
 Palestinian Civilians
 
31.
 14-10-2000
 -
 Transmission powers and other facilities
 Voice of Palestine
 Ramallah
 Attacked by rockets
 Israeli Defense Force
 
32.
 17-10-2000
 Hassan El-Titi and Abdel-Rahman Qousini
 Journalists
 Associated Press
 Nablus
 Car attacked
 Jewish Settlers
 
33.
 17-10-2000
 Luc Delahaye
 Freelance photographer
 Magnum (photo agency) and Newsweek magazine
 -
 Hit in the head with a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force (Contested)
 
34.
 18-10-2000
 Mahfouz Abu Turk
 Photographer
 Reuters
 Bethlehem
 Wounded in the hand by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
35.
 18-10-2000
 Patrick Baz
 Photographer
 Agence France-Presse
 Ramallah
 Shot in the finger by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
36.
 19-10-2000
 Ricardo Cristiano
 Journalist
 RAI
 -
 His accreditation was revoked
 Israeli Press Office
 
37.
 20-10-2000
 Azez Al-Teneh
 Reporter
 Wafa News Agency
 Bethlehem
 Injured during gas or bomb explosion or firing on police station. Later he died from the injuries
 Israeli Defense Force or accident or Palestinian Authority Forces
 
38.
 20-10-2000
 Abdul Rahman Al Khattib
 Photographer
 Al Ayyam Newspaper
 Gaza
 Shot in the mouth by live ammunition
 Israeli Defense Force
 
39.
 21-10-2000
 Hammed Eghbareya
 Director
 Voice of Right and Freedom
 Nazareth
 Attacked
 Israeli Defense Force
 
40.
 21-10-2000
 Bruno Stephens
 Freelance

photographer
 Liberation and Stern
 Ramallah
 Wounded in the throat by live ammunition
 Believed to be by the Israeli Defense Force
 
41.
 21-10-2000
 Jacques-Marie Bourget
 Reporter
 Paris-Match
 Ramallah
 Wounded in the chest by a live bullet
 Israeli Defense Force (Contested)
 
42.
 21-10-2000
 Ibrahim Al Husary
 Cameraman
 Wattan TV
 Ramallah
 Wounded in the ear by live bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
43.
 23-10-2000
 Jamal Arour
 Photographer
 Agence France-Presse
 Ramallah
 Shot in the hand by live ammunition
 Israeli

Troops
 
44.
 24-10-2000
 Nasser

Shiyouknhi
 Reporter and cameraman
 Associated

Press
 Sumoua

Checkpoint,

near Hebron
 Prevented from entering village, Israeli government press card confiscated
 Israeli Troops
 
45.
 29-10-2000
 Abdel-Rhaman Khbeisa
 Photographer
 Associated Press
 Nablus
 Attacked
 Jewish Settlers
 
46.
 29-10-2000
 Aadel Abu Naeima
 Correspondent
 Al Ayyam Newspaper and Reuters
 Jericho
 Shot at
 Believed to be Israeli Troops
 
47.
 29-10-2000
 Fathi Brahma
 Correspondent
 Voice of Palestine
 Jericho
 Shot at
 Believed to be Israeli Troops
 
48.
 31-10-2000
 Emad Abu Sonbol
 Correspondent
 Al-Hayat Al Jadida and France Press
 Jericho
 Shot at
 Believed to be Israeli Troops
 
49.
 31-10-2000
 Suleiman Al Shafei
 Reporter and cameraman
 Channel 2
 Erez Crossing
 Detained, questioned and refused entry to Israel
 Israeli Defense Force and Israeli Police
 
50.
 31-10-2000
 Ben Wedeman
 Cairo Bureau Chief
 CNN
 Gaza
 Shot in the back
 Believed to be by the Israeli Defense Force
 
51.
 10-2000
 Ismael Khader
 soundman
 Reuters
 Ramallah.
 Shot in the leg by live ammunition
 Israeli Defense Force
 
52.
 01-11-2000
 Fayez Nourredine

Shams Odeh
 Reporter;

Cameraman
 Reuters
 Gaza
 Shot at
 Israeli Defense Force
 
53.
 02-11-2000
 -
 Palestinian journalists and media staff
 Western and local Media
 West Bank
 Denied permits to enter Israel and denied press credentials
 Israeli Defense Ministry
 
54.
 09-11-2000
 Suleiman Al Shafei
 Reporter and Cameraman
 Channel 2
 Erez Crossing
 Detained
 Israeli Defense Force
 
55.
 09-11-2000
 Robert Laubrant
 Correspondent
 Associated Press
 Gaza
 Wounded in the thigh by live ammunition
 Believed to be Israeli Defense Force
 
56.
 11-11-2000
 Riokahi Yama
 Journalist
 -
 Near Al Bireh
 Hit by steel bullet in the eye
 Unknown
 
57.
 11-11-2000
 Yola Monakhov
 Freelance

photographer
 Associated Press
 Bethlehem
 Struck in the lower abdomen by a live round
 Israeli Defense Force
 
58.
 11-11-2000
 Marwan El-Ghoul
 Cameraman
 CBC
 Al Qarara
 Shot at
 Israeli Defense Force
 
59.
 12-11-2000
 Samir Khalifa
 Correspondent
 Palestine Television
 Gaza
 Tear Gas
 Israeli Defense Force
 
60.
 12-11-2000
 Abdel Rahim Qusini

And Nasser Ishtayyeh
 Photographers
 Reuters
 Zatara

Intersection
 Attacked, while driving, with stones and cement blocks
 Israeli Soldiers And Jewish Settlers
 
61.
 12-11-2000
 Mazen Daana
 Cameraman
 Reuters
 Khallet Khadour

Checkpoint
 Prevented from entering the old city of Hebron
 Israeli Defense Force
 
62.
 15-11-2000
 Mazen Daana
 Cameraman
 Reuters
 Hebron
 After being allowed to enter area, Daana was attacked while driving, with stones and metal bars
 Jewish Settlers
 
63.
 16-11-2000
 -
 Staff
 Al-Roa
 Bethlehem
 Station raided and temporarily forced off the air. Staff were beaten and threatened
 Palestinian National Authority Security Forces
 
64.
 17-11-2000
 Mohammed Zeid El-Kielani
 Cameraman
 Arab News Network
 Ramallah
 Wounded in the shoulder by a rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defense Force
 
65.
 19-11-2000
 -
 Staff
 Al-Roa
 Bethlehem
 Ordered to cease broadcasting
 Palestinian National Authority Security Forces
 
66.
 21-11-2000
 Mouaffaq Turki Qassem Mattar
 Photographer
 Palestine Today
 Gaza
 Wounded by a rubber-coated metal bullet in the head
 -
 
67.
 22-11-2000
 -
 -
 Palestinian Radio 2
 Gaza
 Bombarded
 Israeli Defence Force
 
68.
 24-11-2000
 -
 -
 Al Quds Educational Television
 Ramallah
 Targeted and hit by gunfire and a shell from a tank
 Israeli Defense Force
 
69.
 17-01-2001
 Mohammad Al Ashkar
 Cameraman
 Al Salam Television
 Tulkarem
 Shot in the heel
 Israeli soldiers
 
70.
 17-01-2001
 Hisham Mekki
 Director
 Palestinian Radio and Television Stations
 Gaza
 Assassinated
 "Palestinian Al Aqsa Brigades
 
71.
 28-01-2001
 Majdi Arbid
 Freelance Cameraman
 -
 Gaza
 Arrested
 Palestinian National Authority
 
72.
 28-01-2001
 Duha Al Shami
 Reporter
 Al Wattan TV
 Ein Kenia
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
73.
 28-01-2001
 Ashraf Kutkut
 Cameraman
 Al Wattan TV
 Ein Kenia
 Equipment confiscated
 Israeli Defense Force
 
74.
 11-02-2001
 Masadah Uthman and Duha Al Shami
 Reporters
 Al Wattan TV
 Ein Kenia
 Eqipment confiscated
 Israeli Defense Force
 
75.
 11-02-2001
 Van Der Stockt
 -
 Gamma Photo Agency
 Ramallah
 Shot in the leg
 Unknown
 
76.
 11-02-2001
 Khalid Jahshan
 Photographer
 Palestine Television
 Hebron
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
77.
 11-02-2001
 Husam Abu Allan
 Photographer
 Agence

France

Presse
 Hebron
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
78.
 12-02-2001
 Luay Haikal
 Photographer
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Beaten
 Israeli Defense Force
 
79.
 13-02-2001
 -
 -
 Al Hayat Al Jadida Newspaper
 Ramallah
 Shelled
 Israeli Army
 
80.
 13-02-2001
 Abed Odeh
 Journalist
 Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation
 Gaza
 Wounded
 Israeli Troops
 
81.
 13-02-2001
 Shams Odeh
 Reporter
 Reuters
 Gaza
 Wounded
 Israeli Troops
 
82.
 13-02-2001
 Ahmed Jadala
 Reporter
 Reuters
 Gaza
 Wounded
 Israeli Troops
 
83.
 14-02-2001
 Laila Odeh
 Correspondent
 Abu Dhabi TV
 Jerusalem
 Threatened
 Israeli Troops and Jewish Settlers
 
84.
 14-02-2001

to

21-02-2001
 Mazen Daana
 Cameraman
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Beaten
 Israeli Check Point Troops
 
85.
   -
 -
 Palestinian Newspapers
 West Bank and the Gaza Strip
 Prevention of newspaper circulation and distribution
 Israel
 
86.
 08-03-2001
 Christine Hauser, Ahmed Bahadou, Suhaib Salem
 Journalists Reuters
 Netzarim junction /Gaza Strip
 Shot at  Israeli Defence Forces
 
87.
 10- 03-2001 Hosam Abu Alan
 Photographer  Agence France Press
 Hebron
 Attacked  Jewish Settlers
 
88.
 10- 03-2001
 Mazen Dana
 Cameraman Reuters
 Hebron
 Beaten and attacked with stones Jewish Settlers
 
89.
 10- 03-2001
 Nael Shyoukhi ,
 Cameraman  Reuters
 Hebron
 Beaten and attacked with stones Jewish Settlers
 
90.
 20- 03-2001
 -
 - Al-Jazeerah Satellite TV
 Ramallah
 Closed  Palestinian Security Forces
 
91.
 23 03-2001
 Ahmed Zaki
 Correspondent  Oman Satellite Television
 Ramallah /Northern entrance
 Wounded in the leg by
Rubber-coated metal bullet
 Israeli Defence Forces
 
92.
 04-04- 2001
 Yosef Samir Journalist and Poet
 Israeli Radio
 Bethlehem
 Arrested Palestinian Security Forces
 
93.
 14-04- 2001 Zakaria Abu Harbeid
 Journalist  Ramatan
 Khan Younis
 Shot and wounded in the hand . Israeli Defence Forces
 
94.
 20-04- 2001
 Laila Odeh
 Correspondant  Abu Dabi TV
 Rafah Refugee Camp /Gaza Strip
 Shot in the leg with live ammunition  Israeli Defence Forces
 
95.
 24-04- 2001  4 member filming crew
 Filming Crew
 Palestinian Broad
 Near Nablus /West Bank
 Detained and questioned for allegedly filming military positions .  Israeli Defence Forces
 
96.
 13-05- 2001
 Iman Masarweh
 Reporter Quds Press News Agency
 Al- Sawahreh Al-Sharqiyyeh/near East Jerusalem
 Shot and wounded in the leg with live ammunition  Israeli Defence Forces
 
97.
 15-05- 2001
 Bertrand Aguirre
 Reporter French Television TF1
 Ramallah
 Wounded in the chest with live ammunition Israeli Defence Forces
 
98.
 16-05- 2001
 -
 - Israeli Army weekly "BeMahaneh
   Suspended for three weeks  Israeli Army
 
99.
 29 05-2001 Joshua Hammer ,

Gary Hammer
 Jerusalem bureau chief, photo-grapher  Newsweek
 Rafah /Gaza Strip
 Detained  Palestinian Militants
 
100.
 22-06- 2001
 Mazen Dana,

Nael Sheyoukhi
 Cameramen Reuters
 Hebron
 Attacked, Tripod and car windows destroyed. Jewish Settlers
 
101.
 26-06- 2001
 Hazem Bader
 Cameraman Associated Press Television News
 Hebron
 Shot at while driving his car. Israeli Defence Forces
 
102.
 06 07-2001
 Loay Al Haikal Photographer
 Reuters
 Hebron
 Shot and wounded with a rubber coated metal bullet Israeli Defence Forces
 

Nisreen Bathish, Natasha Khalidi, The International Press Institute, July 23 2001
For more information please contact: Anthony Löwstedt