by Khaled Abu Toameh • September 5th
The case of Abu Jhaisheh is neither new nor unique. In fact, his experience is part of a systematic campaign waged by both the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas to silence their critics and deter Palestinian journalists from criticizing their leaders -- a campaign that has long been ignored by the Western mainstream media, whose representatives choose to pretend that the PA and Hamas security agencies are somehow innocent of any wrongdoing.
"Failure to prosecute violators of media freedoms is not only a breach of human rights and prevents the attainment of justice, but it is also an indirect authorization to continue committing such violations." — Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms.
Why are these purported human rights organizations and the international community, which describe themselves as committed to protecting freedom and the rights of the Palestinian people, always silent?
Palestinian journalists living under the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip face huge challenges that make it almost impossible for them to operate free of pressure and intimidation. (Image source: iStock)
Palestinian journalists living and working under the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank and Hamas in the Gaza Strip continue to face huge challenges that make it almost impossible for them to operate free of pressure and intimidation.
Hardly a week passes without a report about a Palestinian journalist complaining about harassment by the PA or Hamas. This harassment takes many shapes, such as being summoned for interrogation, detention and verbal abuse.
The latest victim of this campaign of intimidation is Mohammed Abu Jhaisheh, a Palestinian journalist from Hebron in the West Bank, who received a summons to report for interrogation from the PA security forces in the city. Abu Jhaisheh, who hosts a radio show on a private radio station in Hebron, has announced his refusal to report for interrogation -- a move that is being hailed by some of his colleagues as "courageous."
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