Palestinian journalists demand release of their peers from jail

Tens of Palestinian journalists yesterday demanded the release of their peers who are being held in Israel.

In protests outside the prison and court house in Ofer, near Ramallah, the demonstrators raised banners calling for press freedoms and the release of 15 journalists detained in Israeli prisons.  They held the event in solidarity with Al-Aqsa TV correspondent Alaa Al-Titi, from Hebron, who was detained 28 days ago on charges of working with an “provocative media outlet”.

In a speech to the media, the head of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Abdel Nasser Al-Najjar, said: “The occupation arrested Al-Titi and is seeking to bring him to trial because he is a journalist, and thus it suppresses the freedom of opinion and expression.”

Al-Najjar pointed out that Al-Titi’s lawyer told the union that Israel is putting him on trial because he “works for the Al-Aqsa TV channel”.

In this context, Al-Najjar said: “Nobody should be able to suspend, arrest or convict a journalist, and what the occupation is practising will not terrorise us as a media body.”

He pointed out that the Journalists Syndicate is carrying out permanent consultations with the International Federation of Journalists and the Federation of Arab Journalists in this regard.

Fifteen Palestinian journalists are currently being held in Israeli jails, Al-Najjar said.