Jordan journalists call for protecting Palestinian colleagues in Jerusalem

Israeli soldiers throw smoke grenades at a group of people including journalists on 22 February 2019 [HAZEM BADER/AFP via Getty Images]

The Palestine Committee of the Jordanian Journalists Syndicate called on the International Federation of Journalists and all people in the world to provide protection for journalists covering the events in Jerusalem.

In a statement issued yesterday, the committee described the Israeli occupation forces’ treatment of Palestinian journalists covering the events in the Holy City as using “recklessness and barbarism.”

Israeli Attacks on Press – Cartoon [Sarwar Ahmed/MiddleEastMonitor]

The committee stressed that the international community, with all its active institutions in the field of human rights, are responsible for putting an end to the Israeli occupation’s actions and stopping its “barbarism and aggression on journalists.”

It reiterated that the journalists in Jerusalem are carrying out their duties as stipulated by all international covenants and norms that guarantee freedom of journalistic work and criminalise assaults and infringements.

“The Syndicate is following up with concern the condemned behaviour of the Israeli occupation forces and the harassment that journalists are subjected to by the Israel occupation forces and settlers to undermine their ability to carry out their work,” head of the Committee, Majid Al-Quraan, said.

Five Palestinian journalists have recently been attacked by Israeli occupation forces while performing their duties, they have been identified as Khaled Bedir who suffered an injury to his foot after a tear gas canister struck him while he covered a night march in Tulkarm on Saturday, and Palestine TV correspondent and cameraman Osaid Sobeih and Bilal Jabareen who were attacked while covering a night march near the city of Al-Bireh.

Hafez Abu Sabra was injured by a tear gas canister in the chest while covering a night march at Huwara checkpoint, south of Nablus, while journalist Rajai Al-Khatib was hit by a metal bullet that broke his foot while covering events near Damascus Gate in occupied East Jerusalem.

READ: Israel detains 26 Palestinian journalists for reporting news on social media

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