Palestinian Journalist Syndicate Says Israel Targets Press To Silence Truth

JAKARTA - The Palestinian journalist syndicate considers the Israeli occupation authority to be fully responsible for the war crimes committed every day against Palestinian journalists.

Israel treats the Palestinian press as a strategic threat to be removed, in a failed attempt to obscure the truth and silence witnesses, the group said.

A press report issued by the Sindikat Freedom Committee on Monday stated, from October 7, 2023 to the end of July, the syndicate documented the arrest of 147 journalists, including about 20 female journalists who were subjected to attacks and physical and psychological torture, quoted from WAFA Aug. 25.

The report also documented the killing of 240 journalists in the Gaza Strip since the start of the aggression, some of whom were killed along with their families in intentional attacks on their homes.

The report further noted that dozens of journalists were placed under administrative detention without charges or trials, facing systematic practices that included beatings, rejection of medical treatment, isolation confinement, and confiscation of journalistic equipment.

The report also shows that the files of imprisoned journalists reveal the expressive nature of the occupation, as most journalists are detained in administrative detention without charges, which clearly violate international humanitarian law. Some of them have been forcibly removed for months and experienced harsh detention conditions, including rejection of visits, psychological and physical torture, as well as intentional medical neglect.

The journalistic syndicate stressed that what happened was a war crime and a crime against humanity that required Israel to be prosecuted before the International Criminal Court.

This is also a gross violation of the Geneva Convention, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Resolution of the 2222 Security Council, as well as a systematic policy to hide evidence of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank.

The call calls for the immediate release of all detained journalists, an end to administrative detention, the establishment of an independent international investigation commission to investigate occupation crimes against Palestinian media, the application of international sanctions to leaders, politicians, and officials responsible for these crimes, as well as the provision of urgent international protection for journalists working in occupied Palestinian territories.

Chairman of the Sindikat Freedom Committee Muhammad al-Lahham said the continued silence of the international community was an involvement with the occupation of his crimes against the Palestinian press.

"These policies emphasize that occupations do not target individuals but rather seek to criminalize the work of Palestinian journalists as a whole, by vilifying journalists and labeling them "principles," in an attempt to convince the camera world is more dangerous than rifles, that Palestinian press is a strategic threat that must be resolved by all means, including arrests and killings," he explained.