The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate in the Gaza Strip on Saturday called on the Palestinian Authority to launch an investigation into an attack on the car of a local journalist.ÂÂ
Masked men on Saturday morning sprayed the car of Wajih Abu Tharifah, 40, with green and blue paint.ÂÂ
‘They sprayed the entire car, including all the windows and windshields,’ Tharifah said.
Tharifah also said that police refused to arrive at the scene, telling him that they would not pursue the case unless he filed charges against a specified person.
In protest, Tharifah staged a sit-in strike in front of the offices of the Palestinian Legislative Council.ÂÂ
‘My fear is that in the future I will be subjected to a more serious attack. I’m afraid that they will try to torch my car or home or even attack me physically, especially since I don’t know who is behind this attack.’ Tharifah said.
‘Many of my colleagues have been attacked by unidentified elements,’ he said.
‘Some have been killed while others have had their cars and offices set on fire. The police haven’t been able to reveal the identity of the assailants.’ He added.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate condemned the attack, but also accused the PA police of failing to investigate previous assaults on local journalists.
‘The syndicate sees this latest attack as part of a campaign directed against other journalists over the past year by ‘unidentified’ elements,’ a statement issued by Journalists’ Syndicate said.
Several Palestinian journalists have been targeted over the past year by masked gunmen in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In the worst incident, gunmen assassinated in March 2004 Khalil Zaban, editor of a monthly magazine and a special adviser to Yasser Arafat.
