On Monday, the international press freedom organization, Reporters Without Borders (RSF), denounced that, in the enmity between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian journalists are victims of ‘collateral damage in the years-long conflict ‘, AFP reported. RSF released a statement detailing that in both the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and in the West Bank, governed by Fatah, the Palestinian journalists seem to be the pieces of ‘a depressing and desperate game of ping-pong.’
The report made special mention to all such professionals held in illegal detention and urged political leaders for the release of those arrested.
The latest arrest took part in the West Bank, at the end of October, when the blogger Walid al-Husseini was detained for ‘blasphemy against the Prophet and the Koran’ for writings on his blog and Facebook. In august, Ahmed Fayadh of the aljazeera.net news website was beaten by police in Gaza Strip.
RSF reports annually on the political pressure that the Palestinian Journalists suffer from Hamas and Fatah. According to the press freedom organization, since 2006, when internal war between the two political enemies began, the division took its toll on the media and created a new wave of harassment and violence against journalists in the occupied Palestinian Territories.
The statement can be read in full at the following link.
