“Incitement to violence” and “threat to national security.” Under those arguments, journalists have been facing censorship, repression, and detention from Israel and its allies. On August 7th, Al Jazeera reported on its portal the threat made by Israeli authorities of closing its news agency in Jerusalem, revoking the media credentials of its journalists who are acting in the occupied Palestine and turning off the transmissions via cable or satellite.
By Soraya Misleh.
In the text, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, affirmed that Israel’s latest actions show a “synergy” of “dictatorships” in the Arab world with the “dictatorship of the military occupation of Palestine.” Two days later, according to the denounce of local organizations, the Palestine Authority (NPA), fulfilling the security cooperation agreement with the occupation set in the Olso agreements of 1993, arrested five Palestine journalists – which, according to today’s report by Israeli media, were freed on August 14th. There are several reports of detentions like the ones by the NPA or Israel, even as a result of posts with opinions and comments on social media.
The attempt to silence critical voices in face of occupation and apartheid is not new. In 2016, according to the Palestine Journalists Union, over 500 of those professionals suffered physical abuse by Israel in the exercise of their function. Another common practice against communicators is the administrative detention – without formal accusation. In the same year, the case of the journalist Mohammed Al-Qeq gained international repercussion: he faced 94 days without ingesting food, demanding for justice and freedom. In 2014, there were 17 murders during the 51 days of bombardment in Gaza. Accomplice to the Israeli censorship, the foreign media went as far as dismissing journalists for denouncing the ongoing massacre.
Currently, there are dozens of Palestine journalists in administrative detention in Israeli prisons. On May, 26 joined the hunger strike of the 1600 political prisoners that lasted 40 days and achieved a partial victory. In regards to “the only democracy in the Middle East” facade – part of the propaganda in front of the world to cover its crimes – it is also Israel’s praxis to deport those who denounce the ongoing occupation and violations of fundamental human rights.
Refusal to stay quiet
In pursuit of concealment for its racist actions, Israel invests billions in public relations and repression. Because of it, its image has probably never been as eroded before the world as it is today. With the help of new technologies, independent journalists and the Palestine population have broken the media blockade. They have been causing impact, despite the absolutely unbalance reach in comparison to the great media communication vehicles around the globe, in service of governments and under the facade of “neutrality” or “impartiality”.
If on one hand, the refusal to stay quiet and the struggle for the right to freedom of expression and opinion are an important part of the actions of international solidarity with Palestine, on the other hand, history proves the impossibility of securing the legacy and cry of the oppressed and explored ones. Part of such legacy is the popularity among the Arab world of the tales and writings by Ghassan Kanafani (1936-1972) and the illustrations by the cartoonist Nayi al-Ali (1938-1987), creator of the Handala character, who represents the refugees awaiting to return. Both were Palestine and murdered because of their denounces, represented in their works, of the enemies of the Palestine cause, imperialism/Zionism, Arab regimes, and bourgeois. The reality, decades later, is that the shot backfired: the censorship could not silence their voices but instead perpetuated them and turned them into icons of a permanent struggle.
Journalism under Occupation
