The Journalist Support Committee demanded that Israel be made to answer for the wrongs and abuses it has committed against Palestinian journalists. The committee issued a warning on Wednesday in honor of World Press Freedom Day, which is observed on May 3 of each year, against the Israeli occupation’s continued disregard for the fundamental values of press freedom.
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“As the world commemorates World Press Freedom Day, the Israeli occupation continues its violations against journalists and media workers in the occupied Palestinian territories, which have exceeded (174) Israeli violations since the start of the current year 2023, and the number of journalists detained in the occupation prisons has increased,” the committee stated.
And she urged for the urgent release of a cancer patient and jailed media journalist Walid Daqqa before it is too late, particularly given that his health is declining as a result of the intentional medical malpractice committed against him.
She also advocated the need to apply pressure on the occupation to release 19 detainees from occupation prisons and the lifting of the unfairly enforced house arrests placed on two Jerusalemite journalists, Lama Ghosheh and Raeda Golani.
It requested that human rights and humanitarian organizations step in to end the detention regime, reinstate the administrative custody of detained journalists in occupation prisons, and free all journalists being held unlawfully and politically by the occupation justification.
Additionally, it urged the UN Security Council to enforce Resolution 2222, which calls for the protection of journalists, and to hold Israel responsible for its abuses of Palestinian media workers.
In order to hold the occupation accountable for perpetrating the crime, she pleaded with the International Criminal Court to begin thorough investigations into the occupation’s targeting of the two journalists.
In light of the situation, I thought back to the atrocities the occupation performed in 2022, including the brutal murders of Shereen Abu Aqleh, Ghfran, and Rasneh.
She praised the media professionals and journalists who gave their lives in defense of press freedom, noting that their efforts and reporting on the atrocities committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people One of the most honorable and revered acts to defend their sanctuaries and territory, as well as the cause of occupied Jerusalem.
The core tenets of press freedom are honored globally on this day. This is done in an effort to evaluate the state of press freedom throughout the world, defend the media from assaults and other abuses of its independence, and pay respect to the journalists who have died while carrying out their line of work.
Following the recommendation made by the 26th General Conference of UNESCO in 1991, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed this day a worldwide holiday in 1993.
