KK-Forum,
Her er noe som nylig ble sendt ut av PHMG i Jerusalem, vedrørende
journalisten Khalid Amayreh. Det han skriver brukes f.eks. også i Middle
East International og bl.a. i Palestine Times (http://www.ptimes.com/).
Knut Rognes
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Date: Sun, 10 Jan 1999 00:14:08 -0800
From: The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group <admin@phrmg.org>
Organization: The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group
X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.61 [en] (Win98; I)
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Subject: PA/Israel cooperate to silence journalist
Press release
Jerusalem, February 21, 2000
Palestinian and Israeli intelligence cooperate to silence journalist
The Palestinian journalist Khaled Amayreh has been summoned by both the
Palestinian Authority General and the Israeli District Coordination
Office (DCO). Amayreh was questioned on the content of the Hebron Times,
a newly launched weekly newspaper where Amayreh is Editor-in-Chief. He
received threats of closure of the paper if he did not write favourable
articles about President Arafat.
On February 11, Palestinian Authority (PA) General Intelligence officers
summoned Amayreh to a “meeting” where he was questioned on an editorial
he wrote on the Palestinian refugees’ right to return, arguing that no
body has the right to give up on that right because it is “personal in
nature, absolute and inalienable”.
Amayreh was accused of doubting the PA’s commitment to the refugees’
cause and inciting the refugees against the leadership. The PA General
Intelligence officers gave Amayreh the message that the PA Press Law of
1995 was not applicable in his case, as “the intelligence has its own
laws”. One officer threatened to close the newspaper, and said: “I’ll
burn it down if you continue to criticise the government”.
On February 15, Amayreh was summoned by an Israeli District Coordination
Office official, and questioned on the same issue. The official argued
that Amayreh’s editorials instigated the PA to take tougher stance on
the refugees’ issue. Amayreh was again warned, as he was by the PA
Intelligence, against incitement. The Israeli interrogator “reminded”
him that Israel was still in control all over the area.
The day after, Amayreh was again summoned to the PA General
Intelligence, in order to brief them on what the Israelis wanted. He was
asked to publish material favourable to president Arafat in his
newspaper. They were claiming that the paper in its current form was
unacceptable, warning again that they would close the paper.
The PHRMG strongly reject any threats made against Palestinian
independent journalists and editors by the Palestinian Authority or the
Israeli authority in order to stiffle their voices. We find the actions
taken against Khaled Amayreh and Hebron Times as severely aggravating.
PHRMG further protest strongly against all collaboration between
Palestinian and Israeli officials to stiffle all independent news
reporting in the Palestinian Autonomous Areas. We fully support Khaled
Amayreh in his decision not to be intimidated by these efforts, and his
work for more press freedom.
The PHRMG call for the immediate implementation of the Palestinian Press
Law of 1995, approved by President Arafat, in the cases of Palestinian
journalists summoned by the Palestinian police, security or intelligence
forces. The 1995 Press Law prohibits security agencies from questioning,
interrogating, detaining, interning or arresting a Palestinian
journalist on matters pertaining to his journalistic profession.
Below, please find the testimony of Khaled Amayreh.
For more information, contact the PHRMG office: Tel: 972 2 6262463, 972
2 6263886 Fax: 972 2 6262378, E-mail: admin@phrmg.org
Testimony by Khalid Amayreh
My name is Khalid Amayreh. I am a Palestinian Journalist based in the
West Bank town of Hebron. I am Editor-in-Chief of the newly-launched weekly
newspaper, "Akhbar al Khalil" or "Hebron Times" of which two issues have
so far been published. In addition to that, I work as a free lance
journalist for a number of news agencies, journals, and Internet web-sites in
Palestine, the Arab world, and Europe.
On 9 February, a person from the Palestinian Authority General
Intelligence (GI) asked me by telephone to go to his office in Hebron
to "drink a cup of coffee with them." He said he wanted to chat with me
about "a couple of important matters." First he told me to report to the GI
office in Dura ( 10 miles south west of Hebron) at 10:00 am, Thursday.
However, when I went to the said office in Dura, I was told to go to
Hebron on Saturday, 11 February, at 10:00 am.
So, on 11 February, I went to GI's headquarters in Hebron, where I met a
number of intelligence officers, some of whom were college students I
had taught at the Hebron University in the 1980s. One questioned me on
the content of the Hebron Times, and actually started reading from a copy of
the second issue of the "Hebron Times" before him.
The questioning initially centered on a last-page editorial I wrote
asserting the Palestinian refugees' right of return. In the editorial,
entitled "the right of return first and last" I argued that no body,
not even the Palestinian leadership, has any right to concede, give up, or
compromise that right, which I described as "personal in nature ,
absolute and inalienable."
The interrogator accused me of "doubting our leadership's commitment to
the refugees' cause" and suggested that I was "inciting the refugees
against the leadership."
He also charged that the overall tone of the paper was incompatible
with the Palestinian Authority's line, adding that this was unacceptable. At
one point, he threatened to close down the paper if I continued to feature
materials critical of the PA.
He said "I'll burn it down if you continue to criticize the authority."
The interrogator told me that the main captions, titles, and subtitles
of the paper were provocative, even though he conceded they were neither
misleading nor inaccurate. He warned though that I should refrain
from printing captions as such, "if you are interested in not seeing your
paper closed down."
I reminded him that the Press Law, which was endorsed and approved by
PA Chairman Yaser Arafat in 1995, clearly prohibits security agencies from
questioning , interrogating , detaining, interning, or arresting a
Palestinian journalist on matters pertaining to his journalistic
profession.
To this, the interrogator simply said "you know the intelligence has its
own laws." I protested the flagrant violation of the law by the GI, but
to no avail. I told him I felt embittered by the fact that I was being
summoned by the Israeli and Palestinian intelligence services on the
same issue of press freedom. However, simply told me "forget about press
freedom, press freedom is meaningless here." Another GI operative, who
was present, said half-jokingly "this is how things work in the first
seventy years of statehood."
On Tuesday, around 9:00, I was summoned by an Israeli District
Coordination Office (DCO) official, who identified himself as Captain
Adel. He said he wanted to chat with me on the Hebron Times. When I
arrived at his office, near the settlement of Hagai, on the southern outskirts
of Hebron, he asked me about the editorial policy of the paper and if I
subscribed to the ideology of the Islamist groups, such as Hamas. I told
him that I had no formal or informal connections with any political
party, including Hamas. He also insinuated that my editorials instigated
the PA to take a tougher stance on the refugees' issue.
I retorted that I only underlined the PA's declared position on the
issue, namely UN resolution 194. He argued that the PA was only adopting
position for local consumption and that I was effectively warning the PA
against
retreating from this position. The Israeli interrogator warned me
against incitement, reminding me, in a tacit manner, that Israel was still in
control all over the area.
On Wednesday, the PA' GI summoned me again, apparently in order to
brief them on my conversation with the Israeli officer.
After I told them of what happened, they told me that I should publish
in the paper material favorable to President Arafat. They claimed that the
paper in its current form was unacceptable since it featured views close
to those held by the Palestinian Islamist opposition. They told me that an
independent paper shouldn't be critical of the PA. Again I reminded them
that what they were doing, questioning me, was in violation of the law.
Again, they scoffed at me, saying "where do you think you are, in
Switzerland."
They also warned me again that they would close down the paper if I
maintained the same tone. Finally, one of the officer was audacious
enough to demand that I submit to him a draft of everything that we print,
before it goes to the press. I rejected this outright, saying I prefer
to terminate the paper immediately rather than budge to this humiliating
demand.
I believe the two sessions of questioning, interrogations or "chats," by
the PA and Israeli intelligence had one main purpose, that is forcing me
to exercise self-censorship, the worst kind of censorship. But I will
not budge, nor be intimidated, and will continue to push for more press
freedom and, therefore, more democracy.
I call on all human rights organizations and international bodies
defending the sublime principle of press freedom to show solidarity
with me by exerting pressure on the PA and Israel in order to put an end to
their persecution and harassment of me.
The struggle for press freedom is at the forefront of the struggle for
democracy and true peace in Palestine. And we must win.
Khalid Amayreh, amayreh@p-ol.com (end)
-- ----------------------------- <<<< The Palestinian Human Rights Monitoring Group >>>>The PHRMG is a Palestinian, independent non-governmental organization working to end human rights violations committed against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, regardless of who is responsible. The members of the Monitoring Group believe that the strength of democracy and civil society in Palestinian life will be determined by the Palestinian people through their defense or neglect of human rights.
P.O.Box 19918, East Jerusalem 91198 Via Israel Tel:+(972) 2 6262463, 6263886 Fax:+(972) 2 6262378 Email:admin@phrmg.org http://www.phrmg.org *******************************************'
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