During the Israeli state crackdown, journalists Ashraf al-Nibali and Amin Alariya were detained.
Marching on World Press Freedom day, Palestinian journalists were dispersed with tear gas, while two journalists were detained during the march.
Organized outside the Ofer prison in the central occupied West Bank district of Ramallah Wednesday, the strike was also held in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners hunger-striking in Israeli cells, as they enter their 17th day of the historic struggle.
During the Israeli state crackdown, journalists Ashraf al-Nibali and Amin Alariya were detained by police.
Last month, Reporters Without Borders condemned Israeli forces for violating the rights of Palestinian journalists, particularly those that cover demonstrations against the apartheid regime, in the 2017 World Press Freedom Index compiled by the organization.
“Under Israel’s system of administrative detention, Palestinian journalists can be held indefinitely without trial, without formal charge, and without notifying a lawyer. They are often accused of inciting violence, cooperating with terrorist organizations, or otherwise posing a threat to Israel’s security,” the group wrote in the report, which ranks Israel 91 out of 180 countries in terms of press freedom.
In occupied #Palestine journalists are exposed to tear gas attacks during their coverage of peaceful protests! #WorldPressFreedomDay pic.twitter.com/oicfQh6w46
— eman qasim (@EmanQasim) May 3, 2017
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) in their annual report last year documented 249 press freedoms violations committed by Israeli authorities.
Israeli violations, they wrote, involved the “injuring and arresting of dozens of Palestinian journalists, raiding, confiscating, and sabotaging media outlets, including the shutdown of 12 Palestinian media outlets and printing houses.”
