Ramallah, 08-07-07: Television footage of cameraman Imad Ghanem being shot and maimed as he collapsed near Gaza‘s al-Barij refugee camp on July 5th, in what Palestinian National Initiative General Secretary and former Minister of Information Mustafa Barghouthi MP termed “a grave attack on press freedom” has reignited fury and fear at the dangers facing journalists across Palestine.
Ghanem, who works for Al Aqsa TV, was filming an Israeli incursion into the Al-Barij camp when he was shot by Israeli troops. Live Al Jazeera TV footage shows Ghanem lying prone beside his camera, his body flinching as two more shots ring out. After being dragged from the immediate line of fire by his colleagues, he was rushed straight to hospital. Later the same day both his legs had to be amputated in order to save his life.
Journalists across Palestine are risking harassment, injury and death by covering the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza.
During the Israeli onslaught in Al-Barij, and neighboring Al-Maghazi refugee camp, in which 11 Gazans have already been killed, a number of other Palestinian journalists claimed they were deliberately targeted by Israeli troops.
"The Israeli forces shot intensively at the team, though there was no reason to do so," said Hanan Al Masri, a journalist working for the Al Arabiya satellite TV channel. She said her team was forced to take shelter in a nearby house because they were being directly shot at.
Reporters Without Borders claims the Israeli military deliberately discriminates against and abuses Arab journalists, whether they work for local media or pan Arab TV stations such as Al Jazeera or Al-Arabiya.
Since the second Intifada erupted in 2000, fifteen journalists (13 Palestinian, 2 British, and 1 Italian) have been murdered in Palestine, and more than 500 have been injured. Palestinian journalists clearly face far greater daily risks than members of the international press. These range from having their ID cards torn up, their equipment destroyed, their movements restricted, being harassed, beaten and murdered.
According to the international Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) "Palestinian journalists believe that the Israeli army‘s failure to investigate and prosecute soldiers for attacks on the press leaves them vulnerable throughout the Palestinian territories."
The CJP has cited numerous examples of Palestinian journalists and their crews being deliberately targeted by Israeli soldiers.
It is also placing Palestinian journalists even more at risk. The freedom for journalists to report all human rights violations, and demand accountability, democracy and human rights from the Israelis is one of the most powerful tools Palestinians have left.
"The dangers of telling the story in Gaza [has reached] a new level" says Al Jazeera Gaza correspondent Nour Odeh, echoing the fears of many Palestinian journalists who remain determined to report from inside the occupation, amidst regular brutal Israeli incursions.
Dr. Barghouthi stressed the vital role journalists play in ensuring Israel‘s occupation is never forgotten by the world outside the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the increasingly beleaguered Gaza Strip. He condemned the attack on Ghanem in the strongest possible terms, adding that it was yet one more tragic reminder of the lengths the Israeli government will go to to ensure that the Palestinian narrative remains hidden from the eyes of the world.
Photo: Palestinian Imad Ghanem, 21, a cameraman for the Hamas-allied Al Aqsa TV, lies on a bed at the Al shefa Hospital in Gaza City. Friday, July 6, 2007. Ghanem‘s legs were amputated Thursday after he was brought to hospital in critical condition, doctors said. He remained in intensive care, with bullet wounds also in the hip. A media watchdog group called for an investigation Friday into the shooting of Ghanem of who lay injured on a battlefield in Gaza. (AP Photo/Hatem Moussa)