IMRA Newsletter
Reporters warned not to cover PA Chaos
The Jerusalem Post
9 August 2004
www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1092021259340&p=1078027574121
Several armed Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip on Monday threatened to attack journalists working for Arab satellite stations because of their continued focus on the power struggle in the Palestinian Authority.
Leaflets distributed by members of the Palestinian Resistance Groups, an alliance of various militias in the Gaza Strip, accused the journalists of ignoring ongoing IDF operations in Rafah and preferring instead to focus on the internal strife.
The threat was directed particularly against the two largest networks, Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, which have a number of correspondents in the Gaza Strip.
"We issue a warning to all the Arab satellite stations that are reporting on the internal fighting," the leaflets read. "It appears as if someone is directing these stations what to report on and what to ignore. This makes these stations suspicious and we hope that we won't be forced to deal with them in a harsh manner."
The leaflets said that one of the Arab networks had aired a special program on deer hunting in Africa at a time when IAF helicopters were firing missiles at homes in Rafah.
Journalists working for Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya have complained in recent weeks that they have received death threats from rival Palestinian groups because of their coverage of the crisis and their focus on demands for reforms in the PA.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the Gaza Strip has also warned its members against covering the power struggle. The journalists were told that anyone who violates the order would be severely punished.
PA Chairman Yasser Arafat has also rebuked Palestinian journalists for laying too much emphasis on the turmoil and ignoring more important issues like threats from extremist Jewish elements to blow up the mosques on Temple Mount.
Several Palestinian columnists and editors have also received death threats over the past few weeks. One of them, Adli Sadek, a prominent columnist with Al-Hayat Al-Jadeeda daily who has called for an end to corruption, said a written letter containing threats against his life was left at the entrance to his home in Khan Yunis.