Palestinian union records 108 attacks on the media in July

The Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate has documented 108 attacks carried out by Israel against Palestinian journalists and media workers in July alone. The figure was released by the Wafa agency.

The list was compiled by the syndicate's Freedoms Committee. According to its statement, the recorded episodes included «arrests, beatings, interrogations and obstruction of journalists' work, as well as the use of stun grenades and tear gas, assaults by settlers, raids on homes and media offices, and the seizure and destruction of journalistic equipment».

Two categories recur more than the rest. The committee counted 58 cases of short detention and of restrictions on freedom of information. These are the violations most frequently documented over the month, against a background of continuing limits on journalists' ability to cover events on the ground.

Settlers and places of worship

Eleven episodes concern assaults by settlers on journalists and television crews. The committee lists physical attacks, shoving, threats and attempts to stop journalists from doing their work. They occurred above all while covering incidents and violations in various areas of the West Bank.

The report also records two cases of journalists being expelled from the Al-Aqsa mosque. They followed orders barring them from the compound's courtyards for set periods.

The count covers a single month and a single source, the union's own. It nonetheless describes a set of obstacles that all press on the same point: the practical ability to gather and transmit information from a territory where journalistic work is already hard to carry out.