Ramallah /PNN /

The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) extends its warm congratulations to all fellow journalists in Palestine and around the world on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, corresponding to the 3rd of May. It also commemorates all the martyrs to writing in Palestine, on top, the martyr "SHIREEN ABU AQLEH" on the first commemoration of her martyrdom.

To celebrate this occasion, and to commemorate this anniversary, MADA worked on producing a documentary film about the status of media freedoms during 2022 as part of its efforts to document violations of media freedoms, especially the crime of “murdering journalists”.

The film highlights the World Press Freedom Day, and the first commemoration of the martyrdom of journalist SHIREEN ABU AQLEH, which comes on the eleventh of May, based on the testimony of her two colleagues, journalist ALI AL-SAMOUDI and journalist MUJAHID AL-SAADI. The film also includes testimonies of female journalists about the violations that journalists are exposed to in the field and ways to protect them.

It further reviews the violations against media freedoms committed during 2022, documented with numbers and statistics, as well as all the parties that committed such. MADA documented a total of (605) violations during the past year, (416) thereof are committed by the Israeli authorities, equivalent to 69%.

On this occasion, and in light of this commemoration, “MADA” condemns all attacks by all parties against journalists, especially the killing of journalists and the impunity of their perpetrators. It also condemns the sharp escalation of Israeli attacks during the past months in the cities of Jerusalem and Nablus against citizens and journalists.

MADA confirms that the continuation of such attacks constitutes a serious threat to media freedoms, so the international community is required to make more pressure on the Israeli government to stop its attacks on Palestinian journalists, bring them to trial, put an end to their impunity, and allow journalists to carry out their professional duties with complete freedom.

MADA also reiterates its continuous demands for the release of the 19 detained journalists in Israeli prisons, the last of whom is the freelance journalist, MOHAMMED BADER, who was arrested after his house was stormed in the town of "Bayt Liqya" on the 4th of April.

These journalists are still in Israeli prisons, 30 years after the United Nations General Assembly approved the 3rd of May as the World Press Freedom Day, which confirms that the Palestinian territories are still suffering from widespread violations of freedom of expression. Media freedoms are still the target of escalating attacks, and workers in the media sector are paying a heavy price for their relentless insistence on covering events, by filming and writing, and they are exposed on a daily basis to violations by the Israeli occupation and by the Palestinian security services in the West Bank and Gaza.

MADA believes that these violations have resulted in negative effects on journalists, the media sector, and freedom of access to information, and that the lack of safety in journalistic work turns journalists’ lives into fear and hell and kills their creativity.

Furthermore, MADA also reiterates its call on the international community to exert real and effective pressure on Israel to stop its continuous attacks on journalists. It calls on the authorities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to stop all forms of violations against media freedoms, and to provide a safe working environment for journalists.