October 21, 1999
His Excellency Ehud Barak
Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem, Israel
Your Excellency:
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to express its profound concern about Taher Shriteh, a veteran Gaza-based reporter for The New York Times,the British Broadcasting Corporation, and the Japanese daily Yomiuri Simbun,whose freedom of movement has been severely restricted by Israeli authorities.
CPJ believes that these measures have been taken in reprisal for Shriteh’s years of reporting about the activities of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in Gaza.
For nearly five years, the Israeli government has denied Shriteh permission to visit Jerusalem and the West Bank from Gaza. As a result he has been severely hampered in his profession as a journalist.
Mr. Shriteh learned yesterday that Israeli authorities had rejected his application for a permit to travel via the safe-passage route between Gaza and the West Bank. No reason was provided for the decision. The safe-passage route, agreed upon in the Sharm al-Sheikh accord signed between the Israelis and the Palestinians in early September, is slated to open next Monday.
Shriteh is also forbidden to use the Israeli security-escorted shuttle bus service that will operate between Gaza and the West Bank. These buses are for people barred from entering Israel.
Shriteh has been unable to visit Jerusalem and the West Bank since March 1995. During these four and a half years he has effectively been prevented from gathering news outside Gaza and from meeting with current and prospective employers. Yet Shriteh has never been tried or convicted of any crime, and Israeli authorities have never provided any explanation for the harsh restrictions on his movements.
Last year, Shriteh petitioned Israel’s High Court to lift the restrictions on his travel. In August 1998, the High Court ruled that he could leave Gaza and travel internationally, but they did not lift the restrictions on his movement through Israel and the West Bank.
Taher Shriteh is one of the most accomplished and respected Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza. For over a decade, his reporting for major international newspapers and news agencies has earned him a reputation for uncompromising professionalism. In March 1993, he received the prestigious Freedom of the Press award from the U.S.-based National Press Club.
For the press to be free, reporters must be able to move freely. CPJ views these arbitrary and punitive sanctions against Shriteh as violations of his right to “seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers,” guaranteed by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
As a nonpartisan organization of journalists dedicated to the defense of press freedom worldwide, CPJ calls on Your Excellency to ensure that current restrictions on Mr. Shriteh’s freedom of movement are lifted immediately, so that he may carry out his professional work in Jerusalem and the West Bank without further interference from Israeli authorities.
Thank you for your attention to this most important matter. We look forward to your comments.
Sincerely,
Ann K. Cooper
Executive Director
Join CPJ in Protesting Attacks on the Press in Israel
Send a letter to:
His Excellency Ehud Barak
Prime Minister of the State of Israel
Office of the Prime Minister
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Jerusalem, Israel