Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory / Middle East & North Africa

In “Portraits of the Fallen,” a video introduction to CPJ’s database of killed journalists, María Salazar-Ferro examines the circumstances in which reporters, photographers, editors, and other journalists have died on duty. Because hundreds of journalists have been murdered in reprisal for their work, CPJ is leading a Global Campaign Against Impunity. (4:11) Visit our database of…

New York, July 15, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Palestinian Authority’s decision today to suspend the operations of Al-Jazeera in the West Bank after the satellite channel aired a controversial interview on Tuesday. The suspension, according to a Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information statement, will remain in place until “the judiciary issues a…

New York, June 17, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns an Israeli court decision to sentence two television journalists on charges of breaching the military censorship law during the offensive in Gaza in December and January.

April 2009News from the Committee to Protect Journalists

Dear Prime Minister Netanyahu: The Committee to Protect Journalists urges your government to examine the deeply disturbing press restrictions and military strikes on media facilities that occurred during the prior government’s Gaza offensive in late 2008 and early 2009, and to take corrective action that brings official policies and practices in line with international standards.

New York, March 3, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists called for the immediate release of a journalist who has been detained since late January by the Palestinian Authority (PA) after its release of another journalist in the West Bank on Monday.

With a shaky six-month truce coming to an end in late year, Hamas rocket attacks on Israel were met with the largest bombardment of the Gaza Strip since 1967. The headquarters of Hamas-controlled Al-Aqsa TV was destroyed and at least two journalists were injured amid massive airstrikes by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). As 2008…

New York, February 6, 2009–The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to return confiscated news footage of its navy allegedly firing on and boarding a ship on Thursday. Journalists who were on board say they filmed Israeli soldiers assaulting a passenger, and that they were later beaten after their equipment had been confiscated, a…

New York, January 27, 2009–The Palestinian Authority (PA) has detained at least three journalists in the West Bank since Saturday, according to local news reports and journalists who spoke to CPJ. 

The Israeli Supreme Court announced today that international journalists must be allowed total access to Gaza in light of the official end of hostilities on January 18. Since November, the Israeli government has said that restricting the entry of these journalists has been for their own safety. Tel Aviv’s Foreign Press Association called the claim…