Middle East & North Africa

  
A Palestinian man hurls stones at Israeli soldiers in the West Bank village of Deir Abu Mashal, near Ramallah, August 10, 2017. Israeli and Palestinian security forces have increased repression of the media as political tensions have increased in recent weeks. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

Palestinian security forces arrest five journalists in West Bank

Beirut, August 10, 2017–Palestinian security forces should immediately release five journalists arrested in the West Bank yesterday and should cease arresting journalists on spurious charges, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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Egyptian journalists protest the jailing of their colleagues at the Journalists' Syndicate in Cairo, May 3, 2016. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Egypt censors Al-Mesryoon newspaper, harasses editors

New York, August 8, 2017–Egyptian authorities should stop censoring Al-Mesryoon newspaper and harassing its journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Authorities banned this week’s edition of the newspaper and summoned Al-Mesryoon Editor-in-Chief Gamal Sultan and Managing Editor Mahmoud Sultan for interrogation, according to Gamal Sultan and news reports.

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Khalid Abdel-Hadi, the founder of the Jordanian online magazine My.Kali (Abdullah Dajani)

Jordan blocks access to LGBTQ online magazine

Beirut, August 8, 2017–Jordanian authorities should immediately stop blocking access to the online magazine My.Kali, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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In this 2009 file photo, Palestinian journalists work in the Ramallah office of Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain blocked access to Al-Jazeera's websites on May 24, 2017. (Reuters/Fadi Arouri)

Israel should abandon plans to close, censor Al-Jazeera

Washington, D.C., August 6, 2017–Israeli authorities should abandon efforts to close Qatari broadcaster Al-Jazeera’s offices, revoke its journalists’ credentials, and censor its transmissions, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Communications Minister Ayoub Kara today repeated Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allegations that the station supports terrorism, and said the government wanted satellite and cable companies…

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Artist and activist Thiyazen al-Alawi paints a mural on a wall of a hospital in Sanaa as part of a cholera-awareness campaign. In one of the biggest outbreaks of the disease in modern history, more than 425,000 people in Yemen have contracted cholera, nearly 2,000 of whom have died, since the Saudi-led coalition began bombing the country in 2015. (REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah)

Yemeni journalists injured in airstrike

Shawqi Hussein, a reporter for the broadcaster Al-Maseerah, and cameraman Kamal al-Kabsi were injured in an airstrike on July 30, 2017, in the Shabwa province town of Bayhan, Yahya al-Kabsi, a graphic designer in Al-Maseerah’s Beirut office, told CPJ.

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Four Lebanese TV journalists fined for defamation and false news

Beirut’s Publication Court, headed by Judge Roukoz Rizk, on July 17, 2017, fined Mariam al-Bassam, head of News and Political Programs at the Lebanese broadcaster Al-Jadeed, Riyad Kobaissi, the head of the station’s investigative unit, Rami al-Amine, a reporter for the station, and Layal Mousa, an assistant reporter at the station, 2 million Lebanese pounds…

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In this May 22, 2015, file photo, the flag of the United Arab Emirates flies over a boat in the Dubai Marina. (Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

Dubai suspends magazine for one month

Beirut, July 31, 2017–Authorities in Dubai should immediately reverse their one-month ban on the print and online editions of the weekly magazine Arabian Business, and should cease censoring the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A Palestinian protester runs from Israeli military machinery in the West Bank village of Khobar, near Ramallah, July 22, 2017. (Reuters/Mohamad Torokman)

Israeli soldiers raid Palestinian media company’s office

New York, July 31, 2017–The Committee to Protect Journalists today condemned Israeli soldiers’ raid of the office of PalMedia, a production company that provides broadcast services to Al-Quds TV and other broadcasters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

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A damaged building is seen in Raqqa, Syria, July 28, 2017. (Reuters/Rodi Said)

Syrian journalist killed near Homs

New York, July 31, 2017–The death of Khaled al-Khateb, a Syrian freelance correspondent for the Russian government-funded broadcaster RT’s Arabic-language service, in Homs province yesterday is a tragic reminder of the risks journalists face covering Syria’s conflict, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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A woman shouts slogans in a protest in the Moroccan town of Al-Hoceima, July 21, 2017. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Morocco deports Spanish journalists

New York, July 27, 2017–Moroccan authorities should lift any restriction on the ability of journalists José Luis Navazo and Fernando Sanz to enter the country and should allow journalists to report freely on matters of public interest, including protests, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

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