CPJ calls on Israel to lift government boycott of Haaretz newspaper
New York, November 25, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Israel to end its sanctions against Israel’s Haaretz newspaper — the latest in the government’s efforts to stifle independent reporting of its war in Gaza. “We deplore the Israeli government’s attempt to silence a respected Israeli outlet like Haaretz by hurting their advertising and…
Global coalition of NGOs calls for immediate ceasefire in Lebanon
The Committee to Protect Journalists and 51 other non-governmental organizations issued a joint statement on Thursday, November 14, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. The statement said Israel had attacked protected persons, including journalists, health workers, peacekeepers, and emergency responders, and called on the international community to “condemn and demand an immediate end to…
EU must act decisively to halt Israel’s silencing of journalists
New York, November 13, 2024—Ahead of their November 18 meeting, CPJ calls on European Union foreign ministers to suspend the EU-Israel Association Agreement in light of Israel’s unprecedented attack on press freedom and ongoing abuses of international law. The agreement sets out the EU’s legal and institutional framework for political dialogue and economic cooperation with…
Egypt sentences detained journalist to 25 years; accused of threatening 2nd journalist
Washington, D.C., November 13, 2024—Egyptian authorities sentenced in absentia journalist Yasser Abu Al-Ela to 25 years in prison on Sunday, November 10, on charges of joining a terrorist organization and spreading false news. Separately, press freedom advocate Rasha Azab accused the Interior Minister and the head of the National Security Agency of orchestrating recent threats against her and surveilling her movements, which culminated…
CPJ, others ask UN working group for update on Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah
The Committee to Protect Journalists, along with 26 other press freedom and human rights organizations, sent a letter on November 12 to the U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) seeking updates on the urgent appeal filed on November 14, 2023, concerning the imprisonment of Egyptian writer Alaa Abdelfattah. The appeal, submitted by Abdelfattah and…
‘Catastrophic’: Journalists say ethnic cleansing taking place in a news void in northern Gaza
On Wednesday, November 6, an Israeli strike killed at least 15 people in a house in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza. But communications difficulties meant that the Gaza health ministry struggled to determine the death toll. This is just one example among countless others where local reporters were able to help verify information about potential atrocities…
Journalist stabbed in Iraqi Kurdistan after reporting on corruption
Sulaymaniyah, November 8, 2024—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for full accountability in the attack on journalist Wrya Abdulkhaliq, who received 21 stitches after two men stabbed his stomach and hit him in the head with the butt of a gun, in his home near Iraqi Kurdistan’s Sulaymaniyah city. “We are appalled by the brutal…
CPJ, 14 organizations urge UK to pause economic cooperation with Egypt until Alaa Abd el-Fattah is freed
The Committee to Protect Journalists joined 14 human rights organizations in a November 1 letter urging U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy to suspend all economic and financial partnerships with Egypt until the country frees British writer Alaa Abd el-Fattah, who was due for release on September 29 after completing a five-year prison sentence. Egyptian authorities have refused…
UN expert committee: Israel’s detention of Palestinian journalists unlawful
The finding follows CPJ’s submission; expert body requests journalists’ immediate release due to arbitrary detention. New York, October 29, 2024—United Nations legal experts determined that Israel’s detention of three Palestinian journalists — Moath Amarneh, Mohammad Badr, and Ameer Abu Iram — is discriminatory, arbitrary, and in violation of international law. The expert opinion by the…
Journalists face Israeli strikes, displacement, attacks as war escalates in Lebanon
The recent escalation of Israel’s war in Lebanon has imperiled the press as they face Israeli strikes that have destroyed news outlet offices and killed at least three journalists, in addition to being assaulted, obstructed, threatened, and detained while reporting. At about 3 a.m. on October 25, an Israeli airstrike hit a compound housing 18 journalists from multiple…