As democracy falters, Arab press still pushes for freedom By Joel Campagna Across the Middle East, political reform gained momentum in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Egyptians and Lebanese clamored for democracy; elections in Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, and Saudi…
Across the Middle East, political reform gained momentum in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Egyptiansand Lebanese clamored for democracy; elections in Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia offered a more pluralistic future. In a number of Arab countries, the…
EGYPT The Egyptian Journalists Syndicate mounted a widespread campaign to pressure President Hosni Mubarak to fulfill a February 2004 promise to decriminalize press offenses. More than 20 newspapers went on strike for a day in July as part of the campaign, which many journalists credit with the last-minute deletion of a controversial amendment to the…
IRAN With world attention focused on Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the hard-line government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad turned the screws on press freedom and intimidated critical journalists into silence or self-censorship. Ahmadinejad, who has pursued the conservative parliament’s policy of relentlessly stifling independent journalism since his election in August 2005, used the nuclear debate to deflect…
IRAQ For the fourth consecutive year, Iraq was the most dangerous reporting assignment in the world, exacting a frightening toll on local and foreign journalists. Thirty-two journalists and 15 media support staffers were killed during the year, bringing to 129 the number of media personnel killed in action since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.…
ISRAEL and the OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY Israeli troops and armor re-entered the Gaza Strip in late June to stop Palestinians from firing crudely made rockets from the north into Israeli towns along the border. Nearly 370 Palestinians, half of them civilians, were killed in the ensuing six-month Israeli offensive, which intensified after the seizure of…
Israel’s summer offensive in Lebanon was filled with danger for hundreds of journalists who braved bombs and bullets to cover fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas. The offensive began after guerrillas abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed eight near the Lebanese-Israeli border. During the 34-day conflict, one journalist and a media worker were killed,…
Morocco’s robust independent press has few rivals in the Middle East, yet press freedom has eroded under what many journalists and human rights groups consider a government-inspired judicial assault against outspoken newspapers. During the year, several such publications were targets of criminal prosecutions that produced high damages and prison terms for journalists.