RAMALLAH, Key Palestinian officials, including Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, participated today in a vigil outside the headquarters of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) in Ramallah in protest of the Israeli occupation authorities’ decision to ban the work of the Palestine TV in the occupied capital Jerusalem.

Palestine TV, the official mouthpiece of the Palestinian Government and which is run by PBC, has been blocked from working in occupied Jerusalem by the Israeli occupation authorities.

“The voice of Palestine TV is the voice of Jerusalem and the voice of all of Palestine, and is the voice of freedom and national struggle. It is Israel that fights our geography and annexes our land systematically,” said Shtayyeh during the sit-in.

He added, “if reporting the truth is incitement, we will continue to report the truth, and if exposing the occupation and its practices is incitement, we and all free journalists in the world will continue to expose these Israeli practices.” He said the sit-in was a message of challenge to the Israeli occupation’s decision, and that the government will provide everything that this challenge needs.

“We will face the ‘flag march’ that wants to undermine our national identity. They [the Israelis] believe that it will change the face of Jerusalem, but it will not change the face of this Palestinian city,” he said in reference to the so-called ‘flag march’ called for by settler nationalists and which is scheduled to take place today in occupied Jerusalem.

Meanwhile, the General-Supervisor of the Official Media, Minister Ahmad Assaf, said the decision of the Israeli occupation to ban the work of the Palestine TV in Jerusalem will not prevent it from continuing its work.

He said the Israeli occupation’s government should know that its decision to ban the TV will not affect the coverage of the official media in occupied Jerusalem, which is the eternal capital of Palestine.

“The occupation is targeting Palestine TV not only in Jerusalem, but in all of the Palestinian cities. When we talk about targeting Palestine TV, we must not forget that it was bombed and its broadcast towers in Ramallah were destroyed [by Israeli warplanes] twenty years ago,” he added.

“We will remain by the side of our people in Jerusalem, and the Palestine TV camera will remain present in its mosques, churches, alleys, and streets. They [the Israelis] will not be able to hide this image and silence our voice.”

Other officials who participated in the sit-in included Sheikh Mohammad Hussein, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Rawhi Fattouh and Sabri Saydam, two members of the PLO Executive Committee.

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency