The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) today condemned the extended closure of Palestine TV Office in East Jerusalem.
PJS decried the Israeli occupation authorities’ decision to renew the closure of Palestine TV office and stop its crew from operating in East Jerusalem and inside Israel for another six months as a new crime against Palestinian media institutions and journalists, particularly in Jerusalem, as well as a brazen attack on the values and principles of media freedom.
PJS added that Palestinian Jerusalemite journalists are subject to daily Israeli crimes and assaults with purpose of preventing them from reporting on Israeli crimes, particularly the forced expulsions of in Sheikh Jarrah, while pointing that such crimes and assaults fall in line with the “Zionist apartheid policy” against the Palestinian people.
It pledged to follow-up on the crimes with relevant international and Arab institutions, namely the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Federation of Arab Journalists (FAJ) as well as the international commission of inquiry recently set up by the Human Rights Council.
The co-called Israeli Public Security Minister, Amir Ohana, renewed the decision to shut down Palestine TV Office in East Jerusalem, which is part of the occupied territories under international law, for six months the fourth consecutive time on Thursday.
The closure order was first ordered in November 2019, under the pretext that Palestine TV is affiliated with the Palestinian Authority.
The order was issued as Israeli police and intelligence personnel raided several media offices in Jerusalem, summoned journalists to inform them about the decision and threatened to punish them should they resume their work with Palestine TV.
Earlier this week, PJS documented 337 crimes and attacks by the Israeli occupation authorities against journalists and media institutions in the occupied Palestinian territories since the tensions simmered in early May.
Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency