Fatah Gunman Raid Ramallah TV Studio
September 15, 2003
Jerusalem (ICEJ) — Five masked gunmen from Yasser Arafat’s al-Aksa Martyrs Brigades stormed the Ramallah TV studios of Arab satellite station al-Arabiya on Saturday night, smashing equipment and holding staff at gunpoint.
It is believed the raid came after the station broadcast unfavorable reports of divisions at the heart of the Palestinian Authority leadership, following a bitter confrontation between Arafat and newly nominated Interior Minister Gen. Nasser Youssef.
The dispute concerned control of the numerous PA security services, currently under Arafat’s command, and led to Youssef branding the veteran PLO chief, “the most incompetent revolutionary leader in history.†Former Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas resigned earlier this month after failing to force Arafat to back down over the same issue.
Press freedom group, Reporters without Borders, condemned the attack on Sunday and called on the Palestinian Police to investigate.
Although no one was injured in the incident one of the gunmen reportedly told a worker, “This is a message to you, this is the last time you can work here.”
According to at least one employee, the channel’s reporting on Palestinian Authority rifts may have angered senior PA officials. The masked men said they were from the ruling Fatah movement’s al-Aqsa militia, which answers directly to PA Chairman Arafat. Fatah officials denied the link.
Despite the widespread intimidation of journalists working the PA-controlled territories, who face being branded as ‘collaborators’ for disseminating critical reports, the international media chooses to ignore the climate in which many Palestinian eyewitness and journalistic accounts are forged.
A year ago, Jerusalem Police arrested a senior aide to then-Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei for repeatedly threatening an Arab-Israeli journalist who works for The Jerusalem Post.
Palestinian Affairs correspondent Khaled Abu Toameh was accused of harming the “dignity†of Qurei by detailing a phone conversation he held with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Qurei, who now serves as the new PA Prime Minister under Arafat, denied any involvement in the threats, but Abu Toameh took the opportunity to emphasize that the real danger to journalists is not “from the bullets of an M-16 or AK-47 assault rifle,†but from those in the PA “who believe that a journalist’s job is first to be ‘loyal to the cause’ and then to report the truth.â€
“It becomes even more complicated and dangerous if, like myself, you are an Arab journalist working with the foreign or Israeli media,†he continued. “You are expected to tell the truth only if it sounds and looks convenient and appropriate. Otherwise you could be risking your life.â€