The Arab League affirms its solidarity with Palestinian journalists and the necessity of ensuring their physical and moral safety
Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector of the League of Arab States, affirmed the Arab League’s firm solidarity with the Palestinian media, stressing the necessity of protecting Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip and towns and cities of the West Bank, including the occupied city of Jerusalem, and ensuring their physical and moral safety. Pursuant to the requirements of international humanitarian law, due to the grave violations they are subjected to, including killing, arrest, raids, and prevention, as happened recently, with the arbitrary decision that conflicts with the right to information regarding the closure of the “Al Jazeera” channel by the Israeli authorities. And the confiscation of its devices and technical equipment.
Ambassador Khattabi – in a statement today, Thursday, on the occasion of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian Media – considered these illegal measures against the Palestinian media and other media institutions It constitutes a violation of international conventions, starting with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights adopted by the United Nations after World War II and the defeat of Nazism, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the subsequent international declarations on freedom of opinion and the right to access information, including the United Nations Plan of Action on creating a free and safe environment for journalists and the Declaration of Principles. The International Federation of Journalists related to practicing the profession of journalism.
Ambassador Khattabi called on the relevant human rights organizations, media platforms and digital networks that believe in freedom of the press throughout the world, to engage in supportive solidarity steps and strengthened measures to hold perpetrators accountable and protect Palestinian journalists and others who carry out their mission and duty. He is professional in covering this unequal war on the Gaza Strip, and conveying its horrific field facts with a high degree of self-denial in a narrow geographical environment fraught with dangers threatening the lives of civilians, including journalists and their families.
He pointed out that in accordance with the decision of the Council of Arab Information Ministers No. 508 dated September 22, 2022, during its 52nd session held in Cairo, the eleventh of May became a day of global solidarity with the Palestinian media, which coincides with the date of the Israeli occupation forces’ assassination of the late journalist Sherine Abu Aqla on the “Al Jazeera” channel. The journalist while carrying out her journalistic work.
Ambassador Khattabi stressed that this decision carries a strong symbolism of solidarity with the Palestinian media body, especially in the context of the current developments in the Palestinian issue and the continuation of the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has targeted more than 34,000 people since last October. Of the victims, 142 were journalists, exceeding the total number of journalists who lost their lives in areas of armed conflict in the world in 2023, which amounts to 99 journalists, according to the US Committee to Protect Journalists.
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