IFJ Calls on Palestinians and Arafat to Act over Kidnapping Terror of Journalists
The International Federation of Journalists today called on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and all sides in the Palestinian conflict to demand an end to kidnapping and a campaign of “individual terrorism” being practiced against journalists.
The IFJ was responding to the kidnapping of Riyadh Ali, an Arab-Israeli journalist working for CNN, who was taken hostage by armed men late last night.
The IFJ is strongly supporting the actions of its affiliates, the National Federation of Israeli Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate who are both demanding that Ali is freed immediately and all pressure on journalists is lifted.
“We see a new and horrifying development in which individual journalists are being kidnapped and terrorized by groups who have no respect for civilized values and human rights,” said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary. “The leaders of all sides in the Palestinian conflict and especially the Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat must intervene immediately to call for an end to this sinister strategy.”
Late yesterday evening, Riyadh Ali, a veteran producer and translator for CNN, was seized at gunpoint from a car in which he was a passenger with CNN colleagues, including correspondent Ben Wedeman.
The CNN team, which arrived in Gaza just a few hours before, was traveling on a main road when Ali was abducted. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the abduction, or issued any demands in exchange for Ali's release. According to reports, two other members of the CNN crew were beaten and their equipment stolen.
Recently, the IFJ in cooperation with the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate opened a new safety centre in Ramallah, at the end of a week-long safety mission to Palestine , in response to the rapidly deteriorating safety situation of journalists and media staff working in Palestine. The IFJ has been working in cooperation with the International News Safety Institute in order to address the safety of journalists in both the West Bank and Gaza.
“The need to improve levels of protection for journalists has never been greater,” said White. “We will do what we can to support our colleagues in the region, but we must also have evidence of a political will to intervene and assist journalists when they are threatened.”
The IFJ welcomed statements by Yasser Arafat in support of press freedom and now urges that these be converted into practical and concrete steps to end the intimidation of all journalists in the region.
Following the abduction of Ali, CNN's office has been placed under armed guard and the head of the Israeli army’s Southern Command, which includes the Gaza Strip, has banned the entrance of Israelis and journalists into the Strip.
The IFJ warned against Israeli overreaction to the crisis. “We welcome steps to protect CNN, but nothing should be done that will inflame an already difficult situation,” said White. “Journalists should be free to move in the region including the Gaza strip and barriers placed in their way by the military will not make their life safer but may increase their frustration and add to tensions that have existed for some time”.
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The IFJ represents over 500,000 journalists in more than 100 countries.
