By Qais Abu Samra
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – The Palestinian Journalists Union on Monday urged members to boycott news coverage of the Ramallah-based government and its security forces to protest what it described as “aggression” by the latter against media personnel.
On Sunday, Palestinian security forces violently dispersed dozens of demonstrators who had gathered outside a court in Ramallah to protest the ongoing trial of a group of political activists.
During the dispersal, a number of journalists were beaten by security personnel.
At a press conference convened earlier Monday, Journalists Union head Nasser Abu Bakr described the incident as “a vicious assault — and a crime — against the media and the Palestinian people”.
“We demand accountability for those who assaulted journalists and citizens,” Abu Bakr said at the press conference, which was attended by representatives of several Palestinian rights groups.
He also called on journalists to refrain from “providing the Palestinian government and its security forces with news coverage,” asserting that the union planned to file a lawsuit against the Palestinian government in response to Sunday’s incident.
Shawan Jabarin, director of the Al-Haq human rights organization, accused Palestinian security forces of “violating Palestinian law by dispersing peaceful marches and assaulting journalists”.
“Palestinian law is being violated,” he said. “There are cases of torture in prison and arrests without charge, despite the issuance of judicial orders to release detainees.”
Adnan al-Damiri, a spokesman for the Palestinian security forces, for his part, defended the protest dispersal, describing Sunday’s demonstration in Ramallah as “seditious”.
During the protest, he went on to claim, demonstrators had unjustifiably “accused security personnel of committing treason”.
Participants at Sunday’s demonstration had protested the ongoing trial of a group of political activists, one of whom — Basil al-Araj, killed by Israeli forces earlier this month — continues to face charges of illegal weapons possession.
During the protest dispersal, security forces assaulted marchers with batons and teargas, resulting in the injury of some 20 people — including al-Araj’s father — and the arrest of several others.
