The Silencing of Journalists

The Silencing of Journalists: Its Harm to All of Us
By Sarah Price

When 24-year-old Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London on June 16, he accepted it on behalf of 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza, his home. He had decided at the age of 17, even before the loss of his home to house demolitions and his brother to sniper fire, that he would be their voice. But upon his return from Europe on June 26, his own voice was nearly silenced. Eight armed Israeli security agents were waiting for him at the Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank. They strip- and cavity-searched him and beat him unconscious. He survived, but has sustained broken ribs, a damaged trachea that kept him on a liquid diet for over a month, possible sterility from one kick, and pain in his legs and hands. With physical difficulty, he is writing again and continues to be a voice for Gaza, but he wonders for how long. Despite international media attention and calls from the Dutch and British parliaments for formal investigations into the attack, as well as compensation for Omer’s medical expenses and help getting surgery he needs and cannot get in Gaza, his case remains largely untouched. An investigation report released by the Israeli Foreign Ministry in late August claimed his allegations were false. However, the investigators failed to interview Omer or his doctors, and requested no medical records for review. Robert Dekker, spokesman for the Dutch Foreign Ministry, said they are not satisfied with the report, and have requested an independent investigator. "I can inform you that Mr. Omer's account and the Israeli report differ in conclusion on what exactly transpired," he said. "The Netherlands has urged Israel therefore to initiate an independent investigation to find out the exact course of events." The Israeli Foreign Ministry offices in London and Jerusalem have failed to provide a copy of the investigation report.

Almost 200 Palestinian journalists have been injured and nearly a dozen killed since September 2000, including Fadel Shana, a 23-year-old Reuters cameraman who was killed in Gaza on April 16 by an Israeli tank shell – the final images from his destroyed camera showing the shell aimed at and flying toward him. The results of an investigation released in August cleared the soldiers of any wrongdoing, but Reuters slammed the claims, pointing out that the markings on his flak jacket and his vehicle clearly identified him as a journalist, and the wire service is considering legal action. The Israeli Foreign Press Association fears that the probe’s conclusions could cause worse consequences for journalists in the region, if soldiers take the lack of disciplinary action as a green light to fire on members of the press.

The silencing of journalists is not a new practice, nor is it confined to any one region of the world. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), 15 have been killed worldwide so far in 2008, 13 more are suspicious deaths under investigation, and at least 82 reporters have been exiled in the past year.

In China, tough restrictions on foreign journalists were eased in an attempt to garner good press during the Beijing Olympics. On December 1, 2006, China's State Council issued a decree granting foreign journalists more freedom in reporting in the run-up to the 2008 Olympic Games, from January 1, 2007 through October 17, 2008 (one month after the end of the Paralympics). Foreign journalists would not be required to be accompanied by a Chinese official, would be allowed to engage in independent reporting in all localities without permission and could hire Chinese citizens to assist them.

But there are concerns for what happens after October 17 for foreign journalists, and what happens in the meantime for members of the Chinese media. China still remains the largest jailer of journalists in the world, with 26 currently imprisoned. According to CPJ, China has held this distinction for nearly a decade. The longest-held journalists in China, Chen Renjie and Lin Youping, have been jailed since July 1983. The two have been sentenced to life in prison for writing and distributing all of 300 copies of a pamphlet called Ziyou Bao ("Freedom Report"). Their colleague, Chen Biling, was executed.

Even within the allotted months of reporting leniency, there have been violations. In July, the Hong Kong Journalists’ Association and the International Federation of Journalists condemned Beijing police for a number of recent incidents against Hong Kong reporters covering pre-Olympic activities, citing police brutality and negligence, detention, and deliberate misinformation to allow for further attacks. Some reporters were assaulted by police when they were told they had strayed out of the reporting area, but the situation was confusing, said journalist Felix Wong, because “the police kept changing the so-called reporting area.” Others had their cameras confiscated, were ordered to delete footage, and pressured to sign documents saying their matter was closed, so they could take no further action against the police.

However, we needn't look so far to see such violations against free speech. On Monday, September 1, in St. Paul, MN, "Democracy Now!" host Amy Goodman and two of her producers, Sharif Abdel Kouddous and Nicole Salazar, were arrested on riot charges as they interviewed protesters outside the Republican National Convention. Goodman received a call that her producers had been "bloodied by the police," and she ran to where they were. By the time she arrived, they had been put into police vehicles. Asking officers if she could just see them, she was immediately arrested, too. The incident was caught on tape and was the most-watched video on YouTube the next day. Like Shana, all three were clearly marked as members of the press.

For whatever complaints there may be about the mainstream media and its collective complacency, there are untold numbers of journalists risking, and sometimes losing, their lives to bring the truth about the injustices around them to light. In an article for The Nation, Omer wrote, “The might of the Israeli military will not silence my pen or darken my camera lens.” But if these voices continue to be silenced, whether through maiming, intimidation, censorship or death, there will soon be no one to speak for any of us. "When the press is shut down", Goodman told the Los Angeles Times, "it's closing the eyes and ears of a critical watchdog in a democratic society."