Published on 12 May 2009
16 June 2009 - Palestinian journalists working for Iranian TV station get two months in jail from Israeli court
13 May 2009 - Newspaper reporter arrested as she returns to Israel from Gaza Strip
20 April 2009 - Seven journalists injured by Israeli soldiers in West Bank since January
Reporters Without Borders condemns yesterday morning’s decision by the Israeli internal security ministry to shut down the Palestinian media centre that had been set up in the East Jerusalem district of Sheikh Jarrah in advance of the Pope’s visit.
“We urge the Israeli authorities to rescind this decision, which constitutes a violation of press freedom,” Reporters Without Borders said.
The media centre was a temporary one that had been installed in a conference room of the Hotel Ambassador to provide documentation to local and foreign journalists covering the Pope’s visit to the Holy Land. It had begun operating on 10 May with two news conferences in which political and religious leaders criticised Israeli policies.
The head of the media centre, Ahmad Ar-Ruweidi, said that although the centre was temporary, its closure was “illegal” and represented an “intensification of Israel’s prohibition of Palestinian civil society.” He added that he was seeking legal advice.
Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Jerusalem yesterday afternoon after visiting Jordan. His first visit to the Holy Land is to last three days. Most of the holy sites he is scheduled to visit are located in East Jerusalem, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War and which it regards as its “eternal” capital. Its formal annexation in 1981 is not recognised by the international community.
Adel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known by the pen name Kareem Amer, was arrested on 6 November 2006, for articles published on his blog .
