Published on 26 August 2009
6 April 2010 - Israeli media forbidden to report case widely covered internationally
1 April 2010 - Palestinian journalists repeatedly targeted by IDF gunfire during March
28 January 2010 - High court quashes jail sentence against two journalists
Reporters Without Borders condemns the arbitrary closure of Radio Bethlehem 2000, a radio station located near the West Bank city of Bethlehem. The station was shut down yesterday evening by Israeli soldiers, who seized its equipment.
“The summary closure of an independent Palestinian radio station and the arbitrary seizure of its equipment constitute outright censorship,” Reporters Without Borders said. “The station’s management was given no explanation. We urge the Israeli military authorities to return the confiscated equipment and let the station resume broadcasting without delay.”
The Israeli soldiers arrived at the station, based in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem, at about 6 p.m. yesterday in five jeeps. After ordering a technician to stop work, they removed the station’s equipment without showing any warrant. One of the soldiers simply said: “We don’t want to hear Radio Bethlehem 2000 anymore.”
Station manager George Canawati told Reporters Without Borders: “We have not been told why the station was closed although we tried to obtain any explanation from the Israeli military.”
An independent radio station founded in 1996, Radio Bethlehem 2000 is now closed until further notice. “This measure is all the more surprising as the station had no political programmes on sensitive subjects and limited itself to broadcasting music,” Reporters Without Borders added.
Adel Kareem Nabil Suleiman, better known by the pen name Kareem Amer, was arrested on 6 November 2006, for articles published on his blog .
