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Groups Tell Biden To Urge Israel To Allow Media Access To Gaza

October 28, 2024 Sue Udry, Defending Rights and Dissent. , , , , , , , ,
Defending Rights & Dissent and 18 other press freedom and human rights organizations endorsed a call from 64 members of Congress asking the Biden Administration to urge Israel to allow independent access to Gaza for U.S. and international journalists, in the interest of transparency, accountability, and press freedom. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) led the congressional effort. Read our letter to President Biden and Sec. of State Blinken here and below. International media and press freedom groups have called on Israel to allow media into Gaza, but, as a press release from McGoverns office notes: … foreign media remains largely prohibited from entering the region, except for a few controlled trips arranged by the Israeli military. This effective ban on foreign reporting has placed an overwhelming burden on local journalists who are documenting the war they are living through.

Journalist Jeremy Loffredo, Detained In Israel, Heads Home

October 23, 2024 Hannan Adely, North Jersey Media Group. , , ,
Jeremy Loffredo, the journalist from Toms River who was detained in Israel and charged with "aiding the enemy during wartime," has left Israel, a State Department spokesman said Monday. Loffredo was arrested Oct. 8 at a checkpoint in the West Bank and held in detention until a judge ordered his release Friday. The allegations against him stemmed from his reporting for The Grayzone, which included information about the locations of strikes launched at military targets inside Israel this month. Asked about Loffredo at a press briefing, spokesman Vedant Patel answered, "My understanding is that he has left Israel," but he provided no further detail.

Jordanian Authorities Arrest Thousands In Year Since October 7

October 13, 2024 Synne Furnes Bjerkestrand and Bayan Abu Ta’ema, Mondoweiss. , , , , , , ,
Jordanian authorities have arrested thousands of citizens since October 7 last year in an increasingly repressive climate in the country. Despite the increasing repression, the people have continued to take to the streets every week to protest the ongoing US-funded Israeli genocide in Gaza. Raya Sharbain, a digital security trainer, tells Mondoweiss that the crackdown on citizens, journalists, and activists is unprecedented. “It is difficult to know where the red line is. It seems that any slight criticism can lead to interrogation or detention,” Sharbain says. Hundreds have also been charged under Jordan’s 2023 Cybercrimes Law, enacted in August of last year, which expands upon an older law from 2015.

Journalist Self-Immolates Outside White House To Protest Gaza Coverage

October 7, 2024 The New Arab. , , , , , ,
A journalist set himself on fire outside the White House on Saturday, after publishing a blog post where he expressed remorse over his role in shaping news stories that he felt made him complicit in Israel's war on Gaza. Samuel Mena Jr reached out to a friend three hours before setting himself on fire, telling them to watch an Instagram stream, where the journalist read from a script where he expressed regret at his perceived role in contributing to Palestinian suffering. He then set himself on fire with images circulated online showing Mena Jr draped in a keffiyeh immersed in flames, as people ran to help him.

Journalist Reaction Panel To Assange Testimony

October 2, 2024 Defending Rights & Dissent. , , , ,
On October 1, 2024, Julian Assange broke his silence. The WikiLeaks founder testified before the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) about the chilling effect his detention and conviction has had on human rights. When Assange was detained,The Committee previously found he met PACE’s definition of a political prisoner. Assange’s testimony marked his first substantive, public comments in over half a decade. Other than his remarks at his sentencing hearing, the public has largely not heard from Assange since his 2019 arrest.

Israel Closes Al Jazeera Bureau In Ramallah: All You Need To Know

September 22, 2024 Al Jazeera. , , , , ,
On live television, heavily armed Israeli soldiers raided Al Jazeera’s occupied West Bank bureau in Ramallah and handed the bureau head, Walid al-Omari, a notice to shut it down. The soldiers ordered everyone working the overnight shift at the bureau to leave, telling them they could take only their personal belongings. The order came from the Israeli military authority despite the bureau being in Area A, an area delineated as being under Palestinian control in the Oslo Accords. This is not the first time Israel has undertaken actions in the Oslo Accords-defined Area A, where Ramallah is and where the Palestinian Authority (PA) has its seat.

Human Rights Activist Sarah Wilkinson Arrested By UK Police

August 29, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , ,
British human rights activist and social media influencer Sarah Wilkinson was arrested by UK police on 29 August, reportedly over “content she posted online.” “The police came to her house just before 7.30am. [Twelve] of them in total, some of them in plain clothes from the counter-terrorism police. They said she was under arrest for ‘content that she has posted online.’ Her house is being raided, and they have seized all her electronic devices," Jack Wilkinson is quoted as saying by the social media account Suppressed News. “The pro-genocide UK regime has arrested [MENAUncensored's] roving reporter and Human Rights Activist Sarah Wilkinson for supporting the Palestinian resistance and relaying what is really happening in Gaza and the West Bank to the world,” MENA Uncensored announced.

Acclaimed Journalist Charged With ‘Anti-Semitism’

August 29, 2024 Joe Lauria, Consortium News. , , , , , ,
For retweeting two tweets on X critical of Israel, famed Australian journalist Mary Kostakidis is facing charges of allegedly violating the country’s Racial Discrimination Act. The complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission from Alon Cassuto, the CEO of the Zionist Federation of Australia, highlights just two Kostakidis retweets from January this year, both of which contain a video of a speech by Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel. One of the retweets is from independent British journalist Richie Medhurst, who was arrested at Heathrow airport and held for nearly 24 hours under the U.K. Terrorism Act this month.

Police Arrest Several Journalists While Cracking Down On DNC Protest

August 21, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. , , , , ,
During the Democratic National Convention, Chicago police aggressively cracked down on a protest outside of the Israeli consulate. Officers carried out a mass arrest that included multiple members of the press, according to several independent reporters that were on the ground. Josh Pacheco, a photojournalist from New York City, and Olya Fedorova, a freelance photojournalist, were singled out by police and arrested and charged with “disorderly conduct.” Police reportedly damaged Pacheco and Fedorova’s camera equipment during their arrests, and they were released from the Area 3 police station in the early morning after being held in police custody for nearly 10 hours.

Richard Medhurst And The Right To Armed Resistance

August 21, 2024 Craig Murray, Consortium News. , , , , ,
We were waiting for Richard Medhurst to arrive and join our panel at the Beautiful Days festival, when he was arrested and imprisoned for 23.5 hours last Thursday. Obviously we were all worried sick about him. It is now becoming easier to list the truly dissident U.K. journalists who have not been arrested for terrorism than those who have! This fascist ploy of labeling journalists as terrorists is incredible. Richard’s case is slightly different to that of other journalists including myself, John Laughland, Vanessa Beeley, Johanna Ross, Kit Klarenberg and many more to suffer the same treatment, in that Richard was specifically held under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act — which outlaws support for a proscribed organisation.

UK Police Arrest Journalist Richard Medhurst Under ‘Terrorism Act’

August 20, 2024 News Desk, The Cradle. , , , , , ,
Medhurst stated via social media that six police officers were waiting for him as he exited his plane in London on 15 August, adding that he was questioned under the Terrorism Act, Section 12. "I believe I'm the first journalist to be arrested under this provision of the Terrorism Act. I feel that this is a political persecution and hampers my ability to work as a journalist," Medhurst explained. Other British journalists who have reported critically on Israeli, UK, and US foreign policy have also been detained and harassed upon returning to their home country, including The Cradle contributor Kit Klarenberg and Vanessa Beeley, who is well known for her reporting from Syria during the US and Israeli-backed regime change war.

Police Must Respect Journalists’ Rights To Freely Report On DNC Protests

August 19, 2024 Seth Stern and Jimena Pinzon, Chicago Sun-Times. , , , , , , , ,
Hundreds of journalists are expected to converge on Chicago to cover the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19-22 – and they must be allowed to do their jobs unimpeded. The city’s plan to “streamline” mass arrests during the convention, by processing arrestees at a makeshift court at the Area 3 police station at Belmont and Western, does nothing to alleviate the threat mass arrests pose to journalists. The plan, reported by the Sun-Times last week, is supposedly for the arrestees’ convenience: It’ll be easier for them to get home on public transportation that way. But “catch and release” arrests are never convenient for journalists, or their readers.

Journalists Demand Blinken Back Israel Arms Embargo

August 15, 2024 Open Letter, Consortium News. , , , , ,
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 160 Palestinian journalists. This is the  largest recorded number of journalists killed in any war. While Israel’s indiscriminate bombing  of the densely populated Gaza means no civilians are safe, Israel has also been repeatedly  documented deliberately targeting journalists.   Israel’s military actions are not possible without U.S. weapons, U.S. military aid, and U.S.  diplomatic support. By providing the weapons being used to deliberately kill journalists, you are complicit in one of the gravest affronts to press freedom today.   On World Press Freedom Day this year, you called on “every nation to do more to protect  journalists,” and reiterated your “unwavering support for free and independent media around  the world.” 

Experts Warn Julian Assange Plea Deal Could Set Dangerous Precedent

June 26, 2024 Alexandra Topping, The Guardian. , , ,
The next UK government must push the US for reassurance it will not pursue journalists for publishing classified information, human rights organisations and experts have argued after the release of Julian Assange. Experts have warned that the plea deal struck between the WikiLeaks founder and the US authorities – which will see him plead guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act, but avoid serving any additional time in custody – could set a dangerous precedent. Assange, who has battled his extradition to the US since WikiLeaks published more than 250,000 leaked classified military and diplomatic documents in 2010, was facing up to 175 years in prison on 18 counts.

Call For Action By Journalists Against Gag Rules After Key Legal Win

June 19, 2024 Society of Professional Journalists. , , , ,
The Society of Professional Journalists is issuing a call to action for journalists to fight government restrictions on employee speech rights following what is believed to be the first time a journalist has won a legal settlement against gag rules on workers in public agencies. The settlement came in a suit brought by investigative reporter Brittany Hailer against the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh for its rules prohibiting employees from speaking to the press or posting information on social media. After rounds of negotiations with Hailer’s attorneys, the county agreed in April that its employees and contractors “have constitutional rights to speak on matters of public concern when acting as private citizens and not purporting to represent the view of the [Allegheny County Bureau of Corrections].”
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