‘The war eats you alive’: Gaza journalists on the toll of covering Israeli attacks
Since May, Palestinian journalists have endured two traumatizing events: the killing of their colleague, Al-Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh, and the one-year anniversary of an Israeli airstrike that destroyed a Gaza City building housing The Associated Press and Al-Jazeera, along with other offices and residential apartments, during an Israeli military campaign against militant groups in Gaza. That war…
News investigations suggest Israeli military culpability in killing of Shireen Abu Akleh
Beirut, May 26, 2022 – In response to recent in-depth news investigations from The Associated Press, CNN, and open source outlet Bellingcat corroborating witness claims that Israeli military fire killed Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian city of Jenin on May 11, CPJ issued the following statement calling for an independent international probe: “Newsroom recreations of the horrific…
Inspired by Shireen Abu Akleh, journalist Shatha Hanaysha was an eyewitness to her killing
Al-Jazeera correspondent Shireen Abu Akleh, whose body was laid to rest in Jerusalem Friday, was an inspiration to a generation of female Palestinian reporters – including one who witnessed Abu Akleh’s killing on May 11. Shatha Hanaysha, a 29-year-old correspondent for news website Ultra Palestine and contributor to regional news website Middle East Eye, was next to Abu Akleh in the Israeli-occupied West…
CPJ calls for international probe into Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing in West Bank
Beirut, May 12, 2022 – Israeli and Palestinian authorities should ensure that the investigation into the killing of Palestinian American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh is swift and transparent, that all evidence is shared with international investigators, and that those responsible are brought to justice, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. Abu Akleh, a reporter…
CPJ calls for swift, transparent investigation into shooting death of Al-Jazeera’s Shireen Abu Akleh while reporting in West Bank
Beirut, May 11, 2022 – Israeli and Palestinian authorities must conduct a swift, immediate, and transparent investigation into the killing of Al-Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in the West Bank today, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday. On Wednesday, May 11, Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian-American correspondent for Al-Jazeera Arabic, was fatally shot in…
Israeli journalists call for spyware exemption after Israel denies illegal Pegasus use
As Israel grapples with the aftermath of explosive allegations that police illegally spied on dozens of Israelis, the country’s journalists are calling to be exempt from possible future legislation to oversee surveillance of citizens through spyware. Israel’s justice ministry last month denied a report by Israeli tech site Calcalist about the allegedly unlawful use of…
Israel to investigate alleged police use of Pegasus spyware against local journalists, others
New York, February 7, 2022 – In response to news reports that Israel will investigate its police force’s alleged use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware to hack the phones of Israeli journalists, among others, the Committee to Protect Journalists issued the following statement calling on authorities to ensure the harmful technology is not used against…
Palestinian Authority sentences journalist Abdulrahman Thahir to 3 months in prison
New York, February 3, 2022 – The Palestinian Authority should not contest journalist Abdulrahman Thahir’s appeal and should stop pursuing vague charges against members of the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Thursday. On January 20, a magistrate court in the West Bank city of Nablus sentenced Thahir, a freelance TV producer, to three…
In Middle East and North Africa, a drop in attacks on journalists belies dire state of press freedom
The Middle East and North Africa region has long been especially dangerous for journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists’ research has found that one out of every three reporters killed worldwide in retaliation for their work since 1992 — 477 out of 1,422, or 33.5% – were located in the region. That proportion rose to…
‘A high-profile action’: Lawyer Douglas Jacobson on what U.S. export restrictions could mean for Israel’s NSO Group
On November 3, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced it had imposed export controls on the Israeli NSO Group, saying the company “developed and supplied spyware to foreign governments that used these tools to maliciously target” journalists and others. The move represented a relatively new use for the Entity List for Malicious Cyber Activities, a…