This is a cross-post from Just Journalism.
As Just Journalism reported on Monday, the office of the Reuters news agency in Gaza was recently invaded by armed security forces, who proceeded to physically intimidate the journalists:
‘Several armed men entered Reuters’ office in Gaza on Saturday, threatened employees with guns and took away a video camera, apparently after they spotted a reporter filming a demonstration from the building. The men struck one Reuters journalist on the arm with a metal bar and threatened to throw another out of the window of the high-rise block. The group, which numbered about 10 men, smashed a television set and other equipment before leaving.’
Today, the Palestinian news agency Ma’an is reporting that Hamas has vowed to cease its campaign of harassment against independent media. ‘Hamas govt promises to ease media restrictions’ notes that Hassen Abu Hasheesh, head of Hamas’ media office, has stated that the Islamist party ‘decided to end [the] harassment of journalists in the Gaza Strip’:
‘After consulting with the minister of interior, Fathi Hammad, and as a result of a quick meeting between media colleagues and the minister about incidents that have taken place in recent days, we decided not to harass any journalists.’
Hasheesh added that journalists would no longer be subject to the treatment they have received in the last week:
‘The government in Gaza will not intimidate local media “through beating, cursing, insulting or chasing the journalists or raiding their offices without due legal justification,” Abu Hasheesh said.’
Additionally, Hamas would ‘stop arresting journalists and will release any journalist who is detained’.
While Hasheesh argued that Hamas policy has always respected media freedom, he admitted there had been occasional lapses:
‘this was the Hamas government’s policy from the beginning, “based on press freedoms and respecting the media. What has happened from time to time is due to political tensions.”’
The Foreign Press Association, which recently accused Hamas of a ‘disturbing pattern of harassment and intimidation’, was nonetheless sceptical of how sincere this apparent change of direction would prove:
‘“Unfortunately, our past appeals for press freedom have repeatedly been ignored by Hamas,” an FPA statement said. “We again demand that Hamas allow journalists to do their work and respect the basic right of freedom of the press. Continued harassment will affect coverage of the story.”’