In less than a week, journalists have faced various levels of restrictions on carrying out their professional duties in Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and Ramallah in three different incidents. The violators included Israelis, Palestinian unionists and Palestinian police.
In East Jerusalem, a TV interview on “Good Morning Jerusalem” — which has been airing every Friday for years — was being taped at the privately owned Pal Media studios on the Mount of Olives on June 6 when Israeli soldiers raided the studio, arrested studio director Ibrahim Qleibo, show host Mona Abu Assab and guest Ala’a Haddad, a member of the Prisoners' Council in Jerusalem. They were released a few hours later, which added to the accusation by Palestinians that the aim of the Israelis was simply to stop the airing of the interview. A report on WAFA, the official Palestinian news agency, quoted Assab as saying the Palestinian Broadcasting Corp. (PBC) network was forced to end her live show at gunpoint. Israeli spokeswoman Lubra Samri said the raid on PBC was part of "an investigation into the content of its programs.”
