The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), strongly condemns the recent abduction of the Arab-Israeli CNN producer and translator Riad Ali. Last night at about 18:30, Riad Ali was abducted just outside CNN's offices in Gaza City.

CNN reported that Ali, a veteran producer for the station, was seized at gunpoint from a car he was riding in with other CNN colleagues, including correspondent Ben Wedeman. In an interview on CNN, Wedeman said that five armed Palestinians jumped out of a white Peugeot, approached the CNN team, and demanded to know which of them Ali was. After the CNN producer identified himself, he was taken from the car by the gunman. Wedeman said the kidnappers did not try to conceal their identities, nor did they say why they were abducting Ali.

Journalists and media workers must be protected as stated under Articles 19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 50 and 51 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions”, which emphasize the protection of civilians, which includes journalists and media workers in times of war. Article 79 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention” further stipulates that: “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50, Paragraph 1. They shall be protected as such under the conventions of this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.”

In a statement released by the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Ann Cooper said, “We call on Riad Ali's abductors to release him immediately and unconditionally.” For the past four years CPJ has placed the Palestinian Occupied Territories as one of the six worst places in the world to be a journalist or media worker.

MIFTAH unequivocally condemns the group responsible for the kidnapping and deems such measures as extremely harmful and counterproductive in promoting the just Palestinian cause on the international arena, such conduct distorts the essential integrity of the plight of the Palestinian people. Hence, MIFTAH views such actions as utterly unacceptable and dangerous, calling on the kidnappers to release Riad Ali immediately and unharmed. Finally, MIFTAH urges the abductors to refrain from any such cruel and inhumane methods in the future.

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH), strongly condemns the shooting of Majdi Jamil al-'Arabeed, a Palestinian cameraman for the Israeli Channel 10, and the director of the local Al-Horriya radio station, in Gaza on the 2nd of January, 2005. This act by the Israeli army marks the first press freedom violation to take place in the world in the new year of 2005.

Al-'Arabeed and a number of other journalists were covering an Israeli military incursion into Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza. The journalists were filming the incursion close to Israeli tanks. According to another Channel 10 journalist, quoted by the news agency AFP; “The Israeli unit knew perfectly well that we were journalists and that did not stop them from shooting at a time when the area was calm,” said Schlomi Eldar. However, Israeli tanks opened fire at the journalists, who were wearing clearly identified press suits and holding cameras, without any prior warning. It was then that Al-'Arabeed was seriously wounded by a live bullet to his side and another to his pelvis. According to another report, by the Palestine Monitor, he was shot in the stomach and leg and critically wounded. Al-‘Arabeed was evacuated to the Kamal ‘Edwan Hospital in Jabalya, where he underwent surgery. His condition remains critical.

Attacks on journalists, such as this latest incident, come as part of an apparently concentrated campaign of targeting journalists carrying out their profession, ultimately hindering them from reporting repeated attacks on Palestinians, including attacks on civilians, which constitute war crimes. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in the year 2004 alone, 56 media workers were killed throughout the world. Furthermore, a report compiled by the International Press Institute (IPI) shows, that in this ongoing Palestinian uprising a total of 562 press freedom violations have been committed, with Israelis bearing the responsibility for 88.4% of all violations.

Hence, MIFTAH urges the international community to pressure the Israeli government and its occupying forces to strictly abide by legally binding International Law, which states that journalists and media workers must be protected as stipulated under Articles 19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 50 and 51 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions”, which emphasize the protection of civilians, which includes journalists and media workers in times of war. Article 79 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention” further states that: “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50, Paragraph 1. They shall be protected as such under the conventions of this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.”

MIFTAH unequivocally condemns the Israeli Army for its recent conduct, and calls on the army to refrain from targeting journalists in the future.

In recent months many internationals, as well as locals have been prone to several kidnappings by armed Palestinians groups, the latest example of which took place yesterday in Gaza. MIFTAH, is seriously alarmed by this situation and calls on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to step up its efforts in ensuring the safety and well being of innocent civilians in Gaza and throughout the Palestinian Territories.

Yesterday amid the highly anticipated ‘Unilateral Disengagement from Gaza,’ the Palestinian journalist (sound technician) working for France’s channel 3, Mohammed al-Ouathi was kidnapped in front of the Gaza International Hotel in Gaza City, around 11.30pm. At this time, no information about al-Ouathi’s whereabouts or the identities of the kidnappers has been received, nor has any group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping yet.

According to Al Mezan since July 2004, this is the 9th incident of its kind where a journalist is kidnapped in Gaza, and the 21st kidnapping in general. Commenting on the incident the Executive Director of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Ann Cooper said, “There can be no justification for targeting a journalist, who was merely doing his job.”

Journalists and media workers must be protected as stated under Articles 19 and 29 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Articles 50 and 51 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Conventions”, which emphasize the protection of civilians, which includes journalists and media workers in times of war. Article 79 of the “Protocols Additional to the 1949 Geneva Convention” further stipulate that: “journalists engaged in dangerous professional missions in areas of armed conflict shall be considered as civilians within the meaning of Article 50, Paragraph 1. They shall be protected as such under the conventions of this Protocol, provided that they take no action adversely affecting their status as civilians.”

MIFTAH is deeply concerned about the well being of al-Ouathi, and calls for his immediate and unequivocal release by the abductees. Furthermore, MIFTAH deems the latest spree of kidnapping as extremely harmful and counterproductive in promoting the just Palestinian cause on the international arena, such conduct distorts the essential integrity of the plight of the Palestinian people. Finally, MIFTAH urges the abductors to refrain from any such cruel and inhumane methods in the future.

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH, is a non-governmental, non-partisan Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within Palestinian society through promoting public accountability, transparency, the free flow of information and ideas and the challenging of stereotyping at home and abroad.

Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.

Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.

Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.

The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.

The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.

What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.

Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.

The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.

That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.

The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.

My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.

Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.

Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.

That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.

This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.

This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.

It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.

But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.

We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.

Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.