Ramallah, MINA – Palestinians and Arab countries demanding Israeli occupation to allow Palestinian TV operations in East Jerusalem after extending the closure of its office for six months.
Ibrahim Khraishi, Palestinian Permanent Observer for the United Nations in Geneva, said the ongoing ban on Palestinian TV work “is part of Israeli policy to silence the media.” Thus quoted from WAFA on Wednesday, May 13.
He said, “all must call on Israel, the occupying power, to comply with its legal obligations” and “to end violations of its international law.”
He wrote a letter to David Kaye, Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, and Michael Lynk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian Territory since 1967.
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He said while the world was busy fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Israel “has not yet stopped its illegal actions and practices,” and instead extended the closure order. Israel has “violated the right to freedom of expression.”
“Israel with the occupying power systematically violates the rights of Palestinian freedom of expression and its institutions, including the prohibition of any event or activity,” Khraishi said in his letter to Kaye.
“The closure of Palestinian TV office is part of Israel’s way to silence the media and prevent awareness about serious Israeli violations, through a series of repression against the media and journalists,” he added.
“This decision is political and has been decided on the pretext of security defects by the highest levels of Israeli authorities. This is a real violation of international human rights law, specifically the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, “he added. (T/RE1)
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