When I sit down at the office and turn on my computer I am greeted with an inbox full of press releases highlighting government incursions into newsrooms all around the world. As a press freedom intern helping monitor press freedom developments in the Middle East here at the International Press Institute (IPI), I read press releases and search the internet everyday for new cases of obstruction and intrusion.

The world I see is a bleak one, and I consider myself a “glass is half full” kind of person. Everywhere I look I find journalists being convicted, jailed, and even killed simply for publishing the stories we’ve come to expect to be sitting by our breakfast table or waiting for us when we log onto the Internet.

I am one of the fortunate few. I grew up in a stable area and am able to study journalism at Indiana University. I’ve never been persecuted for what I believe in and I have never been told I couldn’t publish an article I’ve written.

I live in a bubble.

There are many journalists in the field who are worried not only about making deadline, but also about whether or not this is the story that will land them in jail — or worse.

Last week, a particularly disturbing piece of news caught my attention: On June 22, the Israeli Defense Forces had raided the Ramallah office of This Week in Palestine, a free monthly Palestinian magazine printed in English. The IDF seized over 80 percent of the computers and servers in This Week in Palestine’s offices and continue to hold them pending analysis.

For the purposes of full disclosure, I recently visited both Israel and Palestine. I met many extraordinary and lovely people on both sides of the wall. Using this experience, I hope I can make a statement without expressing favoritism of one side or the other. Even having been exposed to both, I, as an American college student, couldn’t possibly make an accurate assessment or comment on the political nuances of the region. I’ll leave that to the professionals.

I understand the need for national security. I understand the need to gather intelligence in order to protect citizens. What I do not understand and cannot abide by is the raiding of a news organization.

I had the opportunity to share a phone conversation with Sani Paul Meo, general manager of This Week in Palestine. “When the news first broke that we were raided, people said to me ‘You? I can’t even believe it.”, he recounted. “The issue is that we are the most liberal, secular, and progressive newspaper in Palestine. We do not have sponsors and are completely supported by advertising.”.

When asked for comment, a spokesman for the Israeli Defence Forces was quoted in Israeli paper Haaretz as saying, “Information indicated that propaganda and incitement materials linked to Hamas were being printed at this place. A search of the office was conducted. A decision on the return of the equipment will later be considered.”

From recent court rulings in Slovakia condemning public-interest news reports to the sentencing of nine Al Jazeera reporters in Egypt, you don’t have to look far in order to find examples of governments taking action against press freedom. As trust in government falters – a recent Gallup poll suggested that between 2006-2008 and 2011-2012 trust in government fell by at least six percentage points in 18 of the 34 member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development – a free press is more important than ever in terms providing those natural safeguards for public interest.

The press is a vital component of the democratic system. Without it, we as a populace would not be able to hold our leaders accountable. Furthermore, the press is just as important in enriching the lives of its readers and citizens at large.

“We all have our different roles to play in society,” Meo told me over the phone. “Like a school teacher feeling called to teach biology, we at This Week in Palestine feel called to report all the good things happening in Palestine. If promoting a happy and national image is wrong, I throw in the towel and you are welcome to imprison me.”

During my time at IPI I have read about many atrocities and spoken to people on the frontline. One lesson I have learned remains clear to me: This isn’t the time for violent government action against the media. With so much bad in the world, the press is one of the most important bastions of hope and knowledge. Keep the presses running.