His Excellency Ariel Sharon
Prime Minister of Israel
Jerusalem
Israel
By Fax: + 9722 651 26 31
Vienna, 4 May 2001
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and media executives, requests with the greatest urgency that the Israeli government undertake thorough investigations into the repeated incidents of soldiers firing at, or otherwise harassing, working journalists covering the conflicts in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. We further request that the results of these investigations be made public.
In the most recent incident of serious concern, Israeli troops shot and wounded Laila Odeh, a correspondent for an Abu Dhabi-based television news service in Ramallah, while she and her crew were filming at the Rafah refugee camp in Gaza on 20 April. We are informed that Ms. Odeh was hit in the leg by live ammunition after identifying herself as a journalist to the Israeli soldiers positioned nearby. By her own account, and that of others at the scene, she left the area immediately when ordered to do so by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), and was shot as she was fleeing.
IPI was disturbed to read the army’s official reaction to the incident, which stated that “the presence of journalists among rioters and at friction points represents a danger to their well-being.” This statement would appear to place the blame for the shooting on Ms. Odeh rather than on the soldier who shot her and the soldier’s commanding officers. It would also appear to call into question the right of journalists to report and photograph confrontations at “friction points” first-hand rather than rely on the accounts of combatants or other involved parties. IPI welcomed the statement by the foreign press spokesman of the IDF that the shooting of Ms. Odeh was being “very seriously” investigated. We hope and expect that when the investigation is completed, the results will be made public.
Over the past seven months, in formal letters and personal meetings with senior Israeli officials, IPI, as well as several other press freedom organisations and journalists’ associations, have repeatedly requested official investigations by the Ministry of Defence into the many other cases of shootings, beatings and harassment of working journalists. We have yet to receive any direct response.
Many of these were incidents where the injuries were severe and/or it seemed apparent to witnesses that the journalists who were shot were clearly identifiable as working journalists. A list detailing these incidents can be found on IPI’s Web site: http://www.freemedia.at/r_intifada/r_intifada_intro.htm
It is imperative that the facts behind all these incidents be investigated thoroughly and objectively, and communicated both to working journalists in the region and to the soldiers and officers of the IDF. We also urge Your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure that journalists are able to report freely in areas under your administration.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director
Cc: Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Minister of Defence (Fax: + 9723 691 69 40)
