Some Palestinian journalists have been waging a campaign against their Israeli colleagues, demanding they be banned from entering Palestinian territories.
By KHALED ABU TOAMEHPalestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday condemned the attack on Israeli journalist Avi Issacharoff last week.Issacharoff and his photographer were attacked by Palestinians as they were covering Palestinian protests at Beitunya, near Ramallah, last Friday.The two Israeli journalists were rescued by PA intelligence officers.Issacharoff reported that the attack began when a Palestinian female journalist incited masked Palestinian men against him and his friend.Some Palestinian journalists have been waging a campaign against their Israeli colleagues over the past year, demanding that they be banned from entering Palestinian territories.Since then, a number of Israeli journalists covering Palestinian affairs have been targeted by Palestinian colleagues.In some cases, the Palestinian journalists walked out of press conferences in protest against the presence of Israelis. In other cases, at least three Israeli journalists were physically attacked or threatened in Ramallah.On Wednesday, Abbas received Issacharoff in his office and expressed his condemnation for the “regrettable assault,” the PLO ’s official news agency Wafa said.It quoted Abbas as stressing the need to protect freedom of movement for local and foreign media representatives in the Palestinian territories.Abbas told the Israeli journalist that he was opposed to any action that curbs the work of the media “in accordance with our democratic principles.”
