On December 28, the 21-year-old journalism student Shatha al-Sabbagh, was murdered near her home in Jenin. His family accused elite shooters of the Palestinian Authority (PA) deployed in the camp of having pulled him in his head. Al-Sabbagh had been active on social networks, documenting the suffering of Jenin residents during the raids by Israel and the AP.
Only a few days after the assassination of Al-Sabbagh, the authorities of Ramallah prohibited Tel Aviv Tribune from reporting the occupied West Bank. Three weeks later, the AP forces arrested the Tel Aviv Tribune Mohamad Attrash correspondent.
These developments arise while the Israeli occupation killed more than 200 media workers in Gaza and arrested dozens through occupied Palestinian territories. He also prohibited Tel Aviv Tribune and refused to authorize foreign journalists to enter Gaza. The fact that the AP actions reflect Israel reveals a shared program to remove independent journalism and control public opinion.
For Palestinian journalists, this is not news. AP has never been our protector. It has always been an accomplice partner of our brutalization. It is true in the West Bank and it was true in Gaza when the AP was in power there. I witnessed it myself.
Having grown up in Gaza, I looked at how my people were oppressed by Israeli forces and by the AP. In 1994, the Israeli occupation officially presented the AP to the AP to administer under the provisions of the Oslo agreements. The AP remained in power until 2007. During these 13 years, we saw more collaboration with the Israeli occupation than any attempt at significant liberation. For journalists, the presence of the AP was not only oppressive, it was fatal, because its forces actively stifled votes to maintain its fragile grip on power.
As a student in journalism in Gaza, I experienced this first -hand suppression. I have traveled the streets, testifying to the AP security agents looting stores, their apparent arrogance in the act of cheeky flight. One day, when I tried to document this, a Palestinian officer violently caught me, snatched my camera from my hands and broke it on the ground. It was not only an assault, it was an attack on my right to testify. The assault of the officer only stopped when a group of women intervened, forcing him to withdraw in a rare moment of restraint.
I knew the risks of being a journalist in Gaza and like the other media workers, I learned to navigate them. But the fear that I felt near the ambushes of the AP forces was not like anything else. It was because there was never a logic for their aggressive actions and no way to anticipate when they could activate you.
Walking near the AP forces had the impression of entering a mines field. For a moment, there was the illusion of security, and the following, you faced the brutality of those who were supposed to be there to protect you. This uncertainty and this tension made their presence more terrifying than being on a battlefield.
Years later, I would cover the training sessions of the Qassam brigades under the constant buzzing of Israeli drones and the constantly evolving threat of air strikes. It was dangerous but predictable – much more than AP actions.
Under the AP, we learned to speak in code. Journalists have self -centered for fear of remuneration. The AP was often called “cousins of the Israeli occupation” – a dark recognition of its complicity.
While the AP was fighting to stay in power in Gaza after losing the 2006 elections against Hamas, its brutality intensified. In May 2007, men armed with the presidential guard uniforms killed the journalist Suleiman Abdul-Rahim al-Aashi and the media worker Mohammad Matar Abdo. It was an execution intended to send a clear message to those who witnessed it.
When Hamas took over, its government also imposed restrictions on press freedoms, but its censorship was incoherent. Once, while documenting the new division of police women, I was ordered to show my photos to a Hamas officer so that he can censor any image he deemed immodest. I have often managed to get around these restrictions by exchanging my memory cards preventively.
The officers did not like anyone who replaced their orders, but instead of a pure and simple punishment, they used small power – investigations, revoked access or unnecessary provocations. Unlike the AP, Hamas has not operated in a coordination system with Israeli forces to remove journalism, but the restrictions on which journalists have been faced with an environment of uncertainty and self -censorship. Any violation on their part, however, was greeted by a rapid international conviction, which is rarely confronted, despite its much more systematic repression.
After losing control of Gaza, the AP moved to the West Bank, intensifying its media suppression campaign. Detents, violent repression and the silence of critical voices have become commonplace. Their collaboration with Israel was not passive; It was active. From surveillance to violence campaigns, they play a crucial role in maintaining the status quo, stifling any dissent which questions their power and occupation.
In 2016, the pa’s collusion Became Even more apparent when they they coordinated with israeli authorities in the arrest of prominent journalist and press freedom advocate omar nazzal, who had criticized ramallah for how it handled the suspectated murder of palestinian citizen omar al-naif in Bulgaria.
In 2017, the PA launched an intimidation campaign, arresting five journalists from various outlets.
In 2019, the Palestinian Authority blocked the QUDS News Network website, a media led by young people who gained popularity. This was part of a broader ban imposed by the Ramallah magistrate court which blocked access to 24 other sites of new social media.
In 2021, after the violent death of activist Nizar Banat, the AP custody sparked demonstrations, his forces sought to repress journalists and the media covering them.
In this context, the AP perspective which returns to Gaza following the cease-fire agreement raises serious concerns for journalists who have already endured the horrors of the genocide. For those who have survived, this could mean a new chapter of repression which reflects the history of censorship, the arrests and the suffocation of press freedoms of the AP.
Despite the serious threats to which Palestinian journalists face Israel and those who claim to represent the Palestinian people, they persevered. Their work transcends borders, reflecting a shared fight against tyranny. Their resilience speaks not only of the Palestinian cause, but also of the wider struggle for liberation, justice and dignity.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Tel Aviv Tribune.
