Palestinian security forces criticized for attack on press
Palestinian journalist associations and rights organizations condemned the Palestinian security forces’ handling of reporters covering the protests that took place in Ramallah in support of the Gaza Strip.
Local and international media organizations have criticized the Palestinian security forces for their role in an attack on journalists during a June 13 demonstration in Ramallah.
The demonstrators, who were calling for the reinstatement of salaries to Gaza's public servants, were brutally attacked by plainclothes officers. The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), a Palestinian media watchdog, reported June 14 that at least 17 Palestinian and foreign journalists were among those attacked and prevented from filming the protests in Ramallah.
Heba Erekat, a female reporter with Shasha News, was attacked by 10 undercover security officials who pushed her to the ground, kicked her and attempted to take away her cellphone even though she told them she was a journalist and a member of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, MADA reported.
MADA and various media outlets published a number of other testimonials, though no credible source was able to certify whether President Mahmoud Abbas was directly behind the attempts to muzzle protesters.
