3. PALESTINIAN MEDIA

Comparing the Palestinian newspapers to the Israeli ones is not a simple task.  The Palestinian media suffer from strong censorship from the Palestinian Authority, most often in the form of self-censorship, while Al-Quds newspaper in Jerusalem still operates under Israeli military censorship. The PA has also been quick to close radio and TV stations when their reporting was too critical or touched sensitive issues.[1]

For this study, three Arab language newspapers with the largest circulation are used/examined.  Al-Quds (Jerusalem) is the biggest Palestinian newspaper, read by 61.3 % of the population in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.[2] Established in 1951 in Jerusalem, it now follows only a Palestinian line and in turn receives financial support from the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO). Since the establishment of the PA, its contents have been heavily censored by Head of Preventive Security in the West Bank, Jibril Rajoub , in order to prevent criticism of the PA. Al-Ayyam (The Days), established in 1995, is the second most widely distributed newspaper, read by 19.2 %. [3] The Editor in Chief, Akram Haniyeh, is also acting as a media advisor to President Arafat. The close relationship between the editor and Arafat occasionally enables Al-Ayyam to challenge red lines and even to criticise of the Palestinian Authority.  Al Hayat al-Jadida (The New Life) is the third largest newspaper, established in 1995. It has adopted a pro-PA line from the beginning. Nabeel Amro, the General Director, is an advisor to President Arafat. The Editor in Chief is Hafez Barghouti. Most of the paper’s workers are state employees, receiving their salary from the Ministry of Finance.[4]

However, the Arab Media Internet Network (www.amin.org) publishes non-censored articles and editorials that are not always published in the local press. The articles are published in Arabic, using images, so that Arab readers can download the pages without special software. At times AMIN has around 25,000 hits on their web pages daily. Here one can find editorials and articles written by well-known Palestinian columnists, journalists, civil society activists, professors and political figures – all with different political views. Some regular contributors are Hanan Ashrwai, Eyad El-Sarraj, Daoud Kuttab, Khaled Amayreh, Hadeel Wahdan, Maher Abukhater, Mustafa al-Barghouti, Abdel Jawwad Saleh, Walid Batrawi, Faisal Husseini, Musa Budeiri, Edward Said and others.

3.1 Bias, Omission and the Complete Lack of Investigative Journalism

Unfortunately, the Palestinian print media journalists do not carry out any independent investigations when reporting on the intifada. Rumours and lies are published widely, and when an incident later is proven to have happened in a manner different than previously written, the Palestinian newspapers fail to print a retraction and new details.  This happened when the Palestinian newspapers published a grotesque story about Jewish settlers who had reportedly beaten and tortured Issam Joudeh to death. When Physicians for Human Rights investigated the matter and published its report, these newspapers chose to publish only the findings on Israel’s excessive use of force against civilians and refrained from publishing the part demonstrating that the Palestinian died in a car accident. It appears, however, that Issam Joudeh was chased by Israeli Border Police when he had the accident, which the Israeli media did not report. They did report that the Physicians for Human rights found his death caused by an accident, but not on their findings on excessive use of force (See Chapter 4).

When 18-year old Hanna Mansour Salameh from Bethlehem was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment at the Palestinian State Security Court on January 13, 2001 on charges of collaboration,[5] the local Al-Mahed TV broadcast the court session every day for one week. Bethlehem TV broadcast the court session live. No reporter asked for a response of the closest family, and the fact that the prosecutor produced no evidence was never mentioned. The media coverage of the trial harassed his closest relatives, who also were pressured to put their names in a newspaper advertisement disavowing any responsibility for their son’s actions.

Reporting on rumours of Israeli use of banned weapon has been especially popular in the Palestinian media. President Arafat and other PA officials have repeatedly claimed that the Israeli army had used the internationally banned dum-dum bullets, depleted uranium, and even nerve gas. Al-Ayyam reported on 13.02.2001 that:

"Medical sources reported yesterday evening that more than 40 residents were injured in a strange occurrence of hysteria andnervous collapse as a result of their inhaling poison gas, fired for the first time by the Israeli occupation forces on defenceless residents. Medical specialists are of the opinion that it is nerve gas, prohibited by international law.”

A similar report appeared in Al-Quds newspaper.  The “medical specialist” referred to in the article was a doctor in the hospital in Khan Younis, with no experience in treating patients suffering from the affects of poison gas.  No international experts were consulted. Another article in Al-Hayat Al - Jadida (28.10.2000) said:

“Senior medical sources related yesterday that the occupation forces used a new kind of lethal bullet against innocent residents… The new bullets have sharp metal wings and they fly at great speed."

Other articles have appeared without any investigation into the truth of the statements:

"Authoritative medical sources revealed that there is an increase in the average number of deformed births in the Shafaa hospital in Gaza. They do not deny the possibility that this phenomenon is associated with depleted uranium." (Al-Hayat Al-Jadida , 31.01.2001).

Not denying it does not necessary mean that these cases of deformed infants in Gaza have been caused by the use of depleted uranium, as the journalist should have pointed out, or at least point out that it will probably take a few years to make accurate statistics.

In the cases of allegations of use of depleted uranium, it was not mentioned in the Palestinian news articles that no testing with Geiger tellers was conducted to confirm the allegations. When human rights groups and doctors went public with the information that the alleged “dum-dum” bullets in fact were high velocity bullets used by the Israeli snipers, it was not covered much by the Palestinian media. When the PHRMG published a detailed report on the Israeli use of weapons to shell Palestinian civilian houses, it was published in both the Israeli and Palestinian newspapers, but the Palestinian press did not pick up on several well documented facts that could have added to their list of weapons-use allegations. [6]

The Palestinian newspapers have at times been issuing false statements contradicting known facts. While the destruction of Joseph's Tomb by Palestinian demonstrators was televised, Al-Ayyam chose to report the event as follows (10.10.2000):

"Yesterday, the City of Nablus began the rehabilitation and renovation of the demolished parts of ‘Joseph's Tomb' … It is important to note that heavy damage was caused to the tomb and to a large number of nearby structures during these disturbances, in the wake of the shootings by the occupation forces which are concentrated on Mounts Gerizim and Ebal, and because of their use of heavy machine guns.”

The article places all guilt on the Israeli army for the destruction of the Tomb, which is only half the truth.

However, Al-Quds reported differently on the incident:

“Yesterday early morning the Israeli army withdrew from Joseph’s Tomb in Nablus, the hottest spot in the field of confrontations between the Palestinian citizens and the Israeli forces since the signing of the peace agreements. The soldiers withdrew leaving behind all the furniture and equipment besides piles of empty bullets that they fired in the recent clashes. Thousand of citizens gathered in the place when they knew about the withdrawal to find that the Palestinian flag was hoisted on top of the site, and the national security forces had full control of the place.”[7]

The article carried a statement from Mahmoud al-Aloul, the Palestinian Governor of Nablus, saying that the Israelis will never return to the site. For the Israeli newspapers reporting on the Joseph’s Tomb incident, see Chapter 4.

Inaccuracy in reporting is a major problem in the Palestinian media. When Yusuf Abu Awwad was shot and killed from a distance of one meter by an Israeli soldier outside Beit Omar in November 2000, PHRMG published a press release with a statement from the head of the PA forensic department stating that Abu Awwad was shot from a distance not less than 75 centimetres. Al-Hayat al-Jadid a reported on 19.11.2000 that he was shot from a distance less than 75 centimetres, while 
Al-Quds reported correctly.[8]

It is not easy to keep updated on the number of casualties when hundreds are wounded on one day. On 04.11.2000, Al-Ayyam reported 3 deaths and 300 wounded in the confrontations the day before, but on a different page they reported 217 casualties, while Al-Hayat al-Jadida reported 250 casualties.

3.1.1 Reporting on Palestinian Bombings or Suicide Attacks: Israeli Deaths

When an Israeli soldier was shot and killed by a Palestinian policeman on 29.09.2000, the Palestinian newspapers covered the event on the front pages. 
Al-Quds had as a minor headline “A Palestinian policeman kills an Israeli soldier and wounds another”.[9] The Israeli army was used as a source for the article that followed. Al-Hayat al-Jadida also put the event on their front page, saying: “An Israeli officer was killed by gunfire from a Palestinian soldier in Qalqilia”. In the story that followed, Arafat’s condemnation of the killing was mentioned, together with quotes from two PA official sources. No Israeli sources were quoted.

After a Palestinian suicide attack against a bus in Netanya on 04.03.2001 where three Israeli civilians killed and more than 50 wounded, one of the Palestinian newspapers chose to focus on the fact that an innocent Arab Israeli was attacked and beaten by Israeli bystanders after the blast. All three Palestinian newspapers published two photographs from the bomb-scene in Netanya on the front page.

“A number of Palestinian workers suffer serious wounds as a result of brutal attacks by Israelis in Netanya” was the main headline on the front cover of Al-Hayat al-Jadida (05.03.2001):

“A number of Palestinian workers sustained serious injuries after they were attacked brutally by Israelis who wanted to ‘take revenge’ following the suicide operation that occurred in the city”.

Also on the front page was the minor headline “Three Israelis killed and tens wounded in a suicide attack in Netanya”, followed by the details of the attack. 
Al-Ayyam’s front page read (05.03.2001): “A suicide Attack in Netanya: Three Israelis killed and 68 wounded”. Followed by“The attacker committed martyrdom”. In a smaller headline, also on the front page, read: “An Arab sustained serious injuries after a racist attack in Netanya”. Al-Quds newspaper put out this headline (05.03.2001): “Three Israelis killed, 67 wounded, in a suicide attack in Netanya”, together with a heading quoting Sharon saying that Palestinians close to Arafat took part in the attack.

After a Palestinian bus driver from Gaza ran over and killed 7 Israeli soldiers and 1 civilian on 14.02.2001, Al-Quds and Al-Hayat al Jadida wrote that Israel sealed off the Occupied Territories in big letters as main headline on the front pages while reporting on the Israeli deaths as minor headlines, while Al-Ayyam focused on the killing itself as the main headline.

Overall, the Palestinian newspapers report on Israeli deaths on their front pages, but in a one-sided manner, often not mentioning the names of the dead. This is something the Palestinian newspapers have in common with their Israeli counterparts, as we will see in Chapter 4.

3.2 Incitement in the Palestinian Press

The Israelis, and especially the Israeli authority and the Israeli army, accuse the Palestinian media, the Palestinian Authority and Palestinians in general of incitement. In many cases, the claim of incitement is not well documented. For example, the link on the Israeli army’s homepage to “Incitement and violence in the Palestinian Authority” shows twelve pictures of Palestinians armed with weapons or fighting with stones against Israeli soldiers. A translated story from the Palestinian newspaper Al-Hayat al-Jadida reads, “The ‘stone children’ do not Fear the Bullets of the ‘oppression’”. Another translated article illustrates Palestinian children’s eagerness to confront the occupation. There are no commentaries or arguments on the web page and no sources mentioned for the pictures.

It is understandable that the Palestinian press reports on settler violence, the issue of legality of settlements, and violations committed by Israeli soldiers and police against Palestinian civilians.  These issues play a major role in their lives and future.  It is equally understandable for the Israeli press to report on Palestinians firing at Israeli cars and at  settlers or settlements or on suicide bombings carried out by Palestinian activists. Israel claims that such reporting by the Palestinians is incitement against Israel, while Palestinians accuse the Israelis of incitement by overusing the term “terrorism” to describe popular, civilian demonstrations. At the same time, the Palestinian side does not think it is incitement to “voice grievance and protest occupation” or to call the Israeli army “the Israeli occupation army”. 

Below, a sample of examples will be presented, but the cases do not necessarily constitute incitement.  One of the examples shows that the way in which the Palestinians grieve their children ‘martyrs’ is not much different from how the Israelis grieve for their losses or the infant Shalhevet Pass, as we will see in Chapter 4.

Some Palestinian newspapers refer to “the Zionists”, not to the “Israelis”. Using the term “Zionists” when referring to Israeli Jews in general makes associations to the 1948 and 1967 wars, massacres and confiscation of Palestinian land, and does nothing but contribute to hatred among the Palestinian readers. Educated Palestinians, including journalists, know how to make a distinction between the different Zionist movements, the settlers movement, religious extremist Israeli groups and the Israeli public in general. [10]

Since the beginning of al-Aqsa Intifada, the three Palestinian daily newspapers have focused their attention on the confrontations between the Palestinian youths and the Israeli army, by placing photos of martyrs and clashes on the front page, with the headlines in big red letters. Two of them have reserved 3-4, sometimes 7 or 8 pages with a permanent headings “Intifada of the Holy Shrine al- Aqsa” ( Al-Ayyam ) and “The masses continue their march and sacrifice for al- Aqsa” ( Al-Hayat al-Jadida ). The two newspapers have correspondents in all major Palestinian towns. The newspapers have praised the Palestinians who carried out attacks against Israeli soldiers or settlers:

“In a courageous attack carried out by one of Fateh hawks inside Kfar Darom. One Israeli soldier killed and two wounded in Gaza” (headlines, published with a large photo of the martyr who carried out the attack, on the same page was also a photo of an Israeli patrol on fire).[11]

One example of what is perceived as incitement against Israel can be taken from Al-Hayat al-Jadida on the day after the clashes on Haram al Sharif, September 30, 2000: “A New Massacre in Al- Aqsa” was the front page headline using a large and bold font, black on red. On the front page was a picture of an old Palestinian man with blood in his clothes and hand, with Palestinians in the background carrying away a wounded person. The minor headline read:

“Soldiers of the Occupation opened fire on worshippers before the Friday prayers were over”.

Further, the Palestinian newspapers have referred to the Israeli army as “the Israeli soldiers of the occupation” since the outbreak of the intifada, which is, legally, ct not incorrect terminology. However, in the last months, it was noticed that in  Al-Ayyam , the Israeli soldiers are more frequently referred to simply as “killers”[12] .

Sometimes, the Palestinian newspapers have attributed to Israel sophisticated plots, as for example an article from Al-Hayat Al-Jadida on 12.02.2001:

“The permanent [Palestinian] Military Court in Hebron sentenced the [Palestinian] officer Hassan Massalem, 55, yesterday morning to death by firing squad … The military prosecutor accused Massalem with conspiring with Israeli intelligence… and with firing a pistol from the Hebron neighbourhood of Al Sheikh toward Israeli positions on orders of his Israeli controllers, in order to give the occupation soldiers a pretext for massively shelling the residential neighbourhood."

Although it has been documented that the Israeli army has responded massively and indiscriminately to Palestinian gunfire in Hebron, lasting for long periods after the Palestinian gunfire has stopped, there was no evidence against Hassan Massalem produced at the court session, a fact that the article failed to mention.

When Mohammad al Durra (12) was killed by Israeli soldiers on 30.09.2000, it was filmed by a cameraman from French Channel Two and broadcast worldwide. The Palestinian media and the PA fully exploited the death of Mohammad, and the newspaper coverage and use of pictures were an example of overdoing it. The boy soon became the symbol of the intifada and the Palestinians came to use the label “Israeli child-killers”  for the IDF in the same way as the death of a 10-month-old Jewish baby in a settlement in Hebron was used by the Israeli media in March 2001. [13]  Al-Ayyam covered the killing of al Durra and other incidents on 8 pages on 04.11.2000, with the picture of the boy and his father on eight of the pages. 

Al-Quds newspaper had less coverage and used different phrases, due to being registered in Jerusalem and subject to Israeli military censorship.

Since the beginning of the intifada, Palestinian newspapers and TV stations have published and broadcast horrible pictures of dead Palestinians, often showing blood. TV crews have filmed injured Palestinians on the streets and in hospitals. The same traumatic scenes are broadcast several times a day, often accompanied by the reading of nationalistic poems or nationalistic music, including songs from past periods of pan-Arabic nationalism, playing in the background.

It is worth mentioning that a group of local Palestinians in Nablus published a petition in Al-Quds on 18.11.2000 where they, as citizens, asked the concerned parties to instruct the local TV stations not to transmit painful scenes from the current situation, such as pictures from inside the operation rooms in hospitals, or people “with their heads blown up”. The petition was called “A petition to stop showing scenes of martyrs and injured”.

From the beginning of October 2000, a group of Palestinian and Arab intellectuals started to publish and distribute a new newspaper covering news and articles about the al-Aqsa Intifada, called al Intifada,[14] with the theme “No Voice may rise above the voice of the intifada, until Jerusalem, Independence and Return”.
Al Intifada is almost always published with pictures of fighting Palestinian youth on the front page. The paper glorifies martyrs of the intifada and attacks Israeli occupation:

“Al-Intifada, a Message of Freedom and Independence: The Israelis arrest all the Palestinian people, they cut our homeland apart, they close roads, prevent people from movement, they also close our international crossings, they close Gaza Airport, they imprison our freedom fighters.

The Israelis transform our homeland into a huge prison under siege, while the entire world is watching. The United States does not react, but just claims that it is maintaining human rights everywhere. Neither do we hear any responses from the European countries or Human Rights Organisations in them. It seems the whole world has suddenly become frozen, or may be they like the closure imposed on us by the Israelis.

Despite all that, our mighty people announce his will to give more sacrifices for the fulfilment of independence and freedom. Despite all that, the blessed Intifada will continue. Our people realize that all the roads are closed, except the one the people dig. Yes, all the roads are closed, except the one we dig ourselves…”[15]

It is worth mentioning that the Palestinian newspapers are not responsible for the statements issued by official PA bodies and which they are obliged to report.  Al Hayat al Jadida Al-Hayat al-Jadida and Al Ayyam Al-Ayyam publish all the communiqués issued by the leadership of the Intifada or Fateh movement central committee, including strong phrases calling for more sacrifice and confrontations against the occupation, stating days of mass marches, fierce confrontations or comprehensive strikes. Sometimes PA official statements disseminate disinformation and incitement. For example, on 31.03.2001, the PA Ministry of Environmental Affairs published a press release about an accident involving Israeli wastewater flowing into Palestinian fields east of Gaza City on 26.03.2001, which caused serious damage to agriculture and livestock. Unfounded arguments with emotional wording are often used in such statements:

“Health disaster and epidemic spread are serious evidences about the unlimited Israeli sanctimoniousness and irresponsible cryptic behaviours.”[16]

Another example of an official statement that the PA newspapers must publish can be taken from January this year:

“A senior PA official yesterday called upon all Israeli settlers to leave the Palestinian Territories before they are transported as dead bodies in coffins. Minister of Communications in the PA, Imad al-Falouji, also said that Palestinians have their right to kill Israeli settlers who live in the Palestinian territories [occupied territories]. He also explained that Jewish settlements represent a state of declaration of war against the Palestinian people. Al-Falouji added that the Israeli government is responsible for the killing of Israeli settlers by allowing them to occupy Palestinian lands and remain in the Palestinian territories”.[17]

To label Palestinian attacks on settlers or soldiers as “legal Palestinian resistance against occupation” is considered by the Israeli side as serious incitement.  Despite the fact that the settlements are illegal according to international law, unarmed settlers remain civilians and it is not acceptable from a human rights view to target them.

When the Palestinian side is accused of inciting to violence, it is not always the PA, newspapers, TV or Radio that are sources. The Israeli army homepage gives an excerpt from a sermon in Zayed bin Sultan Aal Nahyan mosque in Gaza on 13.10.2000, broadcast on PA official TV: [PHRMG do not take responsibility for the accuracy of this translation, which was conducted by the Israeli army]:

“O brother believers, the criminals, the terrorists are the Jews, who have butchered our children, orphaned them, widowed our women and desecrated our holy places and sacred sites. They are the terrorists. They are the ones who must be butchered and killed, as Allah the Almighty said: ‘Fight them: Allah will torture them at your hands, and will humiliate them, and will help you to overcome them, and will relieve the minds of the believers…”

3.2.1 Exploiting their Children?

Palestinian children often protest against armed Israeli soldiers, even in situations involving gunfire and life-threatening situations. Many children are wounded and even killed as a result.  The Israelis have repeatedly made accusations that “the Arabs send their children against our army positions, so that they can be killed, in order to provide pictures for the world media”.[18] The Palestinians view this charge as unfounded and hostile, betraying racism and inciting the Israeli and international public to picture the Palestinians as less human with less feelings.

However, following are examples of the positive attitudes   some parents toward their children's death, and the statements of injured children that they “seek a higher goal, death and Martyrdom”. A fact contributing to hostilities have been the Israeli media’s ignorance of the numerous examples of parents who forbid their children to participate in demonstrations. Neither is the Palestinian use of the term “martyr” explained, or other motivations for children to place their lives in danger.It is unrealistic to think that Palestinian parents can restrain their children from going out into the street and throwing stones. The Palestinian side stresses that one must also consider their living conditions in the refugee camps, the psychological trauma of an unresolved situation under occupation which gives them little reason not to act, together with the fact that it is natural for the Palestinian people to be proud of them. As we shall see, the Jewish settlers also routinely exploit their children, not hesitating to put them in harm’s way (see Chapter 4).

Al-Hayat al-Jadida had this headline on 30.11.2000:  "The Boy Martyr Karam Al-Kard [age 12] announced of his own death on the walls of his home”. The article says:

"Prior to his being injured... Karam announced his own death on the walls of his home and attributed to himself Martyrdom and its honour, in his handwriting on the walls.  The notice read: ‘The Al-Kard family announces the death of its courageous Martyr Karam Fat'he Al-Kard."

The same newspaper wrote on 08.11.2000:

"The Martyr Wajdi [aged 14, said] to his father: ‘I will bring you a Shahada (Martyrdom) that you will be proud of for the rest of your life'. His mother says: ‘My son is not my son only, he belongs to his noble Palestinian people… One of his friends said that the last words of the Martyr, that he repeated over and over, spoke of the significance of Martyrdom and on becoming a Martyr.”

The day after, al-Hayat al-Jadida again reported:  

[He] sacrificed his son (aged 18) in order to redeem the homeland and Jerusalem.  He stated that becoming a Martyr is a tremendous source of pride and a medal on his chest... he added that his son always spoke about martyrdom and his desire to become a Martyr.”

On 02.11.2000:

"The father [of Mohammed Hiza' Halas, 23]: ... [He has] great pride that his progeny has become a Martyr .... With regard to his mother, she says that her offspring wished to become a Martyr and she anticipated it.”

3.3 Reporting on Published Human Rights Reports

Since the outbreak of this intifada, Israel’s violations of basic human rights have been many and grave. The Palestinian media report on them in two ways:

1.      They publish the findings from Palestinian or international human rights organisations or UN bodies (sometimes in full versions if the report is not criticising the Palestinian Authority or Palestinian activists).

2.      They publish their own reports. These articles sometimes strongly exaggerate. Often, the journalist shows little or no understanding of the general terms regarding human rights. The UN human rights conventions and international humanitarian law are mixed together. Often when referring to international humanitarian law, the term “war crimes” is sometimes misused, despite the fact that the Geneva Convention article 147 expressly details what constitutes a war crimes.  Despite this, the Palestinian newspapers include a range of actions that do not constitute war crimes according to the law, but may nonetheless constitute serious violations of human rights or international law.

For example, when Amnesty International put out their report condemning the Israeli assassinations of Palestinian activists in February 2001, Al-Quds, Al-Ayyam and Al-Hayat al-Jadida gave the report good coverage on the front page, but all of them neglected  to mention the part where Amnesty condemned and called for a stop to the Palestinian shooting at Israeli settlements and civilians from Palestinian residential areas. [19]

On  10.10.2000, the Palestinian newspapers reported that Issam Joudeh Mustafa Hammed (40) was tortured to death by Jewish settlers. On the front page of 
Al-Hayat al-Jadida, one could see a large close-up photograph of Issam Joudeh’s head, severely bruised and with bloodstains, taken after his body was found. The headline said “Effects of Torture and Burns on the body of a martyr from Um-Safa”:

“Three martyrs joined the march of martyrdom during al-Aqsa Intifada yesterday, including martyr Issam Joudeh Hamad from Um-Safa near Ramallah who was found killed after he was kidnapped last night, signs of torture were evident on his body…” [20]

Al-Ayyam reported, without photos: “After he was handed over to them by the Israeli soldiers: This is how the settlers tortured Issam Joudeh until he died”:

“The five children of Issam Joudeh, 40 years old, from Um-Safa village near Ramallah, will not enjoy the warm passion of their father, after a group of settlers killed him in a brutal manner; torture, beating and burning, and left his dead body”.[21]

Al-Quds also reported on the incident, but without pictures and with less passion.

The US based group Physicians for Human Rights conducted an investigation into the death of Issam Joudeh, and concluded that he “died in a motor vehicular roll-over accident”. The conclusion was based on the type and distribution of injuries observed on the body surface, including the road rash (gliding abrasions) and gravel abrasions, indicating that Joudeh was most probably thrown out of the vehicle when it rolled over.[22] The group also reported on the Israeli use of excessive force against Palestinian civilians. The Palestinian newspapers, however, chose only to publish that part of the Physicians for Human Rights report, and never mentioned the case of Issam Joudeh again.

The Palestinian media’s disregard for basic human rights issues were evident when Palestinians have been tried by the State Security Court and given life sentences and even death sentences following short trials with no independent defence lawyers and no possibility of appeal. The court records in these cases show that no witnesses were heard and no evidence brought forward by the prosecutors. When Hanna Salameh (18) was sentenced to life imprisonment, January 13 2001, the local TV stations broadcast the court proceedings in a one-sided manner, inciting people to take a stand against collaborators and supporting the death penalty. Al-Mahed TV broadcast the trial twice, while Bethlehem TV broadcast it live. The case was followed for a whole week, and harassed the families of the defendants by reporting it in a manner that indicated that the defendants were already guilty.[23] None of the TV stations approached the family of the victims or others that could report about the lack of evidence against the defendants. “Sensationalism” took precedence over journalistic ethics and moral. When the Ministry of Justice ordered that none of these prisoners could receive visits from their family, in clear violation of the law, no Palestinian media reported on it.