SKeyes Report For January 2010 1

The SKeyes Centre Report for Violations against Media and Cultural
Freedoms in January 2010
In January 2010, SKeyes recorded a number of violations against media

and cultural freedoms in the four countries that it covers: Lebanon,
Syria, Palestine and Jordan.
Lebanon
There were several incidents related to press freedoms in Lebanon, namely,

the closure of institutions, book banning and fines against media workers.
However, the most significant event this month was the advocacy action by
several media professionals, who called for the establishment of a trade
union that regulates their profession.
1 – Closures/bans:
- (9 / 1) the security forces shut down seven illegal radio stations:

The Cyber Crime and Intellectual Property Bureau, a subordinate of the
judicial police in Beirut, raided a number of unlicensed radio stations in the
city of Tripoli. The stations are: “Sawt al-Fann”, “al-Iza‟aa al-Shamalia”,
“Mazika”, “Paradise”, and “3FM”. The stations were forced to shut down
and their broadcasting equipment was confiscated. This is while the
operators of “Maestro” and “Shabab al-Hubb” voluntarily stopped
broadcasting and closed down their stations to prevent raids by the security
forces.
These measures were carried out as part of the campaign for the
reorganization of non-political radios, following the chaos witnessed in radio
broadcasts in the past five years, and at the orders of the Ministry of
Information in coordination with the Telecommunications Regulation
Department, all with the consent of the Public Prosecution.
A number of media professionals objected to the closure of some radio
stations, as this “increased the number of those unemployed in the media
sector, particularly as we also witnessed recently many dismissals in
several media institutions”. Some technicians working in radio stations
also said that “the best solution is to adopt digital broadcasting which
allows for a larger number of wavelengths for broadcasting, i.e. the
Samir Kassir Foundation, Aref Saghieh Bldg.( Ground Floor), 63, Zahrani St., Sioufi, Achrafieh, Beirut, Lebanon
Tel /Fax: 00961 1 397334, Mobile: 00961 3 372717, E-Mail Address: info@skeyesmedia.org
possibility of giving more licenses to render these radios legal, since the
FM spectrum can no longer accommodate more stations”.
- (20 / 1) Banning of the book "The Hariri List":
The Lebanese General Security banned the book „La Liste Hariri‟ by Gerard
de Villiers. The book was banned because it contains “some parts which
indirectly claim that Hezbollah‟s intelligence is involved in the assassination
of Hariri”. The novel is based on elements contained the report of the UN
investigator into the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri
(February 14, 2005) Detlev Mehlis, in addition to information regarding tens
of cellular phones that were used before and during the explosion, and which
were destroyed following the assassination. De Villiers is a French novelist,
and writes in the SAS series which build on political events in its novels and
stories.
In a statement it issued, the Directorate General of General Security
denied taking any measure “whether to allow or ban this book series in
Lebanon”. Sources familiar with this issue told SKeyes that the publishers
of La Liste Hariri and the publisher’s agents “applied again for a licence
to the General Security, which referred their request to the Information
Minister to take the action he deems appropriate in accordance with
Lebanese laws in force”.
2 - Fines / trade union advocacy:
(11 / 1) Al-Jadid TV‟s Eid, Bassam and Khayat fined:

The Court of Publications in Beirut headed by Judge Rukuz Rizk fined
Ghada Eid, the host of Al-Fassad, an Al-Jadid talk show program, in
addition to Mariam al-Bassam, the head of the news section at the TV
station and Mohammed Tahseen Khayat, the Chairman of the Board of
Directors at the station, the amount of 7 million Lebanese Pounds for
slander, libel and defamation. This took place in the course of the case
brought by the office director of the Minister of Interior and Municipalities
Lt. Col. Emad Othman. The sentence imposed a fine on Eid and Al-Bassam
jointly and severally with the Al-Jadid TV Corporation to be paid to the
plaintiff, and forced Eid to read the sentence in the first episode of her show
after the sentence.
- (18 / 1) The Court of Publications fines Future TV and Al-Jadid:
The Court of Publications in Beirut, headed by Judge Rukuz Rizk, issued
two sentences: the first sentence was issued in the course of the lawsuit filed
by Safa, Maymoun and Mohammed Hassan Tafla in their personal capacities
against the Future TV Corporation and Zaven Kouyoumdjian, the host of the
talk show „Sireh W‟infatahet‟, and the programs director at the station Laila
Wehbeh and Mohammed Zein al-„Abidin Zein, for slander, libel and
defamation by means of a media broadcast. Kouyoumdjian was sentenced to
ten days in prison, after being granted extenuating reasons and a stay of
execution if certain conditions were met. He was also fined ten million
Lebanese Pounds, while the defendants (Zein and Kouyoumdjian) were
jointly and severally with the Future TV Corporation forced to pay thirty
million Lebanese Pounds to the plaintiffs. Kouyoumdjian was also forced to
read the sentence on his program in the first episode after the sentencing.
The court headed by Rizk also issued its sentence in the course of the
lawsuit brought by Judge Munif Barakat against Al-Jadid TV Corporation,
Ghada Eid, the host of Al-Fassad, an Al-Jadid talk show program, in
addition to Mariam al-Bassam, the head of the news section at the TV
station. Eid and Al-Bassam, and Al-Jadid TV were jointly and severally
sentenced to a fine of ten million Lebanese Pounds, to be paid as personal
compensation to the plaintiff, and forced Eid to read the sentence in the first
episode of her show after the sentence.
- (11 / 1) A call for the establishment of a union for Lebanese media
professionals:
A delegation of Lebanese media professionals working in various print,
audio-visual and electronic media outlets submitted a request to the Labour
Minister Boutros Harb to establish a trade union under the name of
“Lebanese Media Professionals Union”. The request included a list of
bylaws explaining the nature of its work and its desired objectives. The aim
of this move is to regulate the conditions of media professionals, given the
need for the framework of a universal syndicate that protects the rights of
Lebanese media professionals, and that would follow up their issues and
affairs in the scope of their profession. Harb then gave his instructions for
the request to be recorded in the ministry‟s office, from where it would take
its legal course through the Director General, who would submit the request
to the Minister‟s office to take the proper action.
Syria
SKeyes recorded a number of violations against media and cultural freedoms

in Syria in January 2010. These violations included arrests, court sentences,
bans, and instances of hacker attacks against websites
1 - Arrests / releases:
- (1 / 1) Kurdish cleric arrested
The Aerial Intelligence branch in Aleppo arrested the Kurdish cleric Sheikh
Abdul Qazzaq Janko at the Aleppo International Airport, while he was
preparing to travel to the UAE to visit some family members residing there.
Janko was released on 17/1, after more than two weeks of detention.
- (2/1) A Journalist and a photographer arrested:
The Syrian security services arrested the journalist Ali Taha, who reports on
culture and arts affairs in Damascus for Rotana channel and Sayidati
magazine. Taha was summoned for questioning after which he did not return
to his family. The photographer/cameraman accompanying Taha, Ali
Ahmad, was also arrested. He has been working for a number of satellite
channels for about ten years, and also owns a photography studio in the
Sayida Zainab area.
- (7 / 1) Blogger Karim Arabji released:
Meanwhile, the Syrian authorities released the Syrian blogger Karim
Antoine Arabji before the end of his sentence. Arabji was arrested on
7/6/2007 against the backdrop of his participation in the Akhawyiah
[Brotherly] forum and his defence of human rights in Syria. He was tried on
13/9/2009 and was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of
“weakening the national sentiment”.
In a telephone conversation with SKeyes, Arabji’s lawyer Khalil Maatouk
said that the Syrian authorities “released Arabji (31 years) six months
before the end of his sentence”. Maatouk said that “his release took place
by withholding the remaining time in his sentence, which is tantamount to
a special pardon issued by the President of the Republic”. It should be
mentioned here that Arabji’s trial sessions were interrupted in July 2008
in the wake of the bloody riots that erupted at the Sednaya prison, which
sparked concerns at the time regarding his fate and the fate of the prison’s
inmates.
- (20 / 1) Three Kurdish artists released, one kept in custody:
The Syrian authorities released the three Kurdish artists Nuhad Yusuf
Hussein, Dejwar Munir Abdullah, and Joan Munir Abdullah after detaining
them for more than three months, against the backdrop of their performances
of Kurdish national songs. However, the artist Jamal Sadoun was kept in
custody. He was arrested on the same occasion as the artists mentioned
above.
- (10 / 1) Iran releases the journalist Rida Basha:
The Iranian authorities released the correspondent of Dubai Media in
Tehran, the Syrian journalist Rida Basha, following contacts conducted by
Dubai Media with the Department of Foreign Press and Media, a
subordinate body of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in Iran.
Basha was arrested while he was covering the protests of the opposition in
the Iranian capital Tehran (December 28, 2009).
- Kurdish draftee killed during his military service:
The Kurdish draftee Issa Khalaf was killed in mysterious circumstances
during his military service in the Syrian Army, in the fifth unit in the town of
Dar‟a (10/1). Khalaf‟s family mentioned that in a phone conversation with
them one day before his death, he complained of having been subjected to
torture, humiliation and mistreatment by his commanding officer, while a
statement issued by the responsible authorities declared that „he has
committed suicide‟, without launching an inquiry into his death. It should be
mentioned here that the number of Kurdish draftees who have been killed
during military service amounted to 35 since March 2004. The Syrian
authorities did not launch any inquiries into any of these incidents.
3 – Judicial sentences/pressures/hacking:
- Trial of preacher Abdul Rahman al-Kuki:
On 11/1/2010, the Syrian preacher Sheikh Abdul Rahman al-Kuki appeared
for the second time before the First Criminal Court of Damascus. The
General Prosecution brought a case against al-Kuki on counts of
“undermining the reputation of the state in accordance with Article (285), of
the misdemeanour of insulting the President of the Republic in accordance
with Article (374), and the misdemeanour of inciting sectarianism in
accordance with Article (307)”. It is worth mentioning here that the Syrian
security services arrested al-Kuki on 22/10/2009 upon his return from Qatar,
where he participated in the talk show Al-Ittijah al-Mu‟akis on 20/10/2009
on Al-Jazeera, and discussed the issue of the face veil and the decision of the
Sheikh of Al-Azhar to ban it.
According to Article (285) of the Syrian General Penal Code, “he who, in
times of war or on the eve of war made calls that aim at weakening the
national sentiment or awaken sectarian strife may be punished by
provisional detention”. This is while Article (307) stipulates that “each act,
statement or speech that aims at, or that results in, the stirring of sectarian
strife, racism or strife among different elements of the nation is punishable
by imprisonment from six months to two years, and a fine of one hundred to
two hundred Syrian pounds, and by revoking the rights mentioned in
paragraphs II and IV of Article 65; the court may require the publication of
the sentence in this case.” As for Article (374), it considers that “whoever
insults the head of the state may be punished by imprisonment from six
months to two years, and the same penalty applies on whoever insults the
flag or the national emblem in public”.
-Pressures stop the program “Development Issues:
Hani al-Malatha, the producer of „Development Issues‟, a program
broadcasted on the Syrian satellite channel, came under pressures prompting
him to suddenly resign from his post only a few weeks after the program
was launched. The program, which was part of the new programming
schedule of the Syrian television, is the longest among the economic
programs launched by the television‟s three channels, as each episode lasted
approximately 60 minutes.
- (11 / 1) attempted assault against a journalist in „Baladna‟:
The editor of the business page in the daily Syrian newspaper Baladna,
Amer Abdul Salam, suffered an assault attempt (11/1) by a security officer
in the United Group for Publishing, Advertisement and Marketing (UG) that
publishes the newspaper. This took place following a misunderstanding that
led to an argument over the phone.
- (10 / 1) The Committee for Empowering Arabic shuts down shops
found to be in violation:
On Sunday 10/1, the Committee for Empowering the Arabic Language
began shutting down shops in the Damascus countryside province that were
found to be in violation regarding changing their names on their signboard,
and which were previously given a notice by the province.
The chairman of the commission in the Damascus countryside province
Ibrahim Mansour said that the ultimatum given to the shops will last 24
hours only.
- Hackers attack websites:
(15/1) A group of hackers that goes by the name “the Syrian hackers‟ team”
hacked the website of the General Post Company, a subsidiary body of the
Syrian telecommunications ministry. Two days after the Post‟s website was
hacked (17/1), the website of the Syrian General Telecommunications
Company “Syrian Communications” was hacked by the Latakia hackers
group, which changed some of the page titles and sections of the website.
It is noteworthy here that the website for the Syrian Observatory for Human
Rights was hacked twice in January 2010 by the Syrian security services,
causing some data of the site to be lost while some images displayed on its
main page were replaced.
Palestine:
SKeyes recorded a number of violations in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip
and the territories of 1948, distributed into violations by the Palestinian
Authority, Hamas and the Israeli occupation forces in the territories they
respectively control.
The West Bank

The New Year witnessed several incidents involving media freedoms in the
West Bank. These violations consisted of a number of arrests and assaults,
detailed as follows:
Arrests/Release
- (4 / 1) Mustafa Sabri arrested:

The Preventive Security Service arrested the journalist Mustafa Sabri
without charging him. It should be mentioned here that Sabri was summoned
and arrested over 20 times during the past year.
- (26 / 1) Maaz Mashaal arrested:

The security services affiliated with the Palestinian Authority arrested the
journalist Maaz Mashaal after summoning him for questioning in their
headquarters. Mashaal and members of his family were subjected to verbal
abuse and harassment by these services shortly before summoning him. This
is while the reasons for his detention and mistreatment were not made
known.
- (23 / 1) Israeli forces arrest al-Khatib and Hamza:
The Israeli forces arrested the correspondent of Al-Quds satellite channel in
the West Bank Musab al-Khatib and the photographer working for the
Palmedia agency Ahmed Hamza. They were both preparing a report for Al-
Quds about the realities of the peace process in light of the settlement
activities in the settlement of Ariel. The photojournalists were first arrested
by the settlement security despite the fact that they showed their press cards.
They were then handed over to the Israeli army which handed them a
warning not to be present again near the settlement, requesting that their
photographs be erased, and then released them after two hours in detention.
Raid/Seizure/Assault
- (7 / 1) Israeli forces storm the house of Houshia:

A unit from the Israeli army raided the house of the journalist working for
Palestine TV Dia Houshia, while being aware that he is a journalist. The unit
wrecked the contents of his house while searching all those present there.
- (18 / 1) Pressures force the photographer Al-Bleidi to hand over photo
material:
The Palestinian intelligence service put pressure on the photographer
working for the Palmedia agency in Tulkarem Hazem al-Bleidi to force him
to hand over a film report regarding the prospects of reconciliation between
Hamas and Fatah that al-Bleidi had realized, hosting the Hamas
Representative Abdul Rahman Zeidan. Al-Bleidi caved in to the pressures of
an intelligence officer in the end, and handed over the films.
- (28 / 1) The Israeli army assaults a group of photographers:

The Israeli army assaulted a group of photographers. They are: The
photographer working for Ma‟an news agency Rami Sweidan, the
photographer of Palmedia Ashraf Abu Shawish, and the photographers
working for Reuters Abdul Rahim al-Qusini and Hassan al-Titi. The
photographers were targeted with tear gas canisters in an attempt by the
Israeli army soldiers to disperse them while they were covering the planting
of olive trees by the people of the village of Burin.
Gaza
1 – Raid/Ban:
- (1 / 1) conversion of the Palestine TV building into an office of the
Minister of Interior
The Ministry of Interior in the dismissed government of Hamas in Gaza
issued a decision to convert the headquarters of the state-owned Palestine
TV in Gaza into an office for the Minister of Interior Fathi Hammad, and the
headquarters of the recently established police training school affiliated to
the government.
A source that declined to be named told SKeyes that Minister Hammad
“decided to seize the Palestine TV headquarters overlooking the beach in
Gaza near the Palestinian President's quarters known as Al-Muntada, and
convert it into an office for Al-Aqsa TV. However, some leaders advised
him to reverse this decision for fear that the people may react adversely.
The minister then decided to seize the office and convert it into an office
for him and into the headquarters for the police training school that he
established".
- (3 / 1) Photographing and reporting on the Rafah tunnels prohibited:
The Minister of Interior in the dismissed government of Hamas in Gaza
issued a decision prohibiting foreign reporters or the Palestinian translators
assisting them to report on the smuggling tunnels in the city of Rafah near
the border with Egypt, before obtaining official permission, in which case a
copy of the written or filmed report must be sent before its broadcasting or
publication.
- (14 / 1) The home of Al-Aqsa TV cameraman Ammar al-Tallawy
raided:
A militant affiliated to the security services of the dismissed government of
Hamas in Gaza stormed the home of the journalist Ammar al-Tallawy, the
cameraman and producer in Al-Aqsa TV, which is affiliated to Hamas, in
the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The militant inspected a video
tape which he claims al-Tallawy filmed of Palestinian Fedayeen carrying an
attack against the Israeli army. Al-Tallawy was beaten after being threatened
that the matter will be taken to the Interior Minister Fathi Hammad, the
general supervisor of the Al-Aqsa group affiliated to Hamas and where al-
Tallawy is employed. It should be mentioned that the Hamas police did not
investigate the matter despite the fact that he filed an official complaint to
the police.
2 – Launching of a writers association/law to protect journalists

- (16 / 1) the launching of the Palestinian Writers and Authors
Association:
The Palestinian Writers and Authors Association were launched in Gaza,
during a ceremony held at the headquarters of the Amjad Cultural Forum. It
was attended by a number of Palestinian writers, authors and intellectuals,
mostly affiliated with the dismissed government of Hamas, while other
liberals or those affiliated with left-wing parties and Fatah were excluded.
Some writers from the Palestinian Writers Union, a subordinate body of
the Palestinian Liberation Organization said that “the problem of this
association is that it was created for political purposes, as an alternative to
the institutions and unions of the Palestinian Liberation Organization.
They also said that "this idea deepens the political rift and subsequently,
the rift at the level of the cultural scene", noting that “these writers should
have established a body to protect the rights of the intellectuals, writers
and poets whose rights are violated on a daily basis by the internal security
services, instead of exacerbating cultural strife".
- (26 / 1) Hamas orders policemen not to abuse journalists
The commander-general of the police affiliated to the dismissed government
of Hamas in Gaza, Brigadier-General Abu Obeida al-Jarrah, issued a
decision requiring police officers and policemen to “not offend journalists,
to deal with them in a manner well worthy of the moral code of the
Palestinian Police, and to facilitate their jobs”. Al-Jarrah also stressed that
the police command “will not allow any violations of this decision, and any
violators will be held accountable”. The decision was issued following many
complaints filed by nongovernmental human rights organizations to the
Prime Minister of the dismissed government Ismail Haniyeh, regarding the
repeated violations against press crews in the Gaza Strip, which is controlled
by Hamas.
The territories of 1948:
1 - Litigation / arrest:
- (5 / 1) Judicial support of the Israeli soldiers against the artist
Mohamed Bakri continues:
The Israeli Attorney General Menachem Mazuz decided not to issue
criminal indictments against the Palestinian artist and director Mohamed
Bakri, but to nonetheless support the Israeli soldiers in the appeal they are
filing against Bakri before the Supreme Court. On (17/1), he announced the
adjournment of the final appeal session in the case, to 6/9/2010. The soldiers
who filed the lawsuit accuse the artist Bakri of “damaging their good
reputation in front of the people and offending them” for their appearance in
his film Jenin Jenin, which he filmed immediately after the Israeli army‟s
raid of the Jenin refugee camp in 2002. They requested very large
compensations (approx. two and a half million shekels).
Bakri told SKeyes that Mazuz’s stance “came after pressure on him by the
Minister of Justice, who supports the soldiers. This is despite the fact that
there is no legal background for the allegations against me. The film did
not show the soldiers but only live testimonies of the residents of Jenin
who lived the raid, and who recounted the details of the suffering they
went through at the time”.
Regarding the adjournment, he said: “Perhaps it is related to the fact that
Mazuz became in favour of the soldiers in the case filed against me since
2002”. He also pointed out that Mazuz will attend the court sessions as a
citizen, not as the Attorney General, as his term in this capacity would
have expired by then. But even if he is to remain in his post, he will not
attend the session in his official capacity, but as a citizen who is
complaining against the public harm that the film has caused – in their
opinion. As for the continuous abuse he has been suffering in the Israeli
media, Bakri stressed that “there has been constant incitement against me
in the Israeli press since 2002, as they are attempting to discredit me by
using the film Jenin Jenin as a pretext to attack me and distort the
message of the film, which is a message of peace”.
- (15 / 1) Arrest of 17 human rights activists, including left-wing Jews
and Arabs in Sheikh Jarrah:
The Israeli police detained 17 human rights activists (left-wing Jews and
Arabs), under the pretext of “refusing to disperse”. This took place during
the protest against the occupation of Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah by
extremist Jewish settlers on Friday afternoon, which is held on a weekly
basis. They were released two days later, without being forced to agree to
any special terms or being indicted. This is after the court approved the
request submitted by the Association for Civil Rights in their defence, which
stated that there was no need to apply for permission to stage a protest in
Sheikh Jarrah on Friday afternoon. Subsequently, the detention of the
activists took place without a legal prerogative. The judge at the
Magistrate‟s Court rejected the police‟s conditions to release them, namely,
that they should pay a bail of 5000 Shekels each and that they should be
banished from Sheikh Jarrah for a period of 60 days.
The director of the Association for Civil Rights Haji Elad, who was among
those detained, told SKeyes, “The police manipulates the law to suit its
whims [in a manner that] violates democratic values. The arrests that were
carried out in Sheikh Jarrah are illegal and violate the freedom of
expression and the right to peaceful demonstration. It became clear that
the police, and behind it the authorities, have decided to crush a legal
protest held by law-abiding citizens, using aggressive methods, excessive
violence and by harassing activists and carrying out unjustified arrests".
He also added, "The unacceptable use of force by the authorities will not
succeed in crushing a civilian protest that is motivated by ethical
considerations, civil rights and uses peaceful protest while categorically
rejecting violence. It is our duty to continue staging civil protests that
respect the boundaries of the law, and we will do so in Sheikh Jarrah and
in every place where the citizens want to express their opinions, values and
defend their rights”.
- (22 / 1) 21 human rights activists arrested in Sheikh Jarrah, including
a Danish citizen:
The Israeli police arrested twenty-one protesters in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighbourhood, during the weekly demonstration against the occupation of
Palestinian homes in Sheikh Jarrah by Jewish settlers. The protest is
organized spontaneously and attracts human rights activists from all over the
country. They were all charged with disturbing the public order, while some
were accused of throwing stones.
The detainees' nationalities were as follows: Two Palestinians from the
neighbourhood, a Palestinian from the territories of 1948, a Danish
volunteer. The rest were Israelis from all over the country. They were
released on the next day on bail set at 500 shekels each, in addition to
presenting a guarantee by a third party. They were banished from Sheikh
Jarrah for three days, and were ordered to appear before the court when they
were summoned several days later.
- (24 / 1) The trial of the journalist Barhoum Jraysi begins in Nazareth:
The Magistrate‟s Court in Nazareth began the trial of the Vice-Chairman of
the Oversight Committee in the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality,
and the media advisor to the Deputy Mohamed Baraka, the journalist
Barhoum Jraysi. He is alleged to have assaulted the extremist municipal
official in the municipality of Nazareth Illit, Ze‟ev Hatman, on the tenth of
January 2009. This allegedly took place during a political rally of the
Democratic Front, to protest the criminal war against the Gaza Strip, near a
hall in Nazareth Illit. A racist counter-demonstration was held by the far-
right factions, mostly from Yisrael Beitenu, in the presence of the extremist
municipal officials including Hartman, who tried to prevent people from
entering by blocking the parking entrances. Hartman claims that Jraysi
punched him in his shoulder, and threatened to kill him if he did not leave,
which was denied by Jraysi altogether.
- (28 / 1) the prison sentences against the journalists Khader Shaheen
and Mohammed Sarhan overturned
The Israeli Supreme Court overturned the sentence approved by the District
Court on June 14, 2009 to imprison the journalist Khader Shaheen and his
colleague Mohammed Sarhan for two months, after convicting them of
breaching “the military censorship law”. This took place after they
broadcasted news about the movements of the Israeli army shortly before the
start of the ground operations during the recent war on Gaza. They were also
sentenced to one month and a half of community services.
The defence lawyer of Shaheen and Sarhan, the lawyer Tamer Obeid, told
SKeyes's correspondent that the decision "is a legal precedent. The
decision of the Supreme Court is binding to all courts. This paves the way
for this to be repeated in other cases in the future involving other
journalists, on the basis that it will be a legal precedent and an important
reference point. The approval of the appeal is a legal achievement, since
the court only accepts 1 or 2 percent of the cases filed before it, including
both security and criminal cases, so how about if the case is both criminal
and security-related?"
2 - Expulsion / prevention:
- (20 / 1) The journalist Jared Malsin expelled after 8 days of detention
at Ben Gurion Airport:
The Israeli authorities have irrevocably expelled the head of the English
section at the Ma‟an news agency, the American Journalist Jared Malsin,
after denying him entry into Israel, and detaining him eight days at Ben
Gurion Airport in harsh and inappropriate conditions. He was not allowed to
shower, change or even contact any of his acquaintances.
- (24 / 1) The financing of the film “Odem" [Sapphire] suspended after
comparing the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza to the Holocaust:
The Israel Film Fund suspended its financing of the film “Odem”, in
response to the request of the Israeli Minister of Culture Limor Livnat, until
a time when its contents were re-examined. This took place after the film
director, Jonathan Segal, compared the Israeli occupation of the West Bank
and Gaza to the Nazi Holocaust.
The fund had pledged to pay 1.3 million shekels for the production of the
film, of which it has paid 850 thousand. The film is still in the filming stage.
It stars Clara Khoury and Natalie Attiya, and tells the story of a complex
relationship between a Palestinian woman and an Israeli woman who decide
to travel to Jerusalem at night.
Jordan
1 - Complaints / official decisions / court sentences:
- (3 / 1) The Minister of Information files a complaint against the

journalist Abdul Hadi Majali:
The Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and
the government spokesman Nabil al-Sharif, filed an official complaint to the
Press Syndicate against the journalist Abdul Hadi Raji al-Majali, against the
backdrop of an article the latter published on his website, which al-Sharif
found to be defamatory against him and his family. The article included
accusations against al-Sharif and his family of receiving large sums of
money from the Al-Dustour newspaper (al-Sharif was its editor before
joining the cabinet).
- (13 / 1) Decision to subject websites to the Press and Publications law
issued:
The Jordanian Court of Cassation, at the request of the Minister of Justice,
issued a decision considering websites to be publications subject to the Press
and Publications Law, thus invalidating the provisions issued through first
instance and appeal that considered that the Press and Publications Law to
be inapplicable to websites. The decision was taken in the wake of the
lawsuit filed by the journalist Ahmed Salama against the journalists Samir
al-Hiyari, the owner of Ammon News Website, and Sakher Abu Anza, the
owner of the Ram website. They were prosecuted in accordance with
Articles 5 and 7 of the Press and Publications Law, and Article 189 of the
same Law, and for violating the provisions of Article 38 of the Electronic
Transactions Act. This decision sparked fears among the journalists working
in websites, which number more than sixty.
- (17 / 1) Lawsuit filed against Al-Jazerra and the journalists Faysal al-
Qassim and Yasser al-Zaatra:
The sons of the Palestinian President Yasser and Tariq Mahmoud Abbas,
filed a lawsuit against Al-Jazeera in Amman for slander, libel and
defamation that took place in the course of the talk show Al-Ittijah al-
Mu'akis (Opposite Direction), presented by the journalist Faysal al-Qassim
and in which he hosted the Islamist political commentator Yasser al-Zaatra,
in an episode that tackled the issue of the Goldstone Report.
The lawyer Talal al-Bakri said that he lodged a case before the Magistrate‟s
Criminal Court in Amman in his capacity as the attorney for both Yasser and
Tariq Abbas, against Al-Jazeera and al-Qassim, for libel, slander and
defamation and demanded a compensation of one million Jordanian dinars
(1.4 million USD).
- (31 / 1) the journalists Abdul Hadi al-Majali and Majdi al-Batieh
sentenced to three months in prison:
Amman‟s Magistrate Court convicted the journalists managing the Ajbad
websites, Abdul Hadi al-Majali and Majdi Tayssir al-Batieh, on counts of
“libel and slander and broadcasting offensive messages in a communications
medium”, sentencing them to three months in prison each, and to pay a fine
of 50 thousand dinars (approx. 80 thousand USD), jointly and severally.
This follows the lawsuit filed by the former Minister of Public Sector
Development Dr. Tayssir al-Samadi against the website, after the latter made
several accusations against him including the allegation that he holds a
questionable PhD and that he will be referred to court because of financial
irregularities.
2 - Ban:
- (13 / 1) the book “The commandments of the slaughtered”, written by

the journalist Walid Hosni, banned:
The director general of the Press and Publications Department, Nabil
Moumeni, notified the writer and journalist Walid Hosni Zahra, who is
known as Walid Hosni, of the department‟s official decision to ban his book
“The Commandments of the slaughtered…the pious and the devil in the
letters of Saddam Hussein” in Jordan.
Hosni said that Moumeni did not enforce the law or resort to the courts to
file an urgent lawsuit in which he demands the banning of the book in
Jordan, and that he reserves the right to sue him in his personal and
professional capacities for failing to enforce the law. Hosni pointed out
that Moumeni refused to give him an official letter that the book has been
banned. He described the ban of his book in Jordan to be "further
confirmation of the Press and Publications Department's policy of
banning and censorship, and of circumventing the freedom of expression
and intellect. This is despite the fact that such policies have become
obsolete in the democratic countries that respect the freedom of opinion
and dissent, that disallow book banning and crackdowns on ideas and the
right to write, read, criticize and debate, and that prevent the sanctification
of taboos otherwise pursued by the Press and Publications Department,
which has made itself a body that acts on behalf of the Jordanians'
minds”.
Hosni also said that “the copies of his book coming from Beirut were
entirely withheld by the customs of Amman for several days before being
transported for storage at a more secure location”. He pointed out that the
Press and Publications Department “is excessively strict in banning books
imported from abroad and censors them heavily, to the extent that 135
books have been banned in Jordan in the past two years alone. This is
indicative of the sheer magnitude of the strict censorship policy which
hinders the right to write and read, and undermines the right of the
Jordanians to write, research, think and publish freely”.
- (20 / 1) The journalist Mouwaffaq Mahaddin prevented from writing
in The Arabs Today:
The Arabs Today, a Jordanian daily newspaper, suspended the columnist
Mouwaffaq Mahaddin, after comments he made to the “Behind the News”
program broadcasted by Al-Jazeera, in which he criticized the Jordanian
security cooperation with the United States in Afghanistan. Mahaddin said
that the newspaper came under pressure to suspend him, but that there is no
problem between him and the paper. The newspaper had previously also
suspended the writer Nahed Hattar as of September 2008, against the
backdrop of his opposition to government policies as well.
- (31 / 1) 62 books banned in Jordan in 2009:
The Director-General of the Press and Publication Department in Jordan
Nabil Moumeni announced that 62 books were banned in Jordan last year,
while two books were referred to the judiciary and 707 books were allowed.
He pointed out that “the number of books referred to the courts compared to
the number of books allowed into Jordan does not indicate that there is
something abnormal”. He said that “thousands of titles in Arabic and
English were approved last year, with the exception of 62 books that were
re-exported to their respective countries of origin at the request of their
importers for violating the provisions of the law. He also said that one
imported book and one local book were referred to court among 707 books
that were locally printed”, pointing out that “the referral of a given book to
the judiciary does not mean that it has been banned; on the contrary, the
norm is allowing books and referral [to courts] is the exception".

SKeyes Report For January 2010 1

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SKeyes Report For January 2010 1

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The SKeyes Centre Report for Violations against Media and Cultural

Freedoms in January 2010

In January 2010, SKeyes recorded a number of violations against media

There were several incidents related to press freedoms in Lebanon, namely,

- (9 / 1) the security forces shut down seven illegal radio stations:

2 - Fines / trade union advocacy:

(11 / 1) Al-Jadid TV‟s Eid, Bassam and Khayat fined:

SKeyes recorded a number of violations against media and cultural freedoms

The West Bank

- (4 / 1) Mustafa Sabri arrested:

- (26 / 1) Maaz Mashaal arrested:

- (7 / 1) Israeli forces storm the house of Houshia:

- (28 / 1) The Israeli army assaults a group of photographers:

2 – Launching of a writers association/law to protect journalists

1 - Complaints / official decisions / court sentences:

- (3 / 1) The Minister of Information files a complaint against the

- (13 / 1) the book “The commandments of the slaughtered”, written by

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