Ramallah, November 19 (RHC)-- Several Palestinian and international journalists have been injured by Israeli forces in the central occupied West Bank, where they were protesting the Tel Aviv regime’s violence against members of the press in the occupied territories.  Israeli forces fired tear gas to disperse journalists gathered at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem over the weekend.  

The head of the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate Nasser Abu Bakr was among the wounded.  Abu Bakr demanded that those who commit violence against journalists be held accountable.  He said that international journalists, including members of the International Federation of Journalists and the Arab Federation of Journalists also took part in the protest.

Since the beginning of the current year, he said, some 7,000 violations and assault against Palestinians by Israeli military were recorded.  Tel Aviv has thus been seeking a media blackout on the criminal acts of its soldiers, with Israeli cabinet ministers authorizing a contentious bill in mid-June that would criminalize the filming of certain military activities.

Under the proposed legislation, those found photographing, recording or filming Israeli troops “with the intention of undermining the spirit” of the army “shall be liable to five years imprisonment” and those “intending to harm” Israel’s security could be given 10 years in jail.

The bill, which has been widely censured as an attack on media freedom, needs several parliamentary votes to become law.  In recent months, Israeli troops have on numerous occasions been caught on camera brutally killing Palestinians, with the videos going viral online and sparking condemnations of the regime’s military.