A recent international campaign to express solidarity with Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip has pointed an accusing finger at Israel, while ignoring the suffering they have experienced under Hamas's rule during the past two decades.
The global media campaign of more than 150 outlets from 70 countries, coordinated by a group called Reporters Without Borders, also ignored allegations that many of the Palestinian journalists targeted by the Israel Defense Forces were affiliated with Hamas and other terror groups.
Since its brutal and bloody takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, Hamas has been waging a systematic campaign to silence its critics, including journalists who do not toe the line. We have not seen any global protests against Hamas's crackdown.
The silence of the international community has empowered Hamas to get rid of most of its political critics, as well as journalists who dared to criticize the terror group and its leaders. Consequently, the only Palestinian journalists who were free to operate in the Gaza Strip for nearly the past two decades were those working for Qatar's Al-Jazeera (Arabic) television empire, serving as Hamas's unofficial mouthpiece, or those whose reporting was limited to attacking and smearing Israel.
Some Palestinian human rights and media organizations did speak out against Hamas's clampdown on journalists and the absence of a free media in the Gaza Strip. These voices, however, rarely made it to the pages of major newspapers in the US, Canada or Europe. Some foreign journalists were aware that their Palestinian colleagues were facing a brutal campaign of intimidation by Hamas but chose to look the other way. Many foreign journalists only want stories that reflect negatively on Israel.
As early as 2019, the Chairman of the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), Nasser Abu Bakr, remarked that Hamas's attacks on Palestinian journalists and the arrest of hundreds of them is "a dangerous development in terms of numbers and quality, and a dangerous indicator of an ISIS-like mindset that does not believe in freedom of the media."
He further revealed that since Hamas's takeover of the Gaza Strip in 2007, PJS had documented 500 violations against journalists by Hamas.
According to Abu Bakr, the real number of Palestinian journalists arrested by Hamas "exceeds what has been documented, because some of them fear for their lives and the lives of their children if they speak out, for fear of being attacked by Hamas militias."
Following are some Palestinian journalists arrested by Hamas in recent years. Their cases have been largely ignored by mainstream media in the West.
Hani al-Agha. According to the PJS, regarding just the last time he was last arrested in 2019: "Al-Agha is being held in poor conditions inside the [Hamas] Internal Security Forces prison west of Gaza, despite his suffering and deteriorating health as a result of a previous spinal surgery."
The Palestinian syndicate condemned the [Hamas] Interior Ministry for refusing to acknowledge the presence of journalists in its prisons and refusing to reveal the reason for al-Agha's arrest. "This is a clear violation of the Palestinian Basic Law and applicable Palestinian laws," the group added. It called on the General Union of Arab Journalists and the International Federation of Journalists to pressure Hamas to release al-Agha and halt its security crackdown on media professionals and journalists in the Gaza Strip.
Mohammed al-Louh, a reporter for Al-Sha'ab radio, was arrested in 2020 from his home in Nusseirat. It is not clear what the charges were against him.
Hamza Hammad, a freelance journalist. In 2019, the Hamas government's Internal Security Service arrested Hammad without providing any reasons. His brother, Mohammed, told a Sky News reporter: "At six o'clock on Sunday evening, a security force raided the home of one of Hamza's friends while he was there. They arrested him and a number of his friends without identifying themselves or giving any reasons for the arrest of those present in the house. They took my brother to an unknown location at first, but after hours of communicating with the security services, we learned that he was being held by the Internal Security Service. They did not allow us to visit him or find out the reason for his arrest."
Ahmed Saeed was arrested by Hamas in 2022 after preparing a report on the migration of young people from the Gaza Strip and their drowning at sea on death boats. The report held Hamas responsible for this migration. Hamas police officers raided Saeed's home of while he was broadcasting live. The PJS denounced the arrest of Saeed. They stated that it came during a Hamas campaign of intimidation and threats against Palestinian journalists.
Hani Abu Rizeq was arrested by Hamas in 2022. His family said that he worked on "humanitarian stories" of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They said he was arrested after he published a story about a Gaza resident, Abu Al-Saeed al-Masri, who was displaced with his family after his house and furniture were destroyed by Hamas police officers. The attack on al-Masri came after he reportedly refused to sell his house to a Hamas-affiliated businessman.
Amer Abu Shabab. He was arrested in 2017after Hamas officers searched his house and seized his personal computer and cellular phone.
Taghreed Abu Dhareefa, TV reporter, was arrested in 2017 on charges of "communicating with [the Palestinian Authority]." The PJS said about her that it "views with extreme concern the actions taken by Hamas against a journalist based on flimsy, unacceptable and absolutely rejected pretexts and accusations, as they are a violation of the Palestinian Basic Law. In addition, her detention has been extended by a military court in flagrant violation of the Palestinian Basic Law, which guarantees journalists the right to communicate with their sources of information and the media outlets they work for."
Hajar Harb, an investigative reporter, was also arrested by Hamas in 2017 for reporting about corruption in Hamas-controlled ministries. She was later put on trial and sentenced to six months in prison and a 1,000 shekels ($250) fine. The PJS condemned the "unjust ruling" and considers it a dangerous precedent. It called on Hamas to rescind it, as it constitutes a clear violation of freedom of opinion and expression and the freedom to obtain and disseminate information.
Many other Palestinian journalists were arrested or threatened by Hamas for covering anti-Hamas protests that erupted throughout the Gaza Strip between 2017 and 2019. They include: Nasr Abu Foul, Hazem Madi, Ahmed Qudaih, Osama Abu Sakran, Rafat al-Qudra, Moeen Farajallah, Matar al-Zaq, Osama Kahlout, Sameh al-Jadi, and Sami Issa.
Several international news agency journalists received telephone threats and warnings against covering Hamas' suppression of the protests. Journalist Mohammed Abu Shaar, a correspondent for several local websites, said he received a telephone threat from a Hamas officer who identified himself as Abu Ahmed. Abu Shaar added that Abu Ahmed called him a "spy" for Israel.
The Palestinian Authority Ministry of Information condemned Hamas's attacks on journalists as "the work of gangs, a violation of all our national, moral, and religious norms, an attempt to tarnish our people's image in the eyes of the world, and a denial of the sacrifices of martyrs and prisoners."
Such condemnations, however, have gone unnoticed by the international community. So have Hamas's recurring and systematic assaults on Palestinian journalists and public freedoms. Those who continue to ignore Hamas atrocities and human rights abuses against Palestinians are doing a great disservice to the Palestinians: they are allowing Hamas to get away with its crimes against its own people.
Khaled Abu Toameh is an award-winning journalist based in Jerusalem.
