Day 20
Country: Palestine
Journalist: Muhammad Anwar Muna
Media: Quds Press International News Agency
Jailed since: August 7, 2013 

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'30 Days for Freedom' campaign calls for the release of Palestinian journalist Muhammad Anwar Muna bit.ly/1mxTU4G #FreethePress

On August 7, 2013, Israeli officials raided the Nablus home of Muhammad Anwar Muna, West Bank correspondent of the UK-based Quds Press International News Agency. Authorities reportedly confiscated his computer, cell phone and papers in the early morning raid. Muna was later sentenced to six months in jail under administrative detention - which at its essence allows the Israeli government to hold a person indefinitely without charge. Six months later, an Israeli court renewed his sentence for an additional half year.

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The reasons for Muna's arrest are unclear, however the agency's southern West Bank correspondent Yousef Faqeeh told the Committee to Protect Journalists in November 2013 that Muna had reported on alleged Israeli human rights violations in the West Bank. Articles written by Muna could also not be differentiated from others, as the agency does not use bylines.

Muna's arrest occurred during a tumultuous period for journalists working in the West Bank, and in recent months multiple journalists have been assaulted, threatened and censored in both Israel and Palestine. In 2013 the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) documented a total of 151 Israeli violations of media freedoms in the West Bank, an increase of 50 from the year prior and the most documented since 2008.

In March this year, MADA said the trend had yet to abate with a number of documented incidents of Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) detaining journalists and reportedly throwing stun grenades and rubber bullets at the press.

Political divisions within Palestine have also had a negative effect on the media, with journalists in the West Bank and Gaza regularly targeted or detained by Fatah or Hamas respectively. Since mid-June 2007, the Fatah-Hamas division has sent press freedom violations within Palestine soaring with more than 500 violations documented, according to MADA.

Suggested Tweet:

'30 Days for Freedom' campaign calls for the release of Palestinian journalist Muhammad Anwar Muna bit.ly/1mxTU4G #FreethePress

Resources:

• MADA: over 500 Palestinian violations against media freedoms in Palestine since the Fatah-Hamas Division: http://www.madacenter.org/report.php?lang=1&id=1314&category_id=6&year=

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• MADA 2013 annual report: http://www.madacenter.org/reports.php?id=5&lang=1&year=2014

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• Journalists under fire in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory: http://cpj.org/2014/03/journalists-under-fire-in-israel-and-the-occupied.php

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• Israeli-Occupied Territories and Palestinian Authority http://www.freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2011/israeli-occupied-territories-and-palestinian-authority#.U1a9JIXZpiY

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• Palestinian journalists decry intimidation: http://m.aljazeera.com/story/2014314105135125719