The Palestinian war against journalists.....

The western media never reports on this....

Over the past two years Palestinian journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip have been subjected to a systematic campaign of intimidation that has resulted in the death of some and the detention of others.

The campaign, which is being waged by both Hamas and Fatah, has received almost no attention from human rights groups and advocates of the freedom of expression throughout the world.

By contrast, when a Palestinian journalist is accidentally wounded by Israeli gunfire during clashes with Palestinians, the incident makes headlines in major media outlets in the US and EU.

What is most disturbing about the campaign of intimidation is the fact that it’s being spearheaded by the Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. This is the same authority that is receiving hundreds of millions of dollars from American and European taxpayers’ money every month to build a proper judicial system and promote democracy and transparency among the Palestinians.

One should not be surprised when Hamas targets journalists. The Islamist movement has long been known for its tough measures against “unfriendly” reporters.

At least 13 Palestinian journalists have been arrested and tortured by Hamas’s militias in since the movement took full control over the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2007. Hamas also raided the offices of most of these journalists and confiscated computers and other equipment.

In the most recent case, Ala Salameh, a reporter for a radio station in the Gaza Strip, complained that Hamas militiamen detained him for several hours and forced him to eat contaminated food.

In the West Bank, Abbas’s security forces have also focused their efforts on fighting against any journalist who don’t toe the line.

More than 10 Palestinian journalists have been targeted by Abbas’s security forces over the past few months. Most of them were held in detention without trial and denied the right to see a lawyer of family members.