More than 150 Palestinian journalists from the Gaza-based local and international media staged a one-day protest at the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) Sunday to denounce what they said are acts of intimidation against the freedom of the press.
Sitting inside the parliament, some of the protestors had tied pieces of cloth over their mouth as others carried banners that read "Yes to the freedom of the press! No to gagging the press!" and "We will not accept less than a free and democratic society".
Earlier this month the offices of the local magazine ad-Dar were vandalised.
Its editor, Hassan al-Kashef, blamed the attack on opponents of its articles exposing corruption inside Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.
Also Friday, the car of the managing editor of the pro-government Al-Hayat Al-Jadida was torched by unknown assailants.
The daily did not go to press Sunday in solidarity with the protest.
On January 8, a Gaza correspondent for the Arab television station Al-Arabiya was beaten by masked men and had to be hospitalised.
And in September, the station's offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah were attacked by masked men claiming to belong to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a radical offshoot of Arafat's mainstream Fatah party.
The 150 journalists were met at the parliament by deputy speaker Ibrahim Abu al-Naja and 10 MPs.
Presidential secretary Tayeb Abdelrahim also addressed the angry protestors, conveying Arafat's opposition to the attacks to which they have fallen prey.
"President Arafat is completely opposed to attacks against journalists and the press," he said.
"He supports the freedom of the press which is sacred ... investigations are underway."
The vice president of the Palestinian journalists' union, Tawfiq Abu Khussa, said the strike would be suspended until further notice.
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