PA journalists are political pawns: National duty supersedes professional duty
Abbas’ representative, Supervisor of PA media, to Palestinian journalists:
- “In the eyes of His Honor the president, you are the homeland’s soldiers defending the Palestinian national narrative against the Zionist narrative”
Editor in Chief of the official PA news agency WAFA:
- Official PA news agency WAFA and all other official PA media function as “governmental offices” - not true media outlets
Objectivity, accuracy, and truth are some of the core values of journalism in democracies and countries with freedom of speech.
However, in the PA, the role of journalists is defined by the PA and Chairman Abbas who views them as “the homeland’s soldiers defending the Palestinian national narrative against the Zionist narrative.” Speaking on behalf of Abbas, General Supervisor of the Official PA Media with the rank of minister Ahmad Assaf emphasized this at a recent conference held by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate:
“In a speech he gave on behalf of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, General Supervisor of the Official [PA] Media [with the rank of] minister Ahmad Assaf emphasized that the president is showing a special interest in the journalists and members of the press…
He added: ‘In the eyes of His Honor the president, you are the homeland’s soldiers defending the Palestinian national narrative against the Zionist narrative.’”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 30, 2023]
Assaf also stressed that Palestinian journalists “are fighting the Israeli occupation, its policy, and its actions.”
On their part, the journalists working for the official PA media also seem to accept and implement the PA’s expectations. For example, when the son of a terrorist prisoner thanked a host on official PA TV for being invited to the show, she replied that it is their “duty” and added that the “national duty” precedes their “professional” duty:
Alaa Sharbati, son of terrorist prisoner Ayman Sharbati: “Good morning, thank you very much for having me.”
Host: “No, this is our duty.”
Alaa Sharbati: “You are the homeland’s TV channel of which we are proud.” …
Host: “Our national duty comes before [our] professional [duty].”
[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Jan. 6, 2023]
Editor in Chief of the official PA news agency WAFA Khuloud Assaf provided additional proof of the lack of independence of official PA media institutions, explaining that WAFA - as well as the rest of PA media - functions as a “governmental office”:
Editor in Chief of the official PA news agency WAFA Khuloud Assaf: “We are bound by the civil service regulations that are not suitable for the nature of our work as journalists or as a media outlet. This concerns all the official [PA] media and not just [the official PA news agency] WAFA. Like every governmental office the work hours are from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and this makes it really difficult for us regarding shifts, work hours, and personnel.”
[Official PA TV, Palestine This Morning, Jan. 23, 2023]
Despite the fact that Abbas sees Palestinian journalists as “the homeland’s soldiers,” and although the journalists themselves confirm that their national duty comes before their professional duty, Abbas’ representative Assaf also reminded the journalists at the conference that it is their responsibility to “protect freedom of opinion and expression”:
“The president’s message to the male and female journalists is protecting freedom of opinion and expression and adhering to it, as freedom of the press is the lung with which the journalist breathes, so that he will be able to fulfill his duty in the best way possible.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 30, 2023]
In stark contrast to the ostensibly legitimate sentiments, Palestinian Media Watch has exposed that there is no freedom of speech in the PA, documenting arrests and even murder of those who didn’t express themselves in a manner that fit the PA’s wishes and agenda. PMW also documented that official PA TV muted a live broadcast when citizens started criticizing PA leaders.
When PA media outlets function like “governmental offices” and journalists are “soldiers” of the PA in the defense of the Palestinian national narrative, how can they also claim to “adhere” to “protecting freedom of opinion and expression”?
The following are longer excerpts of the reports cited above:
The following is an excerpt from a report on a conference held by the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate on Jan. 29, 2023:
Headline: “The [Palestinian] Journalists’ Syndicate approves its regulations”
“In a speech he gave on behalf of [PA] President Mahmoud Abbas, General Supervisor of the Official [PA] Media [with the rank of] minister Ahmad Assaf emphasized that the president is showing a special interest in the journalists and members of the press…
He added: ‘In the eyes of His Honor the president, you are the homeland’s soldiers defending the Palestinian national narrative against the Zionist narrative.’ …
The general supervisor addressed the participants in the conference: ‘You are a continuation of the newspaper Al-Karmil (i.e., an anti-Zionist Arab paper that began in 1908 and closed in 1942) and the rest of the newspapers, which from the beginning of the 20th century told the Palestinian Arab people and the Arab nation about the colonialist Zionist project and its dangers to Palestine and the Arab region.’ …
He emphasized that the president’s message to the male and female journalists is protecting Freedom of opinion and expression and adhering to it, as freedom of the press is the lung with which the journalist breathes, so that he will be able to fulfill his duty in the best way possible. He called on the journalists’ syndicate to propose laws and legislature that will defend their freedom of opinion, their profession, and their interests.
Assaf noted that the president’s second message to the journalists is that to the same extent that you are fighting the Israeli occupation, its policy, and its actions, you must fulfill your responsible role of supervising and investigating within [Palestine], on everything concerning the war on corruption and all the phenomena that hinder our revival and the development of our society.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Jan. 30, 2023]
Ahmad Assaf also serves as General Supervisor of Fatah-run Awdah TV.
Official PA TV host: “This is the year of the release of our prisoners, and the year of the end of the occupation. We will start today [Jan. 6, 2023], the first Friday of this year, with hopes of liberation, and that no prison and prison guard will remain. This is a blessing of the crew of the [official PA TV] program Good Morning Jerusalem to ‘the Civilian’ Ayman Sharbati ‘Abu Alaa’ (i.e., imprisoned terrorist, murdered 1), and this blessing is conveyed to his son who is with us, who bore his father’s message.” …
Alaa Sharbati, son of terrorist prisoner Ayman Sharbati: “Good morning, thank you very much for having me.”
Host: “No, this is our duty.”
Alaa Sharbati: “You are the homeland’s TV channel of which we are proud.”
Host: “Our national duty comes before [our] professional [duty].”
[Official PA TV, Good Morning Jerusalem, Jan. 6, 2023]
Ayman Sharbati - Palestinian terrorist who shot and murdered Israeli Gavriel Hirschberg and wounded another Israeli in the Old City of Jerusalem on Nov. 20, 1997, and who was also involved in other terror attacks. Sharbati is serving a life sentence in prison.