Palestinian Journalists Syndicate Denounces Israel’s Attempts To Expel Palestinian Journalist

28 Feb

4:00 PM

Palestinian photographer, Mustafa Kharouf, a resident of East Jerusalem, was arrested by Israeli police on January 22, 2019, has been detained in Israel’s Givon Prison, and is facing expulsion to Jordan, for “security concerns”, reported Anadolu.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS), in a statement on Wednesday, called the continued imprisonment of the Anadolu Agency photographer, a “blatant assault on his right to live and work in the city of Jerusalem, where he has been living and working for 20 years”.

The arrest and detention of the photographer, husband and father, is characterized by the PJS as “an attack on freedom of the press and freedom of movement”. Kharouf’s father is a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, and his mother is from Algeria, Kharouf was born in Algeria, at 12 years of age, his family returned to East Jerusalem.

Israeli authorities have long denied Kharouf a “long term residency permit”, however, according to Kharouf’s lawyer Adi Lustigman, Kharouf is not a “citizen of any other country”. Lustigman told Anadolu, “thesis unacceptable anywhere in the world, but unfortunately, many Palestinian families in east Jerusalem face similar problems”.

The PJS appealed to the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and human rights groups to strive to apply “serious pressure on the occupying state [Israel] to prevent the implementation of this crime [deportation], which violates international laws and covenants”.

Israel’s Interior Ministry, according to +972 Magazine, claimed “classified material” was provided by Shin Bet, Israel’s security agency, apparently Kharouf is “a member of Hamas involved in illegal activity and in contact with other members in a proscribed organization.”