The perils of reporting in Palestine have never been greater. Ramallah-based Palestinian journalist Mariam Barghouti traveled to Jenin twice during the Israeli invasion last week to cover Israel’s assault on the city and refugee camp. As she describes it, even getting to Jenin is fraught with danger. Route 60, the only road leading to Jenin city, is mostly empty, save for Israeli military checkpoints erected along the way cutting off Palestinian districts from each other. Mariam says soldiers often delay and harass journalists traveling on the road. Armed settlers also roam the area and are a constant source of danger.
But it is inside places like Jenin, where the Israeli military concentrates its military assaults, that the risks are much higher. “The roads [were] riddled with Israeli snipers stationed on the rooftops of civilian buildings, making movement dangerous,” Mariam said. She described to Drop Site News how Israeli troops frequently intimidate journalists trying to do their jobs and have shot and injured reporters in the field. While Jenin is a stronghold of militant resistance, journalists only feel threatened by Israeli soldiers, not armed Palestinian combatants. ….more