HAMAS CRACKS DOWN ON PRESS

NYT: 'All the Journalists Are Worried, Scared' (CAMERA)
Steven Erlanger of the New York Times reports today on the state of fear and censorship that Gaza journalists live in under the Hamas regime:

Trying to nurture a reputation for honesty and legal behavior since they conquered Gaza in bloody fighting in June, Hamas’s leaders promise journalists freedom of action while the police intimidate them.

One result is a kind of self-censorship, local journalists say, that goes beyond what they traditionally practiced under Fatah, which also tried to pressure, manipulate or own the Palestinian press.

In other words, while talking heads like Mousa Abu Marzook in the Los Angeles Times promise to treat journalists with dignity, Hamas thugs on the ground arrest and beat journalists and confiscate their cameras. Erlanger reports:

Palestinian journalists describe a confusing situation, in which Hamas, as a fundamentally religious organization new to politics and used to obedience, is
putting undue pressure on the news media, especially with regard to the use of
television images and photographs. . . .

One policeman told reporters, according to The Associated Press, “If a single shot is on TV, you know what will happen,” then drew a finger across his throat.

SEE ALSO: Reporters Without Borders Notes Hamas Abuse (CAMERA)
Reporters Without Borders has issued a press release condemning Hamas' Sept. 3 closure of the

Gaza Strip branch of the Union of Palestinian Journalists, most of whose members are affiliated to Fatah or support it. At the same time, Hamas has decided to create a Government Committee for the Media.

“Even if the union was very pro-Fatah, this interference in a journalists organisation is unacceptable,” the press freedom organisation said. “After its decision to apply a press law going back to 1995 that allows it to step up control of the media, Hamas has again adopted arbitrary measures designed to restrict journalists’ freedom even more.”

The press release notes the Aug. 31 wounding of two foreign journalists by Hamas' Executive Force and the arrest of a Palestinian journalist.

So much for Mousa Abu Marzook's promise to treat journalists "with dignity."