Nazih Darwazeh

Israel and the Occupied Territories, including the Palestinian Authority Territories

With Iraq dominating media security concerns in the Middle East, journalists covering the region's other main flash point quietly faced a familiar array of hazards on the job. The occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip remained two of the most dangerous and unpredictable assignments for journalists in 2004, largely because of the conduct of Israeli troops. Although the situation was not as dire as in other years, like 2002, when fighting was at peak levels, Israel's army and security services continued to commit a range of abuses against working journalists, who faced the possibilities of gunfire, physical abuse, and arrest, in addition to sharp limits on their freedom of movement.

War and political violence drew hundreds of journalists to the Middle East in 2003 for what proved to be a series of relentlessly dangerous assignments. The U.S.-led war in Iraq was one of the most heavily covered conflicts in modern history--and one of the deadliest for journalists. Thirteen reporters died from hostile acts, both during and after the conflict, while several more died from illnesses or accidents. The sources of danger were varied and often unpredictable. At least four were killed by U.S. fire, three on the same day, April 8, when the shelling of Baghdad's Palestine Hotel killed two journalists and an air strike on the Baghdad bureau of the Qatar-based broadcaster Al-Jazeera killed another. Four journalists embedded with U.S. troops were killed by Iraqi fire. Still others were killed by land mines or died in suicide bombings.

The Israeli army continued to imperil reporters and restrict their work in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, making the area one of the most complicated and dangerous assignments for journalists in the Middle East. During 2003, two journalists were shot and killed by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) fire. Others encountered harsh treatment at checkpoints or had to contend with army-imposed limits on their movements.

Dear Lieutenant General Yaalon:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is writing to request information about the status of the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) investigations into the shooting deaths of two journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2003, and to reiterate our call for a thorough inquiry into these deaths.

According to CPJ research, Nazih Darwazeh, a cameraman for the Associated Press Television News, and James Miller, a freelance cameraman and film director, were killed by Israeli army gunfire within a two-week span during the spring of 2003. We understand that a military police investigation is already under way into Miller's death. However, the status of Darwazeh's case is unclear.

New York, January 2, 2004—A total of 36 journalists were killed worldwide as a direct result of their work in 2003, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). This is a sharp increase from 2002, when 19 journalists were killed. The war in Iraq was the primary reason for the increase, as 13 journalists, more than a third of this year's casualties, were killed in hostile actions.

In fact, according to CPJ's statistics, the death toll in Iraq was the highest annual total from a single country since 24 journalists were killed in Algeria in 1995 at the height of civil strife between the government and Islamist militants.

Your Excellency:

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is outraged by the death of Nazih Darwazeh, a Palestinian cameraman working with The Associated Press Television News (APTN), who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, April 19.

Darwazeh was shot in the head at close range while filming clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli troops in central Nablus on April 19 at around 9 a.m., according to Palestinian journalists who witnessed the incident. Video footage of the incident, reviewed by CPJ, appears to corroborate their accounts.

New York, April 22, 2003—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) sent a letter today to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon expressing outrage at the death of Nazih Darwazeh, a Palestinian cameraman working with The Associated Press Television Network (APTN), who was shot and killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Nablus on Saturday, April 19. [Click here for a copy of the letter.]