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When the camera exposes the rifle. Special report: violations against photojournalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

Ramallah: MADA Palestinian Center for Development & Media Freedoms (2015), 13 pp., diagrams
"The three photos of the drowned Syrian refugee kid Aylan Kurdi, the Palestinian kid Mohammad Al-Dorra (during the second Intifada) and the Vietnamese Napalm girl Phan Th. Kim Phúc, caused enormous influence, not only among millions of people but also on decision makers. Therefore, photojournalists are usually targeted by sides that are afraid to be exposed while committing violations or during wars. Especially that it is almost impossible to disapprove the credibility of photos taken on field. The profession of photojournalists requires them to be on field during the events and clashes regardless of the dangerousness that might face them, and usually photojournalists are at the forefront of their colleagues; which makes them subjected to attacks and injuries. The suffering of the photojournalists in Palestine while being physically assaulted is a clear example of the risks that led some journalist to pay the price whilst they implement their profession and how they are treated when their cameras exposes the perpetrators’ rifle. The number of violations against photojournalists in West Bank and Gaza Strip from the beginning of 2012 until the first half of 2015 reached 593. The Israeli occupation committed the large number and the most dangerous (469 violations); which equals 79% of all the violations, whereas the Palestinian sides committed 124 violations in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip." (p.4)