Palestinian journalists want curbs on Israel media

Palestinian journalists have demanded that authorities restrict the movement of Israeli reporters in the West Bank, a local media worker said Tuesday. A media union urged president Mahmud Abbas in a letter to block Israeli reporters from accessing Palestinian-controlled West Bank territory, in response to Israel’s own restrictions on the movement of Palestinian reporters. “We are for media freedom on both sides, but this can’t be one-way,” Palestinian journalist Nayla Khalil told AFP. She said that the movements of Palestinian journalists were regularly restricted in West Bank areas controlled by the Israeli army. The union’s letter to Abbas was “a threat to no one, but we demand equal treatment,” Khalil said. An Israeli journalist was ejected last week from a Palestinian Authority news conference after Khalil demanded his removal. Palestinian deputy information minister Mahmud Khalifa told AFP that the PA tried to “regulate the work of foreign media, including Israeli media, in accordance with Palestinian law.” Only 50 out of 1,200 registered Palestinian journalists hold an Israeli government-issued card. From Arab News