Al-Hayat reporter: Palestine's new media is vital

Fathy Sabah, reporter at London’s al-Hayat newspaper, has celebrated the role of new media in confronting the Israeli occupation in the Gaza Strip. Sabah told Arabstoday in an exclusive interview that new media had opened up the Palestinian resistance in a way print could never do. “It has played a significant role in communicating the Palestinian position and the suffering of the Palestinian people to the outside world,” he said. As a result, Gazan authorities had warmed to bloggers, activists and citizen journalists. However, all forms of reporting would have to come together to accurately present the violations of the Israeli occupation committed against Palestinian women and children, he said. “There is a margin of freedom in the Strip and the West Bank,” Sabah claimed, “but it is not enough. We need to secure more freedom.” Attacks on journalists in both territories represented a disturbing trend, the London-based reporter argued. “The military trial of Tarik Abu Zeid in the West Bank is just one in a number of examples.” Sabah meanwhile praised Gaza authorities for protecting journalists, but demanded state-owned media ensure the safety of journalists working for them.