Palestine: Journalist Bushra Al-Taweel Jailed For The Fourth Time Over Two Years
Location: Palestine
Date: March 28, 2022
Palestinian journalist Bushra Al-Taweel has been jailed by Israeli forces for the fourth time in recent years. The journalist was arrested at a checkpoint in Nablus on March 22, 2022, and will be imprisoned for three months without a trial or a charge. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) condemns the persistent targeting of women journalists by Israeli authorities. We demand Israeli authorities for Bushra’s immediate release.
The Israeli occupation forces arrested freelance journalist Bushra Al-Taweel at the Za'tara checkpoint near Nablus. She was on her way from Jenin when she was stopped at the checkpoint. After her arrest, The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) released a statement about the journalist. According to MADA, Bushra was talking to her mother on the phone, when an Israeli soldier stopped the journalist to see her ID card. She was arrested right after her ID was checked.
According to the lawyer of the journalist Ashraf Abu Sneineh, Bushra was transferred to Damoun Prison, and she has not yet undergone any investigation.
Bushra was arrested for the fourth time in recent years due to her journalistic activities. She was released six months ago when she was kept behind bars for a similar story.
Bushra was arrested for the first time in 2011, while still in high school, and was sentenced to 16 months in jail. She was released as part of a captive-exchange deal later that year. In 2014, she was arrested again and sentenced to ten months, which she served in full. In 2017, she was detained again and served eight months. She was put in jail yet again in December 2019 and released in July 2020. In the past nine years, Bushra has served two and a half years in jail time; she battles constant intimidation from Israeli authorities.
Upon her first release from prison in 2011, Bushra started to study journalism. She subsequently founded a news network named “Aneen ALQeed” to cover and discuss captives— to shed light on their cases and how their families are suffering. She reserves a special place for the issues of female captives and their status in Israeli prisons.
Journalists are being pursued daily with sound and tear gas, and plastic bullets, while reporting from occupied territory to obliterate the truth and prevent it from reaching internationally.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is alarmed by the constant infringement of press freedom by Israeli authorities. We demand Bushra’s release immediately.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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