THE ISRAELI Supreme Court will hear a petition today, presented by the Foreign Press Association, demanding the right of foreign journalists based in Israel to enter the Gaza Strip to cover the conflict.
Israeli journalists have long been prevented from entering Gaza for security reasons. There was a tradition of open access for the foreign media until two months ago, when Israel first denied access through the Erez crossing, declaring that the border would be open only for urgent humanitarian cases.
Since then journalists have been allowed to cross into Gaza on only a few occasions, and the border has been totally closed since the bombing started on Saturday.
The FPA, which has 460 members from 32 countries representing print, TV and radio, demanded that Israel grant immediate access in light of the current conflict “which is of great interest to news consumers worldwide”.
The Israeli authorities argued that opening the crossing would endanger both the personnel who work at the heavily fortified site and the journalists themselves.
FPA chairman Steven Gutkin told The Irish Times that the real reason might be Israel’s perception of the foreign press as pro-Palestinian. “We were told by Israeli officials that the foreign media is less than fair and doesn’t give the Israeli version of events.” Foreign media organisations have been forced to rely on local Palestinian stringers for coverage.
The FPA has also protested Monday’s declaration by Israel of the area along the Gaza Strip border as a closed military zone.