Israel: Majdoleen Hassona Stranded In West Bank As Israeli Border Guards Prevent Departure
Location: Israel, West BankDate: August 17, 2022
Israeli border guards have prevented Palestinian journalist Majdoleen Reda Hassona, a reporter with the Turkish broadcaster TRT, from leaving West Bank for over three years. The arbitrary travel restrictions intermittently imposed on Majdoleen have interfered with her journalistic activities as well as her personal life. She was previously prevented from traveling in 2020 and 2021. The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the Israeli authorities’ undue harassment of the journalist. We extend support to Majdoleen and call for the immediate lifting of travel restrictions imposed on her.
On July 25, Israeli border guards blocked Majdoleen from leaving the West Bank to cross into Jordan; they held Majdoleen’s passport for two hours before telling her that she was forbidden from traveling without giving any reason. Majdoleen was previously barred from traveling in 2020 and 2021.
Majdoleen told the CFWIJ that she tried to travel this time after an Israeli liaison informed her that the travel ban imposed on her on August 19, 2019, had ended after almost three years.
"When I went to travel, an Israeli security barrier stopped me, then they told me that I was banned from travelling, and when I told them that I came after receiving information that the travel ban had ended, they refused to deal with me," the award-winner journalist told CFWIJ. Majdoleen met an Israeli intelligence officer on that barrier, but he declined to define the reason for the travel ban or clarify the contradiction. She also struggles to do her job and finish her postgraduate study procedures.
"My current work is threatened with termination due to the colleagues' returning to the offices after the Covid pandemic", Majdoleen sadly reported CFWIJ. She can't receive her salary for about 3 years, in addition to being suspended from completing all procedures of her postgraduate study in Turkey. "There are many career and study opportunities outside Palestine, but I cannot get them", Majdoleen added.
"My life is precarious" Majdoleen described her current situation; for 3 years, she has been forbidden from traveling; she is now also banned from entering Israeli lands to her husband's home, and she can't return to her home as well.
Majdoleen's first ban in 2019 came after a short vacation to celebrate her engagement with the family; she left Turkey with the plan of returning with her fiancee 2 weeks later, but since then, she can't freely travel.
Israeli occupation forces have arrested Palestinian journalist Muhammad Khairy and his wife, journalist Majdoleen Hassouna, at a military checkpoint near Jericho. pic.twitter.com/gK5PRqJuoR
— PALESTINE ONLINE 🇵🇸 (@OnlinePalEng) April 21, 2022
Majdoleen is engaged to a Palestinian journalist who holds Israeli citizenship. Because of the security pursuits she faced due to her journalistic work, her wedding celebration was postponed for nearly three years. Majdoleen can not reach him by entering Israel (48 occupied territories as Palestinians called it) where he lives, and he can not come to live with her in the West Bank because he will lose his citizenship. Also, she can not travel with him outside of Palestine.
The Israeli occupation refused to allow Majdoleen to travel several times and asked her to meet the intelligence department. She instituted a case and went to trial twice, and each time there was no apparent reason to prevent me from travelling, only "a confidential file". Majdoleen was not allowed to take permission to attend court sessions against the laws which would enable her to defend herself.
Besides being threatened by Israeli authorities, Majdoleen has also been threatened by Palestinian authorities. As she was arrested and interrogated by Israeli authorities during her attempts to travel, the Palestinian authorities summonsed her several time, too; the last time was by the Palestinian intelligence department, as she told CFWIJ.
She received several summonses, some of them from the Palestinian intelligence department. Recently, Majdoleen received a summons to attend an investigation. In 2019, they summoned her for interrogation and threatened to ban her from travelling if she did not go to the intelligence headquarters; since that threat, she was prevented from travelling but by the Israeli authorities.
In 2018, Preventive Security issued an arrival tracing order against Majdoleen; in the same year, she was beaten while she was covering an event in Tulkarm by several men in civilian clothes; she believed that they were Palestinian security. Also, in 2014, the security services instituted a case against her and accused her of "prolonging the tongue, insulting the president, insulting high authorities, and inciting sectarian strife". In 2011 the security arrested her brothers after trying to stop her. In the same year, they summoned her for investigation.
"I am still banned from travel and deprived of knowing the reasons; I am even banned from attending my courts regarding the travel ban, which is my simplest right to defend myself. I can only move to specific cities in the West Bank; what is happening with me is terrorism," Majdoleen said.
Alongside all these violations against Majdoleen just for doing her job, she faced threats from the security services, threats of death, arrest and prosecution, she was subjected to defamation attempts and troll campaigns on social media, and she is still harassed. " I am a journalist, and I chose this profession knowing that it is difficult and requires strength and courage to tell the truth" she refers to violations against her job.
"Because of the threats I am going through, I became afraid even to walk in the street. I see how the Palestinian and Israeli Authorities attack, kill and arrest journalists; I am afraid for my life; I live in a big prison in my home," the journalist awarded the RSF press freedom for independence category in 2021 said. Majdoleen mentioned that she couldn't hand this award due to being forbidden from traveling.
The 2021 Prize for Independence has been awarded to the Palestinian journalist @Majdoleen_H. She is subject to a ban on leaving the territory that had been issued by Israeli intelligence “for security reasons.”but decided to resume reporting there.#RSFAwards2021 pic.twitter.com/0rJCyXwRWa
— RSF (@RSF_inter) November 18, 2021
Majdoleen, won Anti-Corruption Award in 2013, which the Anti-Corruption Commission organized in cooperation with the Media Center at Birzeit University, the Journalists Syndicate and the Palestinian Ministry of Justice. With sorrow, she said that all she is seeking is to have an ordinary life, "I need to move, travel and work freely, have a normal life in which I can live with my husband safely and settle down".
The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) stands in solidarity with the Palestinian journalist Majdoleen Hassona and calls to stop the attacks against her immediately; we extended support for her. CFWIJ believe that Palestinian women journalists are unjustifiably targeted, which must be addressed; women journalists in Palestine feel isolated and routinely attacked; we continue to document the threats and assaults against female journalists in Palestine.
CFWIJ asks Israeli and Palestinian authorities to stop using intimidating and threatening journalists simply for doing their job. We urge the authorities to respect press freedom, allowing journalists to report without intimidation, interference, or fearing consequences.
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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