Committee to protect journalists denounces Israeli violations

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) denounced Israel's violations of journalists' rights and the restrictions its army imposed on their work during the invasion of the Palestinian territories.

The Israeli occupation forces used threats, intimidation, and, in some cases, potentially lethal force to prevent journalists from covering its military operations, the CPJ said.

The NGO published, on the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day marked on May 3, a report where it named the world's worst places to be a journalist, and put the West Bank at the top of 10 places where dangers and restrictions represent the full range of current threats to press freedom.

At the top of the list is the West Bank, where Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon's government has used extraordinary force to keep journalists from covering its recent military incursion, said the report, which listed other countries where press freedom is at stake.

"In these countries where press freedom is under attack, journalists endure violent assaults, crackdowns by authoritarian regimes, danger from military operations, and harsh financial reprisals designed to bankrupt independent voices," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper.

"Incredibly, in many of these places, journalists still manage to report the news-even under extremely difficult circumstances and at great personal risk," said Cooper."