AMMAN, 13 December 2006 — The Jordanian Press Association (JPA) yesterday condemned what it called an “aggression” by lawmakers on a number of reporters and photographers during their coverage of the lower house session. The JPA council, which held an emergency meeting, said that several reporters were “beaten and their cameras either destroyed or smuggled” during their coverage of the House of Representatives’ deliberations.
“The JPA council condemns this aggression to which a number of colleagues were exposed as they performed their professional duties,” a statement said.
It urged the chief editors and journalists working in the country’s daily newspapers to “boycott until further notice” the sessions and activities of the lower house of parliament as a “gesture of solidarity” with their colleagues.
The journalists’ syndicate also urged the chamber to “ensure adequate protection to reporters to enable them to perform their duties and to reconsider the relationship between journalists and legislators so as mutual respect is assured.”
Editors in chief of Jordan’s five daily newspapers also issued a statement denouncing “this unjustified behavior on the part of deputies, who are supposed to be the protectors of democracy and the constitutional right of the press to conduct coverage of public affairs.”
They pledged to boycott the house’s sessions until a number of steps were taken, including “an apology for this action that runs counter to democracy, breaks the law and reflects a mistaken attitude toward the press and its role.” The lower house was also the scene yesterday for verbal exchanges between two pro-government deputies as the chamber started debate on the government’s 2007 budge projections.
Four major Arabic-language dailies on Monday decided to boycott Parliament, a joint statement said. The incident occurred when photojournalists were taking pictures of a fistfight that broke out at the lower house involving some deputies, said the editors in chief of Al-Rai, Al-Dustour, Al-Ghad and Al-Arab Al-Yawm.
Meanwhile, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) yesterday launched a new emergency appeal for collecting $246 million in 2007 to address the exacerbating humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories. “Unbearable economic pressure has been applied to a people under occupation. Those who have clearly paid the greatest price are the vulnerable - the poor, the sick, the elderly and the children,” UNRWA’s Deputy Commissioner General Filippo Grandi said as he launched the appeal at a press conference.
“The crisis that began in September 2000 has deepened dramatically during 2006, as a result of the international isolation of the Palestinian Authority (PA) following the January elections,” he added.
