Honor the agreement you signed

A little over a year ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn, Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz, the PA’s Muhammad Dahlan and the EU reached an agreement to allow Palestinians free movement in and out of the Gaza Strip.

The Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA) signed on November 15, 2005 promised Palestinians freedom of movement of people and goods. A detailed fact sheet published by the Palestinian Monitoring Group shows that since last year, none of the agreement’s provisions have been fully implemented by

Honor the agreement you signed

A little over a year ago, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn, Israeli defense minister Shaul Mofaz, the PA’s Muhammad Dahlan and the EU reached an agreement to allow Palestinians free movement in and out of the Gaza Strip.

The Agreement on Movement and Access (AMA) signed on November 15, 2005 promised Palestinians freedom of movement of people and goods. A detailed fact sheet published by the Palestinian Monitoring Group shows that since last year, none of the agreement’s provisions have been fully implemented by

1. Lifting all restriction on the work of media institutions, media organizations and journalist whether they be in the form of detention or arrest, arbitrary and closing or restricting the work of media organizations.
2. Requesting government to respect international laws and treaties that focus on the issue of the freedom of expression.
3. Governments should separate themselves from the involvement in media. An independent media body can be established that can experience legal immunity. Ministries of Information, where they exist, must be banned.
4. Access to information and citizen’s rights in media must be guaranteed through clear constitutional amendments.
5. Legal and administrative structures must be created that guarantees the establishment and development of community media and community radio without administrative or financial restrictions.
6. Developing a package of media laws that guanrtee press freedom and the freedom of expression and the exercise of media work without restrictions.
7. Activating citizen’s role in the work of media institute by creating a mechanism that allows for the free expression of journalist.
8. Work must commence towards the establishment of a training institute that is professionally equipped. A professional journalistic ethos should be established with the aim of sponsoring the honor and ethics of this profession.
9. New and independent funding sources or public funding must be found in order to empower media organizations with equipment and trained personnel.
10.  Effort must be exerted to empower the courts to be independent so that they can be the only party entrusted to look into media cases and to address them based on principles of democracy and

A changing channel

Daoud Kuttab

November 13, 2006 12:54 PM

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/daoud_kuttab/2006/11/the_al_jazeera_revolution_turn.html

When it first appeared, the new satellite channel broadcast from

One issue that seems to be on the way to resolution, however, is the Palestinian national unity government. Resolving the deadlock in the Palestinian government, especially in regard to accepting previous agreements implying the de-facto recognition of Israel. That would certainly solve a major problem delaying international aid to the Palestinians