FRONTLINE/WORLD . ISRAEL/PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - In the Line of Fire . Links & Resources
Article 19

This British group takes its name from the article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights that protects free expression. Its Web site includes a virtual handbook on press freedom and censorship, with documents on print media, film and the Internet.

Cartoonists Rights Network

Journalists aren't the only media professionals who get in trouble for their work. The Cartoonists Rights Network keeps track of editorial cartoonists who have been censored or punished for taking pokes at the powerful. This Web site features short profiles of cartoonists and samples their most irreverent work.

Committee to Protect Journalists

The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented and protested against abusive treatment of journalists worldwide since 1981. Its Web site includes its list of journalists killed during the past 10 years and its picks for the 10 worst places to be a journalist.

Freedom Forum

The Freedom Forum promotes First Amendment rights and ethnic diversity in American newsrooms. It runs an online Newseum with exhibits on major stories of the past century and monthly profiles of award-winning photojournalists.

Index on Censorship

This quarterly British magazine publishes a regularly updated list of free speech violations in more than 70 countries. Its Web site features current news and analysis of international press restrictions.

International Federation of Journalists

The International Federation of Journalists is the world's largest organization of journalists, with 450,000 members in more than 100 countries. The group supports journalists who wish to organize independent trade unions and provides aid to journalists in need.

International Press Institute

The International Press Institute, based in Vienna, has opposed infringements on press freedoms for more than 50 years. The group recounts the stories of individual journalists and honors 50 press freedom heroes on its Web site.

PEN America

This well-known writers' organization defends free expression and publicizes abuses against all kinds of writers, including reporters, novelists and poets.

Reporters Sans FrontiÃ¨res

This French press watchdog organization keeps track of those who attempt to silence independent journalists. The group's trilingual Web site includes reports on the current state of press freedom in every country and a list of currently imprisoned journalists.

UNESCO

Each year, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization commemorates World Press Freedom Day on May 3. Established in 1991, the day is meant to remind governments around the world, and the public, of the importance of a free, independent press.

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APTN cameraman Nazeh Darwazeh, killed in clash, was often on the front lines

On April 19, 2003, Nazeh Darwazeh, a Palestinian cameraman for the Associated Press Television News (APTN), was shot to death while covering clashes between IDF troops and Palestinians in the West Bank city of Nablus.

CPJ Outraged by Shooting Death of Palestinian Cameraman

Read here the response of the Committee to Protect Journalists to the shooting death of Associated Press Television News (APTN) Palestinian cameraman Nazeh Darwazeh.

"Israelis Kill British TV Cameraman"

This article, published in the May 4th 2003 edition of The Sydney Morning Herald, describes the fatal shooting of British cameraman James Miller, who at the time of his death was filming a documentary for HBO about the impact of terrorism upon children in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

The Last Photograph

In this harrowing account published in the July 26th 2002 edition of the Israeli paper Ha'aretz, columnist Gideon Levy describes the fatal shooting of Palestinian freelance journalist Imad Abu Zahra in Jenin.

Reporters Sans FrontiÃ¨res - Issam Hamza Tillawi

On September 22nd, 2002, Issam Hamza Tillawi, a host and journalist for the Voice of Palestine, was killed by a shot in the back of head while on assignment. Read this bulletin from the French organization, Reporters Sans FrontiÃ¨res, for more information about the circumstances of his fatal shooting.

Attacks Against Journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Since September 2000

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recently published the names of journalists harassed, beaten and killed in the West Bank and Gaza since Septermber 2000 through May 2002. A brief account follows each entry. In the report, CPJ contends, "(t)hat since May 2002, 4 journalists have been killed in the Occupied Territories -- all by Israeli gunfire".

The Daniel Pearl Foundation

During his career at the Wall Street Journal, journalist Daniel Pearl gained a reputation for brilliant reporting and original writing. The foundation founded in his honor remembers his accomplishments and encourages journalists, young writers and musicians to follow in his footsteps. The Wall Street Journal has also put some of Pearl's best stories online.

Death of an Irish Heroine

In June 1996, investigative reporter Veronica Guerin was shot and killed in Dublin. Guerin, who had made a name exposing Ireland's criminal underworld, had already been shot and assaulted in retaliation for her investigations. In March 2002, the conviction of the man sentenced to life in prison for murdering Guerin was overturned. In this profile, a BBC correspondent pays tribute to Guerin.

Freedom Forum Online Memorial

The Freedom Forum maintains an online memorial for journalists and photographers killed on the job over nearly two centuries. The list starts with James Lingan, who was stomped to death in Baltimore in 1812 by an angry mob upset by his reporting about local politicians. Other honorees include legendary war photographer Robert Capa, killed by a mine in Vietnam in 1954, and Mozambican investigative journalist Carlos Cardoso, killed in November 2000 after reporting on government corruption.

Impunity No More

This Web site, produced by the Inter American Press Association, honors Latin American journalists killed for their reporting on corruption, crime and human rights abuses. It includes profiles of recently slain journalists as well as the results of investigations into their deaths. Featured journalists include Brazilian television reporter Tim Lopes, killed in June 2002 while reporting on drug trafficking in Rio de Janeiro, and Jean Leopold Dominique, a prominent Haitian radio reporter shot dead outside his station in April 2000.

Postcards From Hell

Italian freelance photographer Raffaele Ciriello was killed by gunfire from an Israeli tank while covering a gun battle in Ramallah in March 2002. He was the first foreign journalist to be killed since the current cycle in the Israel-Palestinian conflict began in September 2000. His personal Web site, Postcards From Hell, maintained by his supporters, presents striking images from Afghanistan, Kosovo, Sierra Leone and other places around the globe where he worked.

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Battlefield Bylines

During the Vietnam War, American journalists had nearly unfettered access to the action on the ground. That changed during the Gulf War, when the Pentagon announced strict new rules for reporters following U.S. troops on the battlefield. This PBS NewsHour segment looks at how the Pentagon and the press are negotiating their often tense relationship as another major war approaches.

Into Harm's Way

"In this business, there's always the sense that you're telling them to be careful, but with a wink and a nod, because you want the story," says Bill Spindle, who edits Middle East news for The Wall Street Journal, in this frank discussion of potential dangers to journalists in the upcoming war on Iraq.

Danger: Media at Work

This op-ed by Chris Cramer, president of CNN international networks, discusses risks to journalists in the field and defends the practice of "embedding" journalists with the military in the context of a war with Iraq.

Ten Days in Colombia

In January 2003, American freelance journalist Robert Young Pelton and two companions were kidnapped by right-wing paramilitaries in a remote part of Colombia. After 10 days, they were released unharmed. (Two British journalists working for the Los Angeles Times were also kidnapped and released by leftist rebels around the same time.) Young recounts his experience in this interview with National Geographic. Asked how others might prepare to travel in the area where he was seized, Young advises, "[Y]ou have to have a group of armed men with you."

Frontlines and Deadlines

As reporters head off to hot spots like Afghanistan and the Middle East, an increasing number are first enrolling in "boot camp" courses to teach them survival skills. In this story, the PBS NewsHour reports on a training course for journalists in Virginia. The story outlines how reporters from the United States can better prepare themselves for tough foreign assignments.

Danger: Journalists at Work

"No story is worth your life. You are more important than the story," advises the International Federation of Journalists in this list of safety tips for journalists.

A Practical Guide for Journalists

For journalists working in dangerous places, Reporters Sans FrontiÃ¨res presents this concise guide to keeping safe. The handbook includes tips for avoiding violent situations and dodging mines, snipers and ambushes.

The Target

The death of Daniel Pearl made a lot of journalists think twice about their safety. In this New York Times Magazine piece, longtime war correspondent Scott Anderson says that he has felt more at risk lately. During the past decade, he writes, combatants have stopped viewing journalists as observers and started seeing them as potential targets. (Registration required.)

U.S. State Department Travel Warnings

The State Department publishes regular reports on potential risks and dangers, from health risks to political violence, faced by Americans abroad.

What to Bring Into the Field

In this excerpt from his book Pen & Sword: A Journalist's Guide to Covering the Military, Ed Offley provides some packing tips for journalists planning to head to a war zone. Sturdy, comfortable clothing is a must -- as long as it's not in camouflage design.

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Israelis and Palestinians are not just fighting over borders and land; they are also fighting over the roots and the meaning of their conflict. Each side claims its own version of the facts, events and even the most important dates that tell the story of this century-old struggle. The debate is so contentious that it is often difficult for outsiders to sift through competing claims. The following sites explore the deep split between Israelis and Palestinians without choosing sides.

Images in Conflict

Israeli and Arab television channels present vastly different views of the conflict to their viewers. In a conflict already fueled by fierce passions, do these regional outlets provide perspective or propaganda? This PBS NewsHour report looks at this question. Included is a discussion of Middle Eastern media in the age of satellite television and Al-Jazeera.

Promises

In 1995, filmmakers B.Z. Goldberg and Justine Shapiro began interviewing Israeli and Palestinian children about their lives in and around Jerusalem. Their Emmy Award-winning documentary Promises presents portraits of seven Palestinian and Israeli children who live just miles from each other but are separated by physical, political and cultural obstacles. The PBS program P.O.V. presents an online look at the making of the film and the response it has received.

Shattered Dreams of Peace: The Road From Oslo

The 2002 failure of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks has highlighted each side's competing visions for the future. This FRONTLINE episode looks at what went wrong and presents online interviews, documents and readings on the topic. The Web site also includes excerpts from Eric Black's book Parallel Realities, examining "the dialogue of two monologues" that both binds and separates Israelis and Palestinians.

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