I'lam Condemns the Attack on Colleague Elias Karram and Fellow Journalists
2013-03-30
I'lam strongly condemns the attack suffered by its colleagues, including fellow journalists Elias Karram and the crew from Al-Jazeera on Saturday afternoon, March 30th, during the annual march to commemorate the martyrs of Land Day. Six Palestinian Arab citizens of Israel were killed in the original 1976 Land Day protests which were held by Palestinians over land confiscation by the Israeli government.
In an interview with a fellow journalist, Karram confirmed that he was suffering from intense back pain in the wake of his assault. He is currently waiting in a house until he and the crew working with him can be evacuated.
I'lam believes that turning what should be a unifying, sacred national event into a bitterly partisan arena is a serious mistake while our society and people are in bad need of pluralism and freedoms of thought and the press, freedoms we have long demanded from oppressive government.
We note in this context that, in parallel with this assault on our colleague Elias Karram, Israeli army forces oppressed fellow journalists at the Qalandia checkpoint during the annual Land Day march in Ramallah.
