Julie Webb-Pullman: SCOOP Scoops An Award In Gaza!

Translation by Ibraheem Ghunaim

The Gaza Government Media Office (GMO) today held a ceremony at the Commodore Hotel entitled “Awarding Media Excellence” to honour those who made an outstanding contribution to the media coverage of the Battle for Dignity hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners and their supporters.

The event was held under the auspices of the Prime Minister Ismail Hanneyeh, and addressed by Hassan Abu Hasheesh, Head of the GMO, Minister of Detainees’ Affairs Dr Atallah Abu Sabeh, freed prisoner Abu Ibraheem, and Al Quds reporter Hanadi Nasrallah.

Hassan Abu Hasheesh thanked all local and international media agencies present for their honourable support, while reminding them that “We celebrate this victory but we cannot put down our pens or close our cameras, as Jerusalem and refugees need our support too.”

He called for the same sort of unity shown during the prisoners issue to now be directed to these other issues.

Dr Attallah Abu Sabeh recalled other occasions in which the media played a significant role in exposing illegal Israeli practices, and congratulated those present on their coverage of the hunger strike, which contributed to its success.

“Words are a powerful weapon for exposing Israeli crimes, and have a great effect on Israel. Media is the main brigade to defend Palestine,” he told the audience.

Abu Ibraheem emphasised that the victory of the hunger strike is historic for several reasons, amongst them being that it is the first time they have achieved a written agreement with the Israeli government. He noted also that the failure of a previous hunger strike in 2004 was due to the absence of media coverage.

“The prisoners watch you all day, they send you a message of thanks,” he said.

Hanadi Nasrallah noted that the goal of the prisoners is to live in dignity, and thanked “the soldiers of the media” for the mastery and accuracy of their reporting of the prisoners’ suffering.

“We need to internationalise the prisoners’ cause,” she added.

Following the speeches, and the screening of a short documentary on the hunger strike, awards were presented to representatives of a number of media agencies who covered the hunger strike from Gaza. Among the international recipients were journalists from Al Jazeera, Egypt, and New Zealand’s SCOOP Independent Media.

Julie Webb-Pullman receiving SCOOP's award from Dr Attallah Abu Sabeh

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Hassan Abu Hasheesh, Head of GMO, opens the ceremony

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