The New York Times · New York, New York · 28 July 1997

CP-1997-025

At Palestinian Papers, Money Is as Elusive As Freedom

By JUDITH MILLER

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Transcribed from the clipping

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Just as Palestinians are struggling to establish a state of their own, an independent Palestinian press is fighting to be born. So far, neither effort has been easy.

For Arabic-language Palestinian newspapers in Jerusalem, the neighboring West Bank and the Gaza Strip, political turmoil, censorship and intimidation have combined with soaring paper and printing costs and a severe recession to make publishing an extremely risky venture.

Moreover, competition is fierce among the three leading dailies — for market share, the skimpy number of advertisers, and readers. Israel continues to censor the Jerusalem-based Arabic press, but things are not that different on the Palestinian side of the military checkpoints.

While the Palestinian Authority, Yasir Arafat’s government, does not formally censor newspapers, its corruption and heavy-handed crackdown on Islamic and secular dissent, among other things, have made it increasingly unpopular. Rather than censor, it is inclined to intimidate papers on the rare occasions they report on official abuses.

The Palestinian press law enacted in 1995 ostensibly guarantees a free press — as do most Arab states, at least in theory — and the “absolute right” of every Palestinian “to express his opinion in a free manner either orally, in writing, photography, or drawing.” But self-censorship, editors agree, is often more insidious than official control.

“You can’t have genuine freedom of the press without real democracy,” said Khaled Amayreh, an American-educated columnist who writes for non-Palestinian Arabic-language newspapers and for several English-language journals.

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