Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian journalist Basel Adra were rewarded for their work on Israeli colonization in the West Bank with the Anna Politkovskaya – Arman Soldin Prize for journalistic courage, the French foreign ministry announced on Tuesday.
Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, in their thirties, are the directors of No Other Landa collective Palestinian-Israeli documentary on colonization in the Masafer Yatta region in the southern West Bank. The film documents the advance of colonization, the destruction of homes and schools in Palestinian villages and the expulsions of residents.
In its press release, the Quai d'Orsay reaffirms “unfailing commitment” from France “in favor of freedom of the press and the unhindered exercise of journalism throughout the world”. Paris “continues to denounce the dangerous conditions in which so many journalists exercise their profession but also the arbitrary detentions to which they are sometimes victims”he adds, recalling that, according to UNESCO, every four days on average, a journalist is killed in the exercise of his duties.
In the Gaza Strip alone, more than 130 journalists have been killed since October 7 and the start of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. “The protection of journalists is essential to guarantee access to free, independent, pluralistic and reliable information, the cornerstone of democratic vitality”adds the press release.
