Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory
The Israeli government has cracked down on free expression of writers and public intellectuals in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas. More than 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory strikes, raising fears that they have been deliberately targeted. Palestinian writers, journalists, bloggers, and creative artists in Israel and the West Bank face censorship, harassment, and detention, placing Israel in the top 10 jailers of writers worldwide. Israel’s bombing campaign against Hamas has destroyed much of Gaza’s cultural infrastructure, including all 12 of its universities.
What You Need to Know
Following the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas, Israeli authorities conducted a wide-ranging crackdown on free expression, placing Israel in the Freedom to Write Index’s top 10 for the first time, at fifth place with 17 Palestinian writers behind bars.
Israel is holding 8 of the 17 writers counted in the Index in administrative detention, which requires neither evidence nor formal charges and allows Israel to hold them indefinitely.
The war in Gaza has claimed the lives of more journalists than any other conflict over the last nearly 25 years.
News
Individual Cases
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Ahed Tamimi
Status: Conditional ReleaseTamimi, a Palestinian activist, is author of They Called Me a Lioness. In November 2023, she was arrested in the… More
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Mosab Abu Toha
Status: Displaced/In ExileAbu Toha is a poet and essayist. In 2017 he opened Gaza’s first English-language library, and in 2022, he published… More
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Dareen Tatour
Status: Continued HarassmentTatour, a Palestinian citizen of Israel, was detained in 2015 for her poetry and social media posts and kept under… More
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Mustafa Sheta
Status: DetainedSheta, known for his activism, is a columnist and producer at The Freedom Theatre. In early December 2023, the Israeli… More
Free Expression and the War Between Israel and Hamas
A collection of PEN America’s statements and free expression resources for the domestic challenges presented by the war between Israel and Hamas.