We condemn the arrest of the journalist Israel Frey, a member of our forums, who is currently released and under house arrest. He was arrested for a tweet, which many found harsh and controversial. In writing that tweet, he shed a blinding light on the hypocrisy with which each side praises the deaths of enemy fighters while mourning their own; in which the suffering of the general population at the hands of soldiers is ignored.
More importantly, his arrest is a severe challenge to our democracy and the freedom of press that underlies that democracy. If we are to speak out advancing the idea of peace, as Frey does, we must do so without fear, and in the knowledge that others are free to disagree with us, but not to harm us or imprison us for our views.
As members of the Peace Press initiative, we say: We will not be silenced.
Progress on… Social Media
The peace press social media project is a means to bring videos and articles on various themes of peace to the wider public, particularly through the mainstream media. It has been gaining thousands viewers and subscribers in the past few months, due to engaging material as well as a promotional campaign. While most of the featured material is in Hebrew and Arabic, other languages also appear on the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61574946473641
The team is also working to add to the Instagram, YouTube, X as well as the Peace Press web page. https://wasns.org/peace-press
Samah Salaime, founder of the Peace Press, has been interviewed in media around the world, including in the UK and during the Peace Summit in Paris. Following that summit she is working in the “promoting peace in the media” section of the follow-up activism groups. She was also invited to attend the left-wing International Journalism Festival in Italy, where she spoke about losing friends in this war and actively choosing to work for peace, even in wartime.
Palestinian journalist and rapper Tamer Nafar was in Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom at the beginning of June for an evening of protest against the war. His performance, also highlighted on the Peace Press social media, was a call for peace.
