RAMALLAH, April 22 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian National Authority (PNA) denounced on Sunday the partial demolition of a printing press by Israeli forces near East Jerusalem earlier.
The Palestinian ministry of information accused Israel of "piracy that comes as part of incitement against press establishments that reached 18 in total during the past two years in the Palestinian territories."
The press owner, Rajaee Hamid, confirmed to journalists that "Israeli forces partially demolished Al-Safa Modern Print Press in Bet Anan village, northwest of Jerusalem, and seized its equipment."
Hamid added that the Israeli forces demolished the external wall of the building before storming into it and confiscating printers and computers worth thousands of U.S. dollars, then handed him a military order to shut down the press and ban it from working, effective immediately, noting that he was not notified before.
The information ministry statement called on "all bodies that defend freedom of press to protect media institutions and printing presses in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution 2222."
Last week, Israeli defense minister Avigdor Liberman issued a decision to shut down the "Elia for Media" organization which is allegedly a "terrorist group association" in East Jerusalem.
He tweeted that "the organization appears to a social organization for youth, but, practically, it recruits terrorist activists and equips them to prepare inciting video and support terrorist actions."
The director of the media organization Ahmad Safadi denied the Israeli accusations and stressed that the organization solely works to develop youth capacity in the media sector. He accused Israel of silencing Palestinians.
