Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 26)
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- Democratic Palestine : 11 (ص 26)
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[OJ Presidium Meets in Quito
The international Organization of Journalists (lOJ) held its Presidium
meeting in Quito, Ecuador, from June 28th until July 2nd. Quito was
chosen as the site for the meeting primarily in order to draw interna-
tional attention to the critical economic and political situation prevail-
ing on the Latin American continent.
As is usual, the main document of
the Presidium’s agenda was the report
of |OJ Secretary General Jiri Kubka,
which covered the activities of the Sec-
retariat since the Presidium’s preceding
meeting in New Delhi. Kubka began as
follows: « The work of journalists on each
continent has its specific feature. But
there is one thing that is common to all
our members: with their creative work,
they all wish to create conditions for just
and friendly international relations...We
are fighting for a new information and
communication order. Then it is not
merely a question of historical justice for
the developing countries in the face of a
long period of exploitation and silencing,
but primarily an endeavor to give hear-
ing to the voice of those who by
economic subversion and often violence
are deprived of their freedom and
sovereignty...»
The second important report was
presented by the Federation of Latin
American Journalists Unions (FELAP).
It cast light on the economic crisis of
Latin America, mainly the foreign debt
crisis. It also presented a comprehen-
sive expose of the conditions under
which journalists in several Latin Ameri-
can countries are working.
Karl Nordenstreng, !OJ President,
also addressed the Presidium. In dis-
cussing the lOJ tasks, he said: «In the
first place there is the contribution of the
|OJ and her members to the strengthen-
ing of peace and international under-
standing, for disarmament and an
analysis of the situation of the mass
media of different countries. Special
attention will be dedicated to the situa-
tion of journalists in Latin America where
in many countries disinformation and
suppression of freedom of the press is
accompanied by brutal steps against
journalists...»
Rodrigo Santillan, President of
Ecuador's National Union of Journalists,
26
spoke as follows: «Latin American and
Third World journalists in these systems
of dependent capitalism, exploitation
and injustice are inconvenient witness-
es so the system persecutes, exiles,
tortures and kills journalists...ln our
country freedom of expression cannot
exist as people do not have their own
social means of communication...(Jour-
nalists) are subject to coercion, pressure
and menace in the public as well as in
the private sector...Those who
denounce violations of this liberty are
labelled as sectarians or subversives.
Nevertheless, the journalists of the UNP
have advanced in strengthening their
organizations, because they have joined
people’s organizations in their decision
to establish a really free, democratic,
sovereign and independent state...»
Hernan Uribe spoke on behalf of
FELAP, emphasizing that: «Journalism
is intimately related to social factors. Its
diversity springs from different class
interests. It is false to say that in
antagonistic social formations it repre-
sents the general public opinion. In our
societies, journalism is considered an
industrial activity, an enterprise estab-
lished on the market, while news is mer-
chandise, but we professionals reject
such a view since it deforms the true
journalistic mission...
«According to a UNESCO study,
publicly owned journalism exists in just
eight socialist countries in Europe, ten
nations in Africa, eight in Asia, and
Cuba. In Latin America, Cuba is the
exception - the only socialist country of
the continent, although we could now
mention a share in Nicaragua and to a
lesser extent in Mexico...
«Information is selected and dis-
seminated by the proprietors of the
media, members of the ruling class, who
seek to protect primarily the interests of
this privileged strata while influencing
the receiver of the news coverage... This
journalism reflects only one side of the
reality, defending the interests and way
of life of one class while clashing with the
interests of the majority. This hinders
national development...
«At present, as the consciousness
of the workers and peasants increases,
so does repression. The death and
imprisonment of hundreds of journalists
and closure of information media in
many Latin American countries is
another clear case of disinformation,
through silencing the scarce dissent and
alternative media...»
Palestine - Latin America -
common struggle
lOJ Vice-President Bassam Abu
Sharif spoke, emphasizing that Palesti-
nian journalists will fight side by side with
Latin American journalists for justice,
freedom and peace. He also spoke
about the situation in the Middle East,
highlighting imperialism’s moves to
impose surrendering solutions on the
Palestinians in particular. In this context,
the Amman accord provides a foothold
for the US efforts to impose a solution. At
the same time, the Israeli authorities
continue to confiscate Palestinian land
and build settlements in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip. They are pursuing a
plan to forcibly evict more Palestinians
from their homeland. «The Palestinian
people in occupied Palestine are denied
the right of expression. Palestinian jour-
nalists are exposed to daily attacks by
the occupation forces. Some were kid-
napped, some put under house arrest,
and all subjected to military censor-
ship.»
He also spoke of the attacks by the
Amal movement on the camps in Beirut,
aiming to disarm the Palestinian people
and prevent struggle against the Israeli
forces from South Lebanon. «We
defended our camps and our right to
Carry arms to continue the liberation
struggle...We will always defend our
people and our right to struggle until
establishing our independent state...Our
struggle is part of the international strug-
gle against imperialism, Zionism and
Arab reaction. We are in the same
battlefront with the people of Latin
America...The Nicaraguan people can - هو جزء من
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