Gaza - Press House
On Thursday, June 9, 2022, Press House – Palestine, honored the winners of its Annual Media Freedom Award for the year 2022, during a ceremony organized at the Lighthouse Restaurant in Gaza City.
Mrs. Torun Vesti, the Norwegian Ambassador to Palestine, was present at the Annual Press House Award ceremony for Media Freedom for the year 2022, as were representatives from Egypt and France, as well as a number of media professionals, writers, intellectuals, and new journalists and media activists.
Mr. Belal Jadallah, Head of Board at Press House welcomed the ambassador of Norway and the attendees, emphasizing that Press House is constantly working to promote freedom of opinion and expression in Palestine, support independent media, and improve media professionalism.
Jadallah expressed his heartfelt gratitude to journalists who work very hard to convey the truth, no matter what the cost or the circumstances, and prayed for mercy on the souls of journalists who died defending freedom of speech and the voice of truth at the hands of the Israeli occupation, which makes no distinction between Palestinians and others, as we recently lost our colleague Sherin Abo Aqla.
Jadallah said: “Every year, we celebrate the announcement of the winners of the annual Press House Award, which is given to encourage the most number of journalists to work on important topics such as freedom of expression, democracy, community reconciliation, national unity, tolerance, humanitarian issues, women's and youth issues, and these topics are what distinguishes Press House, to encourage the most number of journalists to work on these important topics that affect the Palestinian media discourse”
Jadallah expressed gratitude to the media judging committees for their professionalism and honesty in selecting the winners based on the award's criteria.
He also expressed gratitude to all media workers who have made and continue to make significant sacrifices in order to provide the word, voice, and image, with specific thanks to the staff at Press House and the unit for journalistic legal protection.
Ms. Torun Vesti, the Norwegian Ambassador to Palestine, confirmed that her government continues supporting media freedom in Palestine and supports capacity-building initiatives between Norwegian and Palestinian universities at the annual Press House award for Media Freedom for 2022.
"We work with activists who aim to protect human rights in the digital sector, and our long-term relationship with Press House here in Gaza is the cornerstone of our efforts" .
"It's difficult to get past the importance of the work carried out by Press House, and this award is a tribute to those who fight for truth on the front lines, and it's an acknowledgment of the invaluable service you provide your community," she added.
She emphasized that permitting disinformation, violence, and impunity to spread will increase the terrible consequences, as Press Freedom is required to promote democracy and improve the peace horizon.
The Norwegian ambassador emphasized that media freedom is not only a necessary component of a healthy democratic society, but also a critical issue in achieving other fundamental human rights values such as freedom of expression and freedom of society.
"Strengthening press freedom is a key priority in Norwegian foreign policy, especially in Palestine," she added, noting that Norway had recently established a new strategy to promote freedom of expression and democracy.”
The writer and novelist Abdullah Tayeh received the Writer Appreciation Award for 2022 from Press House, while Palestinian journalist Nafouz Al-Bakri received an appreciation award for her efforts in the media.
From his part, the journalist Mohammed al-Baba, spoke on behalf of the jury committees for the annual press House award for media freedom in 2022, explaining that the jury committees were formed by the Press House to evaluate the Advanced Media materials for its Annual Media Freedom Award in 2022, in two categories, namely the written Press story and photojournalism.
At the conclusion of the ceremony, the following were revealed as the recipients of the Annual Press House Award for Media Freedom for the year 2022:
Mohamed Zaanoun, photojournalist, won the photojournalism category.
Shirin Khalifa, journalist, won the Press story category.
