Field Update

On Wednesday
evening, 26 January 2011, five persons, including an armed one, broke into the
office of Palmedia Company in Nablus and damaged its contents, after Dr. ‘Abdul
Sattar Qassem had an interview in the office with al-Jazeera Satellite
Channel. This attack is part of the
state of security chaos and proliferation of weapons prevailing in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (OPT).

According to
investigations conducted by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), at
approximately 15:25 on Wednesday, 26 January 2011, five persons wearing
civilian clothes, including an armed one, broke into the office of Palmedia
Company on the 7^th floor of Nablus Commercial Compound in the
northern West Bank City of Nablus. They
asked the staff about Dr. ‘Abdul Sattar Qassem, professor of political science
in an-Najah University, and the staff told them that he had left the office, so
they left the office. About 10 minutes
later, the five persons came back to the office and damaged the office’s
equipment, including doors, windows and a video camera. They then left the office. 

The Palestinian
police arrived at the office and initiated an investigation. The administration of the company also
submitted a complaint to the Attorney-General’s office.

It is worth
noting that Dr. Qassem had participated through the office of Palmedia Company
in a program of al-Jazeera Satellite Channel on documents revealed by the
channel on the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.

PCHR condemns
this attack, which is part of the state of security chaos prevailing in the
OPT, and calls upon the Attorney-General’s office to seriously investigate it
and bring the perpetrators to justice.