RAMALLAH, June 23, 2014 (WAFA) - ‘This Week in
Palestine’ magazine, in a press release Monday, condemned the Israeli occupation
forces breaking into the premises of a graphic design company and two
nonpolitical and youth magazines,
calling on the U.S. and the UN to voice its opinion on these barbaric actions.
Israeli forces Sunday broke into the company
premises of Turbo Computers and Software Co. Ltd., a graphic design firm established
in 1985 and publisher of This Week in Palestine magazine, and into the premises
of its sister company, Jeel Publishing Co. Ltd., publisher of the Arabic youth,
magazine Filistin Ashabab.
The release said that seven computers,
including the servers were confiscated, severely hampering the companies'
operating capacity.
Sani
Paul Meo, General Manager of the Magazine said, “As private-sector companies,
we deplore such an action which not only clearly violates our personal rights,
including freedom of expression, but also jeopardizes the livelihood of our
employees”
During our 28-year history, we have had no
affiliation with any political faction. Our work includes graphic design and
print-management services offered to a large number of institutions, both local
and international, including the Office of the President. This Week in
Palestine is a 15-year-old nonpolitical cultural publication that promotes and
documents Palestine, and Filistin Ashabab is a platform for Palestinian youth
to express and develop their writing skills as well as their photography and
artistic skills, stated the release.
We call upon the international community,
particularly the US and the EU authorities that have been trying to encourage
the development of the Palestinian private sector, to voice its opinion on
these barbaric actions and recognize the obstacles that we face as a people
under military occupation. Our full economic potential will never be realized
if actions like this continue – actions that threaten our investments and, more
importantly, the livelihood of our people.
The attack on This Week in Palestine and
Filistin Ashabab is a message to our readers that they might be deprived of
access to these two independent Palestinian publications. But we want to assure
them that we will continue to publish both magazines, despite the hardships, in
order to continue to play our part in building the independent, secular, and
pluralistic society that we all dream of.
We question the uncivilized manner in which we
were violated and our computers confiscated. With today's technology anyone
with adequate resources can easily tap into any system and have total access to
its files. As totally transparent companies, we have nothing to hide and we
pose no security threat to anyone.
We demand the immediate restoration of our
computers, and we hold the Israeli authorities responsible for the integrity of
the data that we have collected and worked on for over two decades. Finally, we
reserve the right to claim reparation for damages incurred, and to consider
legal action, both locally and internationally, the release concluded.
T.R.
