SWEDEN: Gaza journalist Mohammed Omer al-Moghayer awarded Swedish section of Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Prize 2008

Record ID: 569373

  • Title: SWEDEN: Gaza journalist Mohammed Omer al-Moghayer awarded Swedish section of Reporters without Borders Press Freedom Prize 2008
  • Date: 18th February 2009
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 5th March 2009 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Sweden
  • Country: Sweden
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAUIBIYM184L8YB4SJXU7CWB1P
  • Story Text: Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer al-Moghayer was awarded the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Prize 2008 from the Swedish Section in Stockholm on Tuesday (February 17).
    Presenting Moghayer with a certificate, vice-chair of the Swedish Section of Reporters Without Borders Maria Magnusson read out the award citation: "His courageous reporting gives a voice to the confined and oppressed people of Gaza".
    Moghayer, 24, reports for numerous media outlets, including the Norwegian daily Morgenbladet which was his first international employer, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, the BBC and others. He also founded the Rafah Today blog.
    In his address to the audience, Moghayer said he had wanted to be a writer for as long as he could remember.

    "I have always loved to write and cannot remember the time when I did not make notes of what I observed around me. But the suffering and injustice that my people have been forced to live in made writing more than just a pleasure, it actually made it an obligation," he said.
    In 2006, Moghayer was awarded the Best Youth Voice Award from New American Media and in 2008, he was awarded the 2007 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism.
    He said he was proud to receive the prize and also paid tribute to his colleagues in Gaza and around the world.

    "In my opinion this prize that I won is a new victory for freedom of expression, it's a new victory for the journalists not only in the Gaza strip, the Palestinian Territories but also in all the world. In general it's a victory for freedom of expression and I'm very proud to receive this prize, not only on my behalf but I consider it that I'm receiving it today on behalf of my colleagues in the Gaza strip and the West Bank," he said.
    Moghayer is currently receiving medical treatment in the Netherlands after being assaulted by Israel soldiers while travelling into the West Bank from Jordan last year.
    After receiving the Martha Gellhorn Prize in June 2008, he had travelled back to the Gaza Strip via the West Bank. Moghayer reported that he was stripped to his underwear, humiliated and beaten by Israeli soldiers while travelling into the West Bank from Jordan.
    According to a United Nations report, Moghayer was convinced the brutal assault happened when the security services were frustrated at their inability to confiscate the money he had been awarded.
    When he returned to Gaza, Moghayer was hospitalised and the doctors discovered that he had sustained severe damage in the spine and ribs as a result of the ordeal.
    He said he still suffers from the injuries.
    Moghayer also said he had just received the "bad" news from the Dutch authorities that he will have to leave the country once his visa expires. He said his doctors thought he would not be able to get the necessary treatment in Gaza.
    He had hoped to be able to stay in the Netherlands until fully recovered before returning to Gaza.

    "I have to go back to Gaza, Gaza is my home. I will be back in Gaza sooner or later. I want to continue to be the voice of the voices and to get the message out ot the world because I feel it's the most important thing that I can do as a human being and as a journalist," he said.
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