Freedom of Opinion and Expression
The Institute of Law at BZU - Gaza in collaboration with the Centre for Development and Media Freedoms "MADA" and the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University, organized on 1st March 2011, a workshop on " Freedom of Opinion and Expression" from a media and legal perspective.
At the beginning of the workshop, the Institute's coordinator, Ms. Lena Al-Tunisi, emphasized the importance of the workshop, since it combines media with law, pointing to the importance of cooperation with the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University, which aims to educate students about legal and societal issues of concern to the Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.
The Journalist Adel Zanoun talked about the concept of media and journalist's ethics, while the Ex- General Manager of Press and Publications at the Ministry of Media, Mr. Tawfiq Abu Shomar, addressed the Press and Publications Law, stating that the media was interested in the dissemination of news and then turned to writing the news, and is now making the event. He explained that media is mainly based on freedom of opinion and expression. He then explained the difficulties jounalists face under the current state of exception, the difficult relaity that Gazans face and the internal division between Fatah and Hamas.
In his intervention, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University, Dr. Abdel-Rahman Abu-Nasr, addressed the offenses against journalists in the Penal Code in force in Gaza Strip. He pointed out that the Penal Code embodies the philosophy of the society as a whole, and that the law in force in Gaza Strip differs from the law in force in the West Bank, and this requires the unification of the panel law. He also stressed the need of drafting a modern panel code based on international agreemnts and human rights law.
The workshop was followed by a panel discussion in which students and participants made significant intervention, which reflected their awareness and interest in the subject, specifically the role of media in making the subulterns speak, especially those subalterns who are fighting for freedom and human dignity.
The workshop was funded by the UNESCO, and was attended by around 50 students of the Faculty of Law at Al-Azhar University.
