Press and Cultural Freedom In Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine Annual Report 2013 SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom Samir Kassir Foundation Cover picture: This report is dedicated to James Foley, Edouard Elias, Samir Kassab, Austin Tice, Nicolas Hénin, Pierre Torres, Javier Espinosa, Ricardo Garcia Vilanova, Didier François, Isaac Moctar, Bashar Fehmi Al-Qadoumi, and all other journalists kidnapped while covering the conflict in Syria. © 2014 Samir Kassir Foundation Address: 63 Zahrani Street, Sioufi, Ashrafieh, Beirut - Lebanon Tel/Fax: (961)-1-397331 Email:
[email protected] http://www.skeyesmedia.org The contents of this report are the sole responsibility of the Samir Kassir Foundation and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Translation: Nada Sleiman English editing: Eric Reidy Graphic design: Jamal Awada Printing: Chemaly & Chemaly, Beirut PRESS AND CULTURAL FREEDOM IN 2013 - LEBANON, SYRIA, JORDAN AND PALESTINE Contents FOREWORD 5 SKEYES IN 2013 7 LEBANON 11 SYRIA 22 SYRIA - CULTURAL SPOTLIGHT 38 JORDAN 40 PALESTINE 44 PALESTINE - CULTURAL SPOTLIGHT 59 PROSPECTS 61 FRENCH VERSION 65 3 PRESS AND CULTURAL FREEDOM IN 2013 - LEBANON, SYRIA, JORDAN AND PALESTINE Foreword Breaking the Silence Ayman Mhanna In 2013, the SKeyes Center continued its consistent monitoring of violations against media and cultural actors in the Levant region. If the nature of these violations has not changed over the last three years, their intensity and the level of violence involved have increased dramatically. The pages of this report are full of details about the killings in Syria, where more than 140 journalists, citizen journalists, writers, artists, and intellectuals lost their lives in 2013.