"Nowhere to Run": Israel Fires Over 500 Strikes in Gaza, Civilian Toll Grows in Humanitarian Crisis

[polly7]

12. I can see your problem with him, he's Palestinian.

Awards

In 2008, Omer was awarded the 2007 Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism.[14] In the award citation, Omer was honored as "the voice of the voiceless" and his reports were described as an "humane record of the injustice imposed on a community forgotten by much of the world.".[15] Noam Chomsky said he had been following Omer's work for several years, and was pleased to learn of his award, "an honor that he richly deserves." He went on, he "...has continued his work with courage and integrity. It is no exaggeration to say that he can serve as a model of honorable journalism,".[16] He was also awarded the Ossietzky Prize by Norwegian P.E.N in 2009. Norwegian P.E.N is a branch of P.E.N International. The Prize was awarded for "outstanding achievements within the field of free expression".[17] He was also given an honorable mention in Pulse Media's 20 Top Global Media Figures of 2009.[18]

“Best Youth Voice” (2006).[19]
Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism (2008) [14]
Ossietzky Prize (2009)[20]
Press Freedom Prize (2009) [21]

Omer was raised in the Rafah refugee camp at the southern end of the Gaza Strip near the Egyptian border. Mohammed began working to support his family at age six when his father was in an Israeli prison. In time, he landed a job at a backpack factory and since then has built an impressive resume as a translator, journalist, and program coordinator."[22]

Mohammed graduated with dual Bachelor degrees, English and Literature, from the Islamic University of Gaza in June 2006.[23]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammed_Omer

"Mohammed Omer was returning home from Europe with great pride, having been distinguished with the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. The prize is given every year with great fanfare to frontline reporters who take great risks to report their stories.

Omer, who is also the recipient of the New America Media's Best Youth Voice Award, was detained on his way back from Europe, trying to cross back home into the Gaza strip via Jordan and the West Bank. Omer, knowing the dangers he would face coming back from Gaza, had the assistance of the Dutch diplomatic core in the West Bank to escort him back through Israel into the northern Gaza strip's Erez crossing.

But even this proved to be a worthless effort -- at the Allenby crossing between Jordan and the occupied West Bank, Omer was detained, humiliated, interrogated, beaten and tortured, according to Omer, by Israeli Shin Bet agents. What follows is a Flashpoints interview with Mohammed Omer from his hospital bed in central Gaza, where he was finally transported after he received critical wounds, including fractured ribs and an injured trachea, from the Israeli forces."

Mohammed Omer: If I want the message, it should go first to the Israeli secret police. I tell them, before I’m Palestinian, I’m a human being. And they should judge me and they [should] treat me as a human being, as a human being that deserves to live in dignity and be well treated. I feel sorry that they treat me badly. They torture me. I was hoping that they would make it easy for me because I’m getting the truth out of Gaza. But obviously, as someone told me, they don’t want me back in Gaza because the Israeli agent said to me, “If I knew that you would be coming back to Gaza, I wouldn’t have let you out in the first place.” For the Committee of Journalists’ Protection, I appeal to them to protect the rights of journalists. We are being abused, we are being tortured, arrested, and some are even killed. And no one cares. We are all human beings. Enough is enough.. It’s time to move, to protect freedom of exhibition, to protect journalists simply because they are telling the truth and getting the message across. We are not with any party of this conflict. We are just reporting the truth as it is. And we will continue to do so.

http://www.zcommunications.org/award-willing-palestinian-journalist-mohammed-omer-detained-strip-searched-and-beaten-by-israeli-occupation-security-forces-on-his-return-to-illegally-occupied-gaza-by-mohammed-omer