Human Rights Centers Demand Haifa Municipality to Stop Interference of Oversight Teams in the Work of Arab Journalists

SadaNews - Human rights and media centers have called on the Haifa Municipality to stop what they described as interference in the work of Arab journalists within the city, warning of resorting to the judiciary if these practices continue.

The Adalah Center, along with the Adalah Center for Arab Media Freedoms and the Ma'an Center for Equality, sent a letter on Thursday to Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav and the municipality's legal advisor, Einbal Ben Ari, demanding immediate action to stop the interference of municipal oversight teams in the work of journalists during field coverage.

The correspondence clarified that repeated reports indicated that municipal oversight teams have intentionally disrupted broadcasting and filming in the city since the onset of the ongoing war, preventing Arab journalists from continuing their work and threatening them with intrusion into filming locations if coverage continued.

Lawyer Hadeel Abu Saleh confirmed that these measures represent illegal interference that affects press freedom and the public's right to access information, indicating that the municipality has no legal authority to prevent journalists from broadcasting within the city.

The letter added that human rights and media entities had previously approached the municipality regarding this issue, but the interventions persisted, highlighting an incident involving a broadcast by a team from Channel 13 from a site where Arab journalists were prevented from working without any intervention from the municipality.

The letter also pointed out that the Media Center for Arab Media Freedoms had approached the Haifa Municipality on March 5, 2026, following complaints received from journalists about the impediment caused by municipal oversight teams to their work.

Moreover, the Equality Center and municipal council member Sherbel Dakkour approached the municipality on March 8, 2026, demanding urgent intervention to stop these illegal practices, yet the Haifa Municipality continued this behavior despite these appeals.

Additionally, the letter pointed out that a team from the Israeli Channel 13 broadcasted last week from one of the same locations that Arab journalists were barred from broadcasting from by municipal oversight teams, without any objection or intervention. This clearly shows that the intervention of municipal oversight teams is not based on any legal regulations applicable to the location but rather on arbitrary decisions aimed at preventing Arab journalists from performing their duties.

The three centers concluded their letter by emphasizing that they would approach the court if the Haifa Municipality did not respond to their demand to stop these practices.