Nov. 20^th, 2008 UPDATE.

His Excellency Ehud Olmert

Prime Minister

State of Israel

By fax and e-mail

Dear Mr. Prime Minister,

We are gravely concerned about the prolonged and unprecedented denial of access to the Gaza Strip for the international media. For nearly two weeks, the Israeli authorities have prevented journalists accredited by the Israeli Government Press Office from crossing into Gaza. Israel has long facilitated international coverage of Gaza even during times of significant violence, including in the immediate vicinity of the Erez crossing.

We are particularly dismayed by the government's decision to include international journalists among the categories now barred from crossing into Gaza. Throughout this period, Erez has remained open to some traffic. We would welcome an assurance that access to Gaza for international journalists will be restored immediately in the spirit of Israel's longstanding commitment to a free press.

Sincerely,

- David Westin, President of ABC News 

- Pierre Louette, President Directeur Général de l'AFP

- Tom Curley, President and CEO, The Associated Press

- Helen Boaden, Director of BBC News

- Parisa Khosravi, CNN Senior Vice-President of International Newsgathering.

- Robert Hurst, President of News, CTV - Canadian Television

- Bill Keller, Executive Editor, New York Times

- David Schlesinger, Editor-in-Chief, Reuters

- Nikolaus Brender, editor-in-chief of ZDF German Television, Mainz

- David Mannion, Editor-in-Chief, ITV News

- Jörg Schierenbeck, Managing Director, epa european pressphoto agency b.v.

- John Cruickshank, Publisher, CBC News

- John Walcott, Washington Bureau Chief, McClatchy Newspapers

- Russ Stanton, Editor, Los Angeles Times

- Fritz Raff, Chairman ARD German Radio TV

cc. Yaacov Galanti, Adviser to the Prime Minister

Mark Regev, Foreign Press Spokesman

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NACHTRAG: auch der Chefredaktor des Schweizer Fernsehens SF, Ueli Haldimann,  schliesst sich hat sich dem Protest der Kollegin und Kollegen angeschlossen, ebenso der Auslandschef des österreichischen Fernsehens ORF, Andreas Pfeifer