Adalah, I’lam and Mossawa Petition Court to Halt Haifa Municipality’s Illegal Harassment of Arab Journalists Reporting on the War

Adalah – The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, alongside the Mossawa Center – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens of Israel and I’lam – The Arab Center for Media Freedom, Development and Research, filed a petition to the Court of Administrative Affairs at the Haifa District Court today. The petition seeks an immediate injunction compelling the Haifa Municipality to cease its municipal inspection teams' interference in the work of Arab journalists within the city. This legal action follows a series of continuous violations that began with the onset of the current war on 28 February 2026.
 

Click here to read the petition (in Hebrew)
 

The petition, submitted by Adalah Attorney Hadeel Abu Salih on behalf of the three organizations, follows a wave of recurring incidents in Haifa over recent weeks. Municipal inspection teams have repeatedly interfered with journalists during live broadcasts and filming, preventing them from carrying out their work. These teams have issued threats and imposed illegal restrictions, despite the police confirming on several occasions that there is no legal prohibition against filming or broadcasting and that journalists are subject only to the standard censorship rules applicable to all media outlets.
 

In the petition, the organizations argued that the municipality’s practices constitute a direct assault on fundamental constitutional rights—most notably freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and freedom of occupation (employment). These rights are the cornerstone of the public's right to know and access information, and they cannot be restricted without explicit legislation. These actions do not merely limit journalists; they represent a grave violation that directly impacts the right of an entire segment of the public, Palestinian citizens of Israel, to access information. The right to know is especially critical under the current circumstances, which demands diligent media coverage and a continuous flow of information from a central location like Haifa.
 

According to the petition, municipal inspectors have systematically pressured Arab journalists to stop broadcasting. These encounters have escalated to:

• Threats of fines or damage to equipment.

• Baseless claims that a "municipal permit" is required for broadcasting.

• Direct threats of arrest or physical assault – in one instance, an inspector threatened a journalist, stating that he would take off his uniform and physically attack the reporter.
   

The petitioners highlight that the Haifa Municipality’s conduct is both systematic and discriminatory, specifically targeting Arab journalists while permitting other media outlets to broadcast from the same locations without interference. The organizations further clarify that neither the Haifa Municipality nor its inspection teams possess the legal authority to obstruct journalistic work. Such practices are arbitrary, and constitute a direct breach of the constitutional rights of both journalists and Arab citizens of Israel. Consequently, the petitioners have requested that the court issue an urgent order to halt this illegal policy immediately.
 

Adalah Attorney Hadeel Abu Salih, who filed the petition,stated:

“The Haifa Municipality’s actions are not anomalous; they are part of a systematic pattern of targeting those perceived to be acting outside the Israeli wartime consensus. We have already witnessed this in the suppression of protests and the targeting of artists and cultural spaces. Now, this overreach has extended to Arab journalists in an attempt to impose illegal censorship. The municipality is engaging in clearly discriminatory and arbitrary practices despite having no authority to police the press, and this unlawful interference must be stopped.”
 

Jafar Farah, Director of the Mossawa Center, stated:

“It seems some within the municipality believe they are the military governor of Haifa. They are deploying the ‘Oz’ unit, established to combat crime and funded by a new tax on Haifa's residents, yet it is being exploited for political purposes, such as removing Arabic-language signs, instead of addressing the crime that plagues the city. The Mayor must stop this political exploitation of municipal staff against Arab journalists specifically and the Arab public in general.”