Interview: Egyptian Journalists’ Advantages to be Given to Palestinian Peers, Syndicate Chief Tells AWP
(AWP) - Khaled Al-Balshi, Chairman of the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists, said that Egyptian journalists’ advantages, in terms of subsidies, medical treatment, and training, will be given to their Palestinian peers, particularly those working in the Gaza Strip.
“The syndicate council has announced that it will adopt the requests it has received from Palestinian journalists working in Gaza,” Balshi said in an interview with the Arab World Press (AWP) during the annual iftar banquet hosted by the syndicate on March 31.
The banquet coincided with the 83rd anniversary of the syndicate, as well as with Palestinian Land Day.
The Gaza journalists’ requests included the option to have themselves and their families treated in Egypt, their residency renewed, and their children enrolled in Egyptian schools and universities.
“We have taken some important measures. They will have a right to medical treatment, for instance. This will happen through the syndicate’s liaising with the state, which can offer them treatment in one way or another. The syndicate may pay the costs of their treatment through subsidy funds, or even from the syndicate’s own funds,” said Balshi.
Palestinian journalists are “most welcome at the syndicate, after they have obtained an honorary membership. If there are training courses given by the syndicate, they will be enrolled at the same terms under which Egyptian journalists are accepted. This is an initiative of the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists in general,” he noted.
The chief Egyptian journalist said that the requests from Palestinian journalists in Gaza could not be rejected, in the light of the hardships they face in their job.
“Some colleagues were concerned that financial dues from the state would be withheld. There are some legal rights we cannot act over, because they have to do with the system of membership inside the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists,” stressed Balshi.
He pointed out that the syndicate, however, would provide all benefits possible within the framework of the reporting profession, including medical treatment and enrollment at schools.