Hamas has gone out of its way to court foreign journalists since they took over the Gaza Strip in a violent 2007 coup and kicked out the rival Fatah movement. Playing the part of the open, transparent victims of Israel, the Americans and the Fatah-led Palestinian administration in the West Bank, Hamas boasted of bringing law and order to Gaza's embattled residents.

But beyond the open media coverage of Palestinian suffering at the hands of Israel, journalists trying to cover internal Palestinian divisions and violence have found themselves arrested, had their equipment confiscated and been prevented from covering public events.

Harassment of journalists has reached such levels that the Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents journalists from international news organizations in Israel and the Palestinian territories, felt compelled to issue an extremely rare public rebuke of Hamas over violations of press freedom.

"The FPA condemns in the strongest terms the actions by Hamas security forces during a Yasser Arafat memorial event in Rafah," the organization said in a statement. "International television crews were detained and ordered to turn over news footage to the authorities. This is the latest in what seems to be a systematic campaign by Hamas to harass and intimidate journalists. Our members are professional journalists working for respected global news organizations. We demand that Hamas let journalists do their work and respect the basic right of freedom of the press."

The Palestinians in Gaza have suffered extensively for decades, and continue to find themselves in a unique predicament in which their human and civil rights are regularly violated. There are a number of factors and players at fault, not the least of which are Israeli policies towards the Gaza Strip.

But this is no excuse for blocking journalists trying to cover day to day developments in Gaza. The Hamas government cannot call in journalists to cover civilian suffering at the hands of Israel and then prevent them from covering internal Palestinian tensions and violence.

Call on Hamas to stop the harassment of journalists in the Gaza Strip, to develop a clear and transparent policy on press freedom and to make it public.