Any Palestinian journalists who meet with Israeli colleagues will be expelled from the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the West Bank, the group warned on Thursday.

The warning followed a meeting that took place last week between Israeli and Palestinian journalists on the occasion of World Free Press Day.

Similar meetings have also taken place over the past few months in France, Norway and Germany, prompting the Fatah-dominated journalists syndicate to issue the warning.

“We are opposed to such meetings because they are designed to achieve normalization with Israel,” said a senior member of the journalists syndicate in Ramallah. “Any member who meets with Israeli journalists will be fired.”

Last week, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in Ramallah boycotted a ceremony organized by the US Consulate on the occasion of World Free Press Day.

The syndicate accused the US of being biased in favor of Israel and threatened to expose the identity of any Palestinian journalist who accepts the invitation. (© 1995-2011, The Jerusalem Post 05/11/12)