Posted on October 4, 2011 by Marivel Guzman

Recently I tried to get a membership for International Press Association –IPA

The process seems very easy, you fill your information, your journalist trajectory, photographic experience and few samples of your articles if you are a writer or blogger, now days is more and more frequent to find a blogger good article than a Writer Good Article, any way I went on with the process I went to the terms of service off course I did not read it-usually no ones does-and came back to the membership application, the answers to the form are automatically filled choose format , when the time to choose the country for one of the staff member and Co-Founder of this Online News Service I was trying to get credentials I got to the first problem; Palestine Authority is missing from the Country line, and I remember seen somewhere in the IPA web site that there are certain Hot Spots and those future members belonging from those Hot Spots are scrutinized and if they meet the security requirements a Membership is accepted, off course after paying a fee (the lowest Fee available which is $ 200 US dollars) or $ 250 (Gold Package)yearly member Fee-Press Card Free of Charge– (they advertise)yeah if your dues are paid.
I also read that if you do not find your country you could email a request to support team and they will add your country. So I did and I explain the situation, of Gaza Under Siege- and the the Country Palestine, worth mentioning that Palestine Authority does not appears in Google forms, and in thousands others web sites, Gaza Strip is not even in the Postal Service Area of my United States Postal Service.

Read at the end the response to my inquiry to include Palestine to the Order Form, directed to Len Rapoport, edito in Chief of

Membership in IPA

The reason for the list of Hot Spot countries is because our independent staff members should not be covering crimes, war, violence, bombings, religious ideologies, etc.  We are an organization that covers social events, life styles, sports, travel, culture, etc.

You should visit our latest online publication IMPress to see some of the best staff members and their contributions there.  We don’t cover breaking news, but we do cover trade shows, concerts, media events, but we are not CNN, The New York Times or other newspapers or television stations that broadcast global issues.

Visit our magazine at: http://ipaimpress.com

and also visit our Member Support Blog and read our mission statement there.  Also read some of our support articles as well.

Since we have no way to run security checks on members, it would be foolish for us to issue Press ID with our name on it to those in Hot Countries who’s intent might be to gain access to security sensitive areas using that identification.

Here are some specific articles and pages that might give you a better idea of what we do.

If I can be of further help please let me know.  Now if you want to write about life in Palestine without getting political or slamming Israel or the jews, if you want to write about the food there, culture, history of the country, education, entertainment, sports, concerts, or other topics of interest to our readers then that would be in keeping with our mission.

Sincerely, Len Rapoport President – Editor-In-Chief International Press Association P.O. Box 92 •  Hazlet, NJ 07730-1129 Tel: (732) 888-2777 Fax: (732) 653-0260 “Supporting Ethical Members of the Independent Media”

Website • Member Support Blog Visit Our Newest Publication IMPress Friend Me on Facebook: • Like IPA: On Facebook Join Our Group on FB

To whom it may concern

Hello I m subscribing and paying for the membership of a photojournalist that Lives in Palestine, but Palestine it is not in the order from.
We founded a News Online 2 years ago, and we need credentials.
I m in the US, and the other person in Palestine. I need to pay for booth, from here. And the ID card to be send to Palestine. I see it is in the hot spot countries, but that’s where the news come from.

Thanks for your support and fast answer.

Director and Editor of
Akashma News Online

Marivel Guzman