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The Israeli authorities are capable of both best and worst practice when it comes to respect for press freedom. Despite military censorship, its press still enjoys latitude that is unequalled in the region.
The Israeli authorities are capable of both best and worst practice when it comes to respect for press freedom. Despite military censorship, its press still enjoys latitude that is unequalled in the region.
However, this record is badly tarnished by Israeli army abuses against journalists in the Palestinian Territories where Israeli security forces operate in a near arbitrary fashion. In addition, for more than two years, Israeli journalists have been, because of their nationality, banned from entering the Territories. Only Amira Hass, of the newspaper Haaretz, flouts this ban by living in Ramallah.
During its military offensive “Cast Lead” in Gaza from 27 December 2008 to 18 January 2009, Israel banned foreign media from the Gaza Strip for “security reasons” This sealing of the territory constituted a serious press freedom violation. Six journalists were killed, two of them while working, and around 15 were wounded in the conflict.
Further, the correspondent for Iranian Arabic-language television al-Alam, Khader Shahine, who was summoned by Israeli police, was arrested on 5 January 2009 for having reported the start of the Israeli in the Gaza strip in the evening of 3 January before censorship was lifted. His assistant, Mohammed Sarhan, was also arrested. Both men were on 13 January charged with “divulging secret information” and “broadcasting information to the enemy in time of war”. They were bailed on 15 January before being sentenced on 14 June 2009 to eight months in prison, six of them suspended.
A decision to close Israel’s commercial office in Doha by the authorities in Qatar prompted Israel on 4 February 2009 to retaliate against journalists working for the Qatar-based television channel al Jazeera, refusing to grant or renew visas and accreditation for its journalists working in Israel or to award any new ones. Israeli authorities on 30 June 2009 arrested two of the TV’s journalists, who boarded the ship “Spirit of Humanity” to cover a campaign by the Free Gaza organisation and they were expelled a few days later.
At least 33 Palestinian journalists were physically assaulted and injured by Israeli soldiers on the West Bank during 2009. The Israeli Army on 25 August 2009 arbitrarily closed Radio Bethlehem 2000 (Sawt Bethlehem 2000) seizing its technical equipment. The military gave no reason for its actions.
Further, any links with enemy state, Syria, continue to be punished. Ata Farhat, correspondent for Syrian public television and the daily El Watan, was arrested for “espionage” at his home in the Golan on 30 July 2007 and was sentenced on 1st February 2009 to six years in prison, three years of which were suspended and fined 6,000 dollars. Since the case was designated a “defence secret”, lawyers for Farhat and the media were forced to keep quiet about it.
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