Tuesday, March 30, 2010
So a group of Palestinian Arab journalists from both Gaza and the West Bank come to Israel for an event to meet Israeli colleagues and now they're being shunned and threated by both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. Do I have to point out what this means about the type of society these people operate in? What it means for those trying to convince people that all that has to happen is for Israel to give more and the PA will form a normal state like magic? That if these were Israeli journalists being treated like this all those oh so important groups supposedly protescting Israeli "civil society" would be out screaming like mad and saying the whole project wasn't worth defending anymore instead of sitting on the sidelines in utter silence? Palestinian reporters urged to 'repent'
Journalists who met Israeli colleagues face expulsion from Fatah-run syndicate.
Palestinian journalists who last week met with their Israeli colleagues and an IDF spokesman in Tel Aviv have come under fire from both Hamas and Fatah.
The trip was arranged by the non-profit Israel advocacy group The Israel Project, whose Web site described the group as "an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace."
The journalists met with Maj. Avichai Edri, head of the Arabic-language branch of the IDF Spokesman's Office.
Three of the journalists - Lana Shaheen, Mueen al-Hilu and Abdel Salam Abu Askar - are from the Gaza Strip, while another two are from the West Bank.
They now face expulsion from the Fatah-controlled Palestinian Journalists Syndicate on charges of promoting normalization with Israel.
The syndicate decided to establish a committee to question the journalists who went to Tel Aviv about their motives and the identity of the party behind the invitation.
The syndicate is also planning to hold an emergency meeting next week to discuss punitive measures against Palestinian journalists who defy a ban on normalization of relations with Israel.
Hamas has also condemned the Palestinian journalists as "collaborators." Hamas officials claimed that some of the journalists were known as supporters of Mohammed Dahlan, a former Fatah security commander in the Gaza Strip...
It's essential that a totalitarian state not allow "normalization" among the proles or it would undermine their ability to keep the war going and maintain their power.
