wojo!!!!
24.09.02, 06:09
Zawsze tak bylo i to jest arabska norma ,zastraszanie
dziennikarzy ,konfiskowanie materialow i naklanianie do pisania
klamliwych artykulow o Izraelu przez palestynow Arafata.
Groza smiercia , torturuja i potem morduja opornych dziennikarzy
skrytobojczo.
Czytaj jeden z wielu prawie codziennych reportazy na ten temat ,
"arabska demokracja" :
Sep. 24, 2002
I was threatened by a Palestinian official for a story in the 'Post'
By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
A senior aide to Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei was
arrested Monday by Jerusalem police for allegedly making threats to
Jerusalem Post reporter Khaled Abu Toameh over a news report.
Salah Elayan, an Israeli Arab who is head of Qurei's bureau, was detained by
police at his Beit Safafa home yesterday afternoon after Abu Toameh, the
Post's Palestinian affairs correspondent, complained to police on Sunday
night that Elayan repeatedly threatened him over the telephone.
Abu Toameh had reported that, in a telephone conversation, Qurei requested a
meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss the IDF's siege of
Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah.
Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said Elayan was released on bail
last night, and warned not to approach Abu Toameh or his home. Here is Abu
Toameh's story, in his own words:
It all started with a news story in Sunday's Jerusalem Post about a phone
conversation between Palestinian Legislative Council Speaker Ahmed Qurei and
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The conversation, which dealt with the crisis
in the Ramallah offices of Yasser Arafat, took place on Saturday.
One of Qurei's senior aides, Salah Elayan, phoned me to protest the story.
He said it was untrue that Qurei had asked to see Sharon, and immediately
started abusing me and threatening to harm me. Elayan... refused to listen
to anything I had to say.
But that was not all. Even after I hung up the phone, refusing to hear the
abuse and threats, he made several more calls to my mobile phone, repeating
his threats and curses.
An hour later, another one of Qurei's aides, Firas Yaghi, also called to
threaten, this time under the pretext that the story had "harmed Qurei's
dignity and presented him as someone who is humiliating himself in front of
the Israeli prime minister."
After consulting with many of my Palestinian colleagues, I was encouraged to
file a complaint with the Jerusalem police. Many told me of similar threats
they have also received from certain PA officials and their assistants.
Intimidation of journalists in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not a new
phenomenon but not all choose to tell the story.
Through this experience, I have once again been reminded of the risks
involved in working as a newsman in the PA-controlled territories.
Journalists covering events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip are sometimes
faced with life-threatening situations, especially over the past two years.
That's why many of them, particularly foreign TV crews, prefer to use
armored vehicles. A stray bullet fired by an over-cautious IDF soldier or a
Fatah gunman is the nightmare of many journalists driving around in these
territories.
But what many don't realize is that the real danger comes not from the
bullets of an M-16 or AK-47 assault rifle. Rather, it comes from attempts by
certain elements in the PA to intimidate journalists who are only trying to
carry out their jobs in a professional manner.
There has been a slight improvement over the past few years in the PA's
record regarding the freedom of the press. But there are still some in the
PA who believe that a journalist's job is first to be "loyal to the cause"
and then to report the truth.
It becomes even more complicated and dangerous if, like myself, you are an
Arab journalist working with the foreign or Israeli media. Then you are
expected to be an "obedient servant" or a "soldier" in the war of
propaganda. You are expected to tell the truth only if it sounds and looks
convenient and appropriate. Otherwise, you could be risking your life.
Unfortunately, some PA officials (especially those who returned from Tunis
and Lebanon), have almost no understanding of the real role of the media. As
far as they are concerned, the Palestinian media should not be different
from those in the Arab world official organs for the rulers and their
regimes.
Last night, Qurei's office claimed that he had nothing to do with the
threats. Many PA officials and Palestinian journalists, who are in touch
with me on a daily basis, phoned me to express their disgust at the threats.
It is this kind of support that keeps me running and gives me hope that
things may yet change for the better.
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