Israeli journalists slam Netanyahu over closure of Arabic media outlets

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

http://972mag.com/israeli-journalists-slam-netanyahu-over-closure-of-arabic-media-outlets/114221/

The government shut down two Arabic-language outlets last week, leaving nearly 30 journalists jobless. The Union of Israeli Journalists: ‘Shutting down media outlets is nearly unheard of in democratic regimes.’

The Union of Journalists in Israel sent a letter to Prime Minister and Communications Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Thursday, protesting the shutting down of two Arabic-language media outlet last week.

As reported on the media watchdog site The Seventh Eye, police and Shin Bet agents raided and shut down the newsroom of veteran newspaper, Sawt al-Haq wa Al-Hurriya, as well as the news website PLS48, while confiscating computers and other equipment. The raids were conducted due to the fact their publishers belong to a corporation owned by the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement, which was made illegal last week. Approximately 30 journalists lost their job in one fell swoop.

The letter, which was signed by union chairman Yair Tarchitsky and was approved by the secretariat, stated that “The shutting down of media outlets by security forces is a drastic step that is nearly unheard of in democratic regimes, specifically in Israel. We see this move as a direct threat to both freedom of speech and freedom of the press in Israel — two cornerstones of democracy — which must only be carried out in the most extreme cases.”

Yay for Israeli democracy apartheid!

Just how many right wing colonist newspapers, that incite violence against Palestinuans, has Israel shut down?

How about the PMs rag,
Israel Hayom?

When a country starts closing news outlets that they don't like then what's to stop them from closing the ones that don't follow the party line?

Three cheers for Corrupt Israel Democracy.

[oberliner]

1. Turkish police raid critical media HQ, shut down live broadcast

Istanbul police used force on Oct. 28 to enter the headquarters and seize control of media outlets owned by the Koza-İpek Group, dramatically breaking into the main broadcasting room and shutting down two TV stations owned by the group.

The Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office on Oct. 26 ordered the Koza-İpek Group to be placed under the management of a trustee panel while an investigation is ongoing into the group’s purported ties to the U.S.-based cleric Fetullah Gülen, a former government ally. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and the Justice and Development Party (AKP) now accuse Gülen of heading a purported illegal organization that Erdoğan believes is trying to topple the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government with followers working as insiders in the police, the judiciary and other state institutions.

The police fired tear gas and water cannons at the crowd gathered in support outside the media group’s office building in Istanbul’s Şişli district at around 7:30 a.m. on Oct. 28, two days after the initial court ruling, Doğan News Agency reported. The building is used by Kanaltürk TV, Bugün TV, daily Millet, and daily Bugün, all of which are owned by the Koza-İpek Group.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-police-raid-critical-media-hq-shut-down-live-broadcast.aspx?PageID=238&NID=90429&NewsCatID=341

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

2. Yay! Israel is only as bad as Turkey!

[oberliner]

3. Hamas orders closure of Gaza media outlets

The Hamas-led government in Gaza has ordered the closure of two media outlets in the territory - the broadcaster Al-Arabiya and the news agency Maan - after accusing them of publishing "false" news.

Ismail Jaber, the attorney general, said on Thursday (25 July) that the outlets reported "fabricated news" that "threatened civil peace and damaged the Palestinian people and their resistance" to Israel.

He described the shutdown as temporary, although the order did not specify when the offices will be allowed to resume operations.

Maan, headquartered in the West Bank, and Al-Arabiya, based in Saudi Arabia, often carry critical coverage of Hamas.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/jul/29/hamas-gaza

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

4. Yay! Israel is as bad as Hamas now!

Please proceed, ober.

[Mosby]

5. 40 percent of american millenials would agree with Israel

many Americans have trouble with unfettered free speech.

Do you support governments censoring offensive and/or hate speech?

Maybe I should dig around DU for the answer.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

8. Links? And are these millenials also GOP supporters?

33% of Americans probably vote for right wing hatred and against their self interests?


Please proceed, mos.

[Mosby]

11. here

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=7383507

Personally I'm for free speech American style but this knife intifada is not happening in a vacuum, these young people, as young as 11 for gods sake are being incited to violence. Israel has to do something.

The Palestinians have raised an entire generation of children who are willing to sacrifice their own lives if they can just kill a Jewish Israeli. The media in Palestine have played a very large role in this imo.

[Crunchy Frog]

19. It's the settlers who are doing the inciting. n/t

[grossproffit]

23. What utter bullshit.

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

9. So you approve of Israel = Hamas?

Very telling.

[oberliner]

24. How do you compare the current RW government in Israel to the Palestinian Hamas government in Gaza?

Would it be fair to say that you think Netanyahu and his coalition partners are not even close to being anywhere near as awful as Haniyeh and the Hamas leadership?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

25. I didn't. You did

[Little Tich]

6. Shutting down newspapers is not something that democracies do.

This is something that I would expect in Turkey or Gaza where the free press is a definite danger to the rulers, and there are few democratic safeguards. This is really a new low for Israel, and I honestly didn't expect it.

[Mosby]

7. do you support hate speech laws like in europe?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

10. Do you support Democracy?

[Mosby]

12. cant answer the question, can you?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

13. Oh, I support Democracy. I don't support stupidity, though.

[shira]

14. He's saying Europe is allowed, but not the Jewish state. Got it? n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

15. I'm saying that Israel is a great country that is not

Democratically inclined.

[shira]

21. Then neither is Europe due to their hate speech laws. n/t

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

22. If you say so...

[Little Tich]

18. Of course I do - It's much better than what the US does with promotion of hate.

But that's not what this is about, this has nothing to do with hate speech. It's about a government going crypto-fascist and closing down certain affiliated newspapers for political purposes. These newspapers couldn't be shut down in Europe, simply because they don't promote hate speech. This is more like what Putin does when a newspaper pisses him off.

This is a serious blow to Israels freedom of the press and an attempt to undermine one of the pillars of Israeli democracy. Please don't support this.

[Mosby]

16. Here is you on the Palestinian media incitement

The Hamas clip is indeed genuine, unfortunately.

It's goddamn awful that they're trying to encourage young people to just kill a random Jewish stranger like that. They're exploiting the alienation that many young Palestinians feel in the most heinous way, and they don't care about the suffering they cause, both for the attackers and their victims.

This is some crazy shit.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1134&pid=114748

How should Israel deal with genocidal incitement?

[R. Daneel Olivaw]

17. "How should Israel deal with genocidal incitement?"

Stop allowing right wing Israeli colonists to crap on Palestinians for starters.

[Little Tich]

20. You seem to be confused; these news outlets weren't guilty of any incitement, they were closed down

only for political purposes.

The clip I referred to is unrelated to this, and the sentiments expressed in the clip are not expressed by these news outlets. If there was any "real" incitement going on, I would support closing down these news outlets.