On 18 January the “Jerusalem Post staff” published an article titled “Where the reporting stops”, a long piece with numerous anonymous sources, innuendos, intimidation, unsubstantiated allegations, and attempts at character assassinations, against Palestinian public figures as well as some of the largest media organizations in the world, the latter for being unprofessional and pro-Palestinian in their coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among them the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Cable News Network (CNN), Agence-France Presse (AFP), Reuters, and Associated Press (AP).
Most of the blame is directed against individuals working for these organizations, many of them Palestinians. After being subjected to the article, the idea left behind with the reader is that Palestinians, many of them connected to the Palestinian elites – some with PLO affiliations, some ex-convicts, and other unspecified threats – have successfully infiltrated the western news organizations in order to produce and disseminate pro-Palestinian propaganda rather than facts.
The evidence provided in the article, however, is extremely flimsy. We believe that the state of Israel is losing its grip on the media and its control over the media, and that is why the Jerusalem Post resorts to such desperate tactics. Not that Palestinians are gaining control, it is in the very nature of the information age and of globalization – of more, faster, and more accurate information – that this is taking place. The Jerusalem Post, however, is trying to turn back the clock. It should perhaps consider joining this global movement, instead.
The direct misconduct cited is banal. One ex-AFP journalist is accused in the article, by an unnamed “coworker”, of – once (!) – having used her old employer’s fax machine with permission after she had quit her job with the French news agency to run for president of the PA.
The same journalist is also accused of being “on the PA’s payroll” while she was working for AFP. She wrote for the newspaper, Al-Ayyam, allegedly established and financed by the PA. In fact, it wasn’t and it isn’t. Other foreign media are also spuriously accused of letting their reports be “filtered” by Palestinians affiliated with “the PA or other political groups”.
The article does not mention the fact that most journalists today are freelancers, thanks to worldwide neo-liberal reforms. Incidentally, that is why there is now less investigative journalism, and more superficial reports, like the one to which we are referring.
Secondly, and more importantly, Palestinian journalists (only) are not issued with press cards by the Israeli Government Press Office (GPO) since 2001. A recent Israeli High Court ruling has ordered the GPO to discontinue its discriminatory practice, but there has been no report yet of a Palestinian receiving the much-needed card. Consequently, Palestinian journalists are banned from Israel itself, and they may face insuperable obstacles within the Occupied Palestinian Territories, as well, at any one of the numerous Israeli army checkpoints, again partly because of articles like the Jerusalem Post one, which misleads Israeli soldiers (including commanders) to believe that Palestinian infiltration of the foreign news media is reaching alarming proportions.
In reality, Palestinian journalists, through the foreign news organizations, are much more likely serving the universal cause of human rights. Over three quarters of the killings in this Intifada have been killings of Palestinians on Palestinian land. The longest military occupation in modern world history, the illegal settlements, the illegal wall; there are enough newsworthy events and situations to report without politicizing the issues at all. Israeli journalists, many working for foreign news organizations, are covering the gross human rights violations perpetrated by Palestinian militants against Israelis on Israeli land in much the same way, but with (slightly) less coverage due to the fact that there are many fewer human rights violations happening in Israel.
The accusations get perverse when the Jerusalem Post starts blaming Reuters and AP for relying “almost entirely on footage provided to them by Palestinian crews covering events in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The material, distributed to thousands of subscribers worldwide, mostly focuses on Palestinians as victims of IDF operations; the cameramen decide from which angle to film and which material to send at the end of the day to their employers in Jerusalem.”
The reality is skewed out of recognition by this one-sided approach. Events in Israel covered by the organizations is filmed and edited by non-Palestinians, Israelis and foreigners. Events in Palestine, however, are filmed by Palestinians, but, crucially, edited by non-Palestinians, including many Israelis, in the west Jerusalem regional headquarters of the organizations. Less than a half of the employees in this whole equation consists of Palestinians, and the editing, the most important aspect of the reporting, indeed the “filtering”, is done almost entirely by non-Palestinians, many of whom are Israeli. If anyone should complain about this division of labor, it should be the Palestinians, and certainly not the Jerusalem Post. There are many more Israeli media professionals covering and commenting on the conflict than there are Palestinians. And many of these Israelis are reservists with the army. And in general, they are in higher places of the media organization hierarchies, as well.
The Jerusalem Post raises the question of why Dr. Hanan Ashrawi gets so much time on the air compared with other Palestinians. The reasons are quite simple: Ashrawi delivers facts and analysis truthfully, reliably, consistently, and convincingly, locally as well as internationally. But the article goes on to imply that nine-year CNN employee, Sawsan Ghosheh, a producer, has worked with Ashrawi, and that is why Ashrawi gets “so much” exposure. In fact, they have never worked together.
In an inaccurately worded broadside, the Jerusalem Post asks why “she appears on almost every program concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”. It is left up to the reader to decide whether this means on CNN or in general. In either case it is false. Paid Israeli spin doctors get much more coverage. But this obviously reveals a great problem for the Israeli pundits, they cannot pay anyone to be their Hanan Ashrawi.
Lastly, we would like to cite results of the most comprehensive survey of media freedom violations during the present stage of the conflict, the International Press Institute’s ‘IPI Intifada Report’. During the first four years of the uprising, IPI registered a total of 562 violations. Israelis committed at least 88.4 per cent of the media freedom violations. At least 85.1 per cent were perpetrated by Israeli authorities, including the army, the government, and the judiciary. At least 9.3 per cent were carried out by Palestinians. Out of the 12 killings, at least nine – seven Palestinian and two European journalists – were killed by Israeli soldiers. Two Palestinian journalists were assassinated by Palestinian militants, and one killing remains disputed. At least 95.8 per cent of all firearm attacks on journalists were perpetrated by Israelis. And 82.2 per cent of all cases in which journalistic records, including cameras, video cassettes, computer hard drives, etc., were confiscated and/or selectively destroyed were carried out by Israelis. We are not condoning a single one of the Palestinian violations of media freedom by making this point. In fact we have spoken up against both Israeli and Palestinian press freedom violations on several occasions. But these statistics speak unequivocally about where the biggest problems lie, and where the reporting really stops.
To view the original Jerusalem Post article: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1105992533340
Believing in Jerusalem
Date posted: May 27, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
Last week, Israel barred a UNESCO fact-finding mission from entering the country, charging that the Palestinians had ‘politicized’ the mission before it had even arrived. The mission was tasked with looking into conditions of historical sites in the Old City of Jerusalem, something Israel apparently found to be very threatening.
Looking at the state of Jerusalem’s eastern sector today, it is understandable why Israel would not want UNESCO or anyone else walking around the Old City, especially the Palestinian-populated parts of it. Because anyone who does, will see the devastation that Israel and its settlers have wreaked on one of the oldest and most beautiful cities in the world.
Excavation works are being conducted in and around the Aqsa Mosque to make way for more Jewish construction at the place where Waqf authorities say Ottoman and Abbasid artifacts have long been tucked away. A Muslim graveyard is being dug up just outside the Old City’s Jaffa Gate, to build – ironically – a museum of tolerance. Today, two stores were forcefully taken over by Jewish settlers in Al Hakari, one of the neighborhoods in the Muslim quarter and every day, it seems that more and more homes are either being demolished by Israeli municipality authorities or being taken over by Jewish settlers.
The “Judiazation” of Jerusalem is a term many Palestinians and Arabs use for what Israel is doing in the city. In a nutshell, it is the long-term plan Israel is gradually carrying out to change the Arab Palestinian character of Jerusalem. This means demolishing old and historical structures, displacing Palestinians, handing over their homes to settlers and trying to erase the Palestinian or Arab history of the city.
The sad truth is that, on the surface, Israel has succeeded in this to a large extent. Pockets of Jewish settlers now live in the heart of Muslim quarters and aim to take over more and more. Sheikh Jarrah, one of the more affluent Palestinian neighborhoods of Jerusalem, is now pierced with Jewish flags waving from homes that have been wrestled from their Palestinian owners, and Israel’s light rail train cuts right down through Palestinian neighborhoods outside of the city center. The train, of course, is not meant to service the Palestinian population but rather to connect Jewish neighborhoods and settlements in the city, but the area confiscated from Shufat and Beit Hanina for its construction simply fell into the plan.
What the UNESCO mission would not have seen even if they made it into the Old City is the overall humiliation that the Palestinian population of Jerusalem must endure on a daily basis because of Israel’s military occupation. Trips to the Israeli ministry of interior must be made just to prove that one lives in the city for fear that their residency rights may be revoked; young Palestinian men are stopped randomly by Israeli soldiers to check their ID cards or just to harass them, and settlers are always given the luxury of maximum security whenever they walk the streets. If settlers want to march through the city, the Palestinians are told to close their shops, are barred for hours from reaching their homes if they run along the path of the march and are always the ones blamed if any kind of confrontation between the two sides breaks out.
Jerusalem is being squeezed by these measures more and more each day. But there is always that glimmer of hope, that strength that shines through proving that all is not lost. On Shavuot, Israeli settlers and extremists poured into the Old City, singing loudly, banging on the shop doors and waving huge Israeli flags. The sight was disconcerting to say the least. However, the afternoon of that same day, at Damascus Gate, passersby were met with a completely different scene. Palestinian flags waved in determined Palestinian hands under the threatening eye of heavily armed Israeli police and soldiers. The youths were fearless, demanding freedom, with strong, unrelenting voices.
The sight of the Palestinian flag waving at the entrance to Damascus Gate was a breath of fresh air. All is not lost and never will be because hope is eternal and determination and strength come from a never-ending spring.
That day at Damascus Gate is what all Palestinians must keep in their minds’ eye in spite of the daily oppression of the occupation. No matter how many missions Israel bars from entering or how many houses it takes over, there will always be those brave souls who, despite the risks, will always raise Palestine’s flag.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Let Mohammed rest in peace
Date posted: May 20, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
There is no point falling into the pit of countering the claims being made about the death of Mohammed Al Durra, the 12-year old boy from Gaza whose videotaped killing was seen around the world. The boy, crouching in fear behind is equally afraid father as bullets whizzed around them, was killed admittedly by the Israeli army. Later, the army recanted after investigating the tape, saying Durra was killed by Palestinian fire instead. Well now, Israel is changing its story altogether, saying he was not killed at all. In fact, he was probably not even wounded and the French channel that broadcast the footage and brought some pretty bad rap to Israel, had most likely filmed a charade.
The reason why I will not waste my time countering this claim is that even with the great lengths the Israeli government went to to prove that the boy was never killed, it could not provide any irrefutable proof that Mohammed Al Durra – who would be 25 now – is still alive. No pictures, no testimonies, no hospital or morgue officials giving statements to refute his death, have been provided. Only sketchy information about ‘poor quality footage’ and the fact that it seems as though the boy moved his arm after he had slumped over his father following the explosion.
My point is this: indeed, Mohammed Durra’s death was at least one of the catalysts that fueled the second Intifada, and thus, was an important event in the history of the Palestinians. However, more importantly – most importantly to me –is the fact that this is about a boy who died in sheer terror, with his distraught father futilely trying to shelter him from the barrage of bullets coming their way.
Mohammed Al Durra was a boy, with a life, a family and friends. He died a horrible death and now he is being made to die a second one. I did not know Mohammed or his family, but I can only imagine how awful it must be for them to read these claims now and feel the pain of losing their child all over again. If nothing else, this is disrespect for human life of the worst kind.
Some may postulate that the rehashing of the Durra case is a personal jab at the French cameraman who shot the footage, Charles Enderlin. Perhaps. But as a Palestinian who has seen the pain endured by numerous families who receive the horrible news that their sons or daughters have been killed by the Israeli army, my concern is for his family and for his memory. He should be left to rest in peace. If Israel has axes to grind with French journalists or with the international community for holding it accountable for its actions, then so be it. Israel is not lacking in the public relations department.
That being said, there is just one decent thing left to do. Leave Mohammed Al Durra and his memory alone.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
Recognition and justice is our demand
Date posted: May 13, 2013
By Joharah Baker for MIFTAH
This week Palestinians will commemorate Al Nakba, the catastrophe that befell the Palestinian people when Israel was founded. Every year, Palestinians hang placards pointing to the right of return, they carry keys symbolizing the homes they were forced to leave and could not return to and remember the Palestine that was lost to them 65 years ago.
This year will be no different. Every May 15, Palestinian recall their catastrophe and demand justice. They demand that they are granted the right of return for those who were made refugees virtually overnight and were then relegate to a life they did not choose. But more than anything, they demand recognition of the tragedy that befell them rather than a denial that it ever happened, or worse, that it was of their own making.
It has been 65 years since Israel was established in 1948, which means those who were cast into exile are either very old or have long passed. Those who experienced the Nakba are now few and far between, clinging to those few precious memories of a small garden in front of their house in Jaffa or of the salty smell of the sea in their neighborhood in Haifa. The rest of us are either descendants of these refugees or ordinary Palestinians who feel their cause is our cause because we are one people.
But the Palestinians have made one thing clear. The refugee issue will not die with the last refugee. It is felt nationwide, the loss, the injustice and the fact that those who were forced from their homes have mostly passed, longing for their beloved homes.
We cannot turn back time. What was lost has been altered, destroyed, changed or taken over by Israel’s newcomers. What we can do is hold on to the right to be recognized, for the injustice to be rectified in word and deed and for Palestine to never be lost in our minds or hearts.
Joharah Baker is a Writer for the Media and Information Department at the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy (MIFTAH). She can be contacted at mid@miftah.org.
