Wrong throughout
23/4/08
The killing of a Reuters journalist last week in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army has, once again, thrown a deeply unsettling light on Israeli practices in the occupied Palestinian territories. There are several angles to this. First, it may seem churlish for the media to focus so much attention on one of their own, when Palestinians are being killed on a near-daily basis. But what sets the killing of media professionals aside is not only that no smoke screen can be drawn regarding that person’s role at the time, it also creates even bigger obstacles to journalists being able to report what is happening. Without this crucial role, states and others would be free to act with the kind of impunity that Israel almost, but not quite, does. Nevertheless, this is the second source of concern. Fadel Shana was, by all accounts, a sensible journalist doing a dangerous job. His vehicle was clearly marked and he himself wore a flack jacket and helmet to shoot pictures of an Israeli tank in Gaza. He stood at least a kilometre-and-a-half away and obviously should have been set apart by soldiers in the tank with sophisticated visual aids, since he had had time to set up his tripod before taking pictures.
See: http://www.jordantimes.com/?news=7376
Gaza siege taxes sick and wounded
Mel Frykberg; 23/4/08
The Israeli Physicians for Human Rights organization accused the Israeli domestic intelligence agency, the Shin Bet, this week of deliberately delaying the entrance of critically ill Gazans into Israel for urgent medical treatment. The group added that the number of cases rejected was also rising. The human rights organization said that 32 Palestinians had died while awaiting entry permits for treatment in Israel since October 2007 and added that the Shin Bet had no reason to classify the patients as “security risks” and deny them entry into Israel.
See: http://www.metimes.com/International/2008/04/23/gaza_siege _taxes_sick_and_wounded/3860/